Rayna Vallandingham Swears By These 5 Habits to Stay Fit for "Cobra Kai"

Rayna Vallandingham is flashing her washboard abs – in a two-piece exercise set from Alo. In a new social media post the actress flaunts her impressive midsection during a workout at the gym. "dojang diaries," she captioned the series of snaps. "Magnific! Very very beautiful," commented one of her followers. "♥️More like diaries of a hottie♥️" added another. How does she approach diet, fitness, and self-care? Here are her top lifestyle tips.

Consistency – at the gym and the martial arts studio – is the key to success. "It is a way of life," Rayna says. "It's not only teaching your body movements and being in synchronicity with your body, but also just like the mental aspect of it."

Rayna is a big fan of martial arts. She has been doing taekwondo since she was 2, earning her first black belt at 6. "In the very beginning, my parents put me in the sport because I was just really shy, and I think they could tell that I needed something," says Vallandingham, who lives and trains in Los Angeles. "Immediately, I just loved it. I felt at home, and every single day, instead of watching Dora, I wanted to go to the dojo," she told Well + Good. Studies confirm that the practice helps with balance, cognitive function, psychological health, weight loss, and physical fitness.

Rayna recommends prioritizing strength, flexibility, and power. "Of the three, I think strength and flexibility are the top two," Vallandingham says. "We used to have people stand on my legs and force my knees to come down in butterfly stretch," she says. "I have permanent damage to my body—I have tendonitis [because of this]."

If you want a strong, lean body like Vallandingham, you must lift for it. The star strength trains, focusing on supersets, doing two moves back-to-back that target the same muscle groups to double down on their gains. One of her favorite exercises is a goblet squat. She stands with her feet shoulder-width apart, folded forward until she can slide her palms underneath her soles (you could also hold your ankles or calves), then bends her knees, lowering her butt toward the floor while lifting her chest, coming into a deep squat. She'll bend and extend her legs several times in this position. Then, it's on to the main event, holding a weight in her hands while bending down into a deep squat. "I love utilizing a Bosu ball—they're pretty much in every single gym," she adds.

Rayna never skips stretching. She starts by by lying on the floor with her legs up the wall and then allowing them to open out into a side split. "I let gravity do its work because that's my body telling me, okay, this is where we're at," she says. "My hips are opening on their own, and I'm not having to force anything." "Stretching keeps the muscles flexible, strong, and healthy, and we need that flexibility to maintain a range of motion in the joints," says Harvard Health. "Without it, the muscles shorten and become tight. Then, when you call on the muscles for activity, they are weak and unable to extend all the way. That puts you at risk for joint pain, strains, and muscle damage."