Jessica Biel’s trainer reveals how she works out when she’s “juggling work life and mom life” and it’s a great way for anyone to train

Actress Jessica Biel is one of those celebrities who regularly posts elements of her workouts on social media—and wow, she is strong.

Her most recent post with her trainer Ben Bruno, however, is a little different. In it he reveals that the actress doesn’t constantly train hard, but actually has a very balanced outlook when it comes to working out.

In the voiceover that accompanies the video, Bruno starts by saying: “Jess and I have shared a bunch of super impressive and challenging workout moves that kinda flex on the people and let them know she’s a bona fide badass.”

Want to see the “badass” in action? Here’s a recent example.

But Bruno then moves on to explain: “The truth is, she doesn’t always train that hard throughout the year. She ramps up the workouts to beast mode if she has a work thing where she has to look her best, but most of the time—like now at the start of the new year—she’s busy juggling work life and mom life.

“So when that's the case, we'll hit the weights about twice a week—sometimes three, and sometimes one to be honest—and then she'll try and do some Pilates and cardio as well, because she likes but doesn't love the weights—and wants to keep it balanced.

During the video, Biel is seen performing a dumbbell complex as Bruno talks. A complex is a type of workout where you perform a number of exercises back-to-back with the same dumbbells, so there’s no chance to rest for the entire round.

Here’s the workout, with Biel completing five reps on each side of four exercises.

Watch Jessica Biel’s dumbbell complex workout

is it a good workout?

I asked certified personal trainer Kate Rowe-Ham, author of The Longevity Solution (out Feb. 12, Yellow Kite) what she thought about the workout—as she is also well-versed in helping people juggle work life and mom life

“I love this Jessica Biel workout,” she tells Fit&Well. “The dumbbell complex training is a really good one for those who are time-poor and only have a small window of opportunity to work out.

“You’re basically getting maximum effectiveness for the time you’ve got because this training style gets your heart rate up for a cardio boost and it works multiple muscle groups at once—these compound moves improve bone health, and it’s low impact so it’s better for the joints.”

How to make it beginner-friendly

Even though this isn’t especially intense for Biel, keep in mind that she’s been training with Bruno for about 10 years.

This means she’s executing difficult movements flawlessly—especially the final exercise, a single-leg Romanian deadlift that requires impressive balance and mobility.

Also, on the shoulder press, holding one dumbbell overhead while pressing the other dumbbell is hard because it increases the time your shoulder muscle is under tension.

Want to make it more beginner-friendly? Rowe-Ham suggests using lighter weights and doing a shorter circuit of less complex exercises.

She recommends cutting out the exhausting tension and tricky balancing that comes with unilateral exercises and instead doing these four moves:

1. A Romanian deadlift.
2. An upright row.
3. A front squat with the weights resting on your shoulders.
4. A push press.