Gemma Atkinson In Workout Gear Says "Get a Good Stretch"

British actress and presenter Gemma Atkinson is reminding followers how important it is to stretc hevery day. Atkinson, 39, shared a video of herself wearing black yoga pants and a matching tank top, doing exercises on a mat in her home gym. "I've always weight trained but I didn't always take the time to incorporate stretching into my programs when I was younger. I 100% do now. I made a point of dedicating 8 to 10 mins in the evening before bed to stretch and overtime I began to make progress to where I am now. Stretching helps reduce injury in not only training but daily activities in general. It can massively help reduce aches and pains and it increases blood flow to the muscle. A good stretch also helps us to destress. A must for most of us! I know it's boring to start with but you'll soon learn to love it, and your body will thank you in the long run 🧘‍♀️ 💓," she captioned the post. Here's what Atkinson's diet and wellness regimen looks like as a busy mom-of-two.

Atkinson works out at home and also takes classes. "We have a home gym, so I use all the weight training machines, but I am also a fan of Thai boxing as body strength is so important as you get older," she told Women's Fitness. "I focus on my flexibility and mobility as I am so conscious to keep an eye on my bone density so that I grow older without any health problems. When Gorka [Márquez] is at home he loves training with me and we do push-ups together, but I prefer to do my own thing as he is an extreme athlete so what he does is super-intense workouts."

Atkinson taught herself about nutrition, and says it changed her health for the better. "When I was younger and probably more shallow, I got into fitness to keep my figure – but it dawned on me that training was so much harder without the right nutrition," she told I Love Manchester. "I could get away with eating the odd McDonald's and takeaways, and I'd be okay, but I wasn't feeling great. I was quite bloated, and my skin wasn't great. So I did a course on nutrition, just to look into it and see where I was going wrong. It dawned on me, you can't out-train a bad diet. If I was fuelling my body properly, it enabled me to perform better in the gym."

Atkinson doesn't restrict herself when it comes to her diet. "I am probably 70 per cent sensible and then 30 per cent eat what I fancy," she told Women's Fitness. "I was brought up having a chip tea every Friday and I continue to do that. My motto is train and fuel yourself, not diet and exercise… My father died when I was 17 so I know how precious life is and relish the simple things. I'm not talking about beauty spas or nice holidays; for me, I just love to relax in a hot bath with Epsom salts, eat good food and rest. I embrace getting older, rather than dread it. I love the aging process and treat each birthday like a new chapter in my life."

Atkinson wants to be fit for as long as possible. "I don't want to be an 80-year-old woman stuck in a chair on an oxygen machine, if I can help it," she told I Love Manchester. "Obviously some things are out of our control, but if someone said you can get to that age and still be playing with your grandkids and still driving and doing all these things, just by making better choices in your youth, then I'm all for it."

Atkinson tries to keep it authentic on social media. "I'm not afraid to be myself," she told Women's Fitness. "I am all for posting pictures of myself doing a workout with my hair tied back in a scrunchie and sweat pouring down my face. No filters, nothing airbrushed! I also feel it helps people connect with me as, yes, whilst I maybe seen as 'a celebrity' I am just a normal woman like everyone else. I'm so glad there was no social media when I was growing up."