Kate Middleton, AKA the Princess of Wales, has always been an active, sporty role model. Over the years the 41-year-old has taken part in countless official events where she’s required to take part in physical activity—sometimes in heels!—and always makes it look effortless. This is down to her very busy lifestyle and genuine love for movement, insiders say. Here’s what Middleton does to burn fat and stay incredibly fit.
1. Keeping Up With the Kids
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Middleton and husband Prince William are parents to George, 9, Charlotte, 8, and Louis, 5. According to the princess, she gets plenty of exercise just trying to keep up with the kids."It's running around after the children—I do it all, whenever I can squeeze in exercise I do, even jumping on the trampoline with my children before school,” she says, saying they are happiest when “I’m with my family outside in the countryside and we’re all filthy dirty.”
2. Long Walks
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Middleton says she grew up enjoying a very active lifestyle, and is trying to recreate that for her own children. “Life now is so busy, so distracting and actually sometimes the simple things like watching a fire on a really rainy day provides such enjoyment,” she said on the Happy Mum Happy Baby podcast. “I remember that from my childhood – doing the simple things, going for a walk together, and that’s really what I try and do with my children as well because it totally strips away all the complications, all the pressures.”
3. Yoga and CrossFit
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Middleton likes mixing it up when it comes to her own workouts at the gym. She enjoys yoga and CrossFit exercises, and doesn’t have a personal trainer. “Regular yoga practice may reduce levels of stress and body-wide inflammation, contributing to healthier hearts,” says Johns Hopkins Medicine. “Several of the factors contributing to heart disease, including high blood pressure and excess weight, can also be addressed through yoga.”
4. Tennis Matches
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Middleton enjoys playing tennis with her friends and family. "Once their school work has been dealt with satisfactorily, both George and Charlotte enjoy tennis lessons on their green court,” an insider tells the Express. “Kate plays almost daily with the children and they like their practice sessions with her."
5. Active Pregnancies
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Middleton made sure to stay busy throughout her pregnancies, but also nurture her mental health and emotional wellbeing. “There’s so much information about making sure you exercise and making sure you have a healthy diet and things like that, which yes is definitely important,” she says. “But the emotional wellbeing of the mother directly impacts the baby that you’re growing.”
6. Running
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Middleton and her sister Pippa were both fans of cross-country running in school, something she has kept up over the years. “Running is one of several types of activity that uses a lot of the large muscle groups in our body," says Roger Fielding, associate director of the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts and leader and senior scientist of the Nutrition, Exercise Physiology, and Sarcopenia (NEPS) team. "It can be performed at an intensity that causes our cardiovascular system to be activated. It raises our heart rates and allows for the cardiovascular system to do its job: pump lots of blood to our working muscles."
7. Family Competition
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Middleton says she enjoys plenty of friendly competition within the family circle. "We're always slightly competitive with each other,” she says. They all love sport and Louis is mad about rugby. They are at an age where they just love running around." Research shows staying active with kids encourages years of good habits for the whole family. “One of the best ways to start enticing your kids to be active is to make sure you are being active yourself,” says Kimberly Burke, a lecturer in the Department of Health and Exercise Science at Colorado State University. “You want to model the behavior of making time and prioritizing health and activity for your kids, and it is important to show them that their health (and yours) is something worth working on and working towards.”
