Jessica Alba is a popular actress and businesswoman, and her lean, athletic, sexy body is the envy of millions. That sort of physique doesn’t just happen. It takes serious training and disciplined eating.
This article reveals Jessica Alba’s complete workout, diet program, and supplement routine.
Jessica Alba Stats
Full Name | Jessica Marie Alba |
D.O.B | April 28, 1981 |
Nickname | Jess |
Height | 5’ 7” (170 cm) |
Weight | 57kg (125 lbs) |
Chest | 34” |
Waist | 24” |
Hips | 34” |
The Jessica Alba Story
Jessica Marie Alba was born on April 28th, 1981 in Pomona, California. Her father was in the air force, meaning the family moved frequently. They lived in Biloxi, Mississippi, and Del Rio, Texas, before returning to California, where they settled in Claremont.
Jessica has described her family as being very conservative, with traditional Catholic values. She, however, self-describes as a liberal, saying that she became a feminist at the age of five. During her childhood, Alba was often sickly, suffering from frequent bouts of pneumonia. She also had partially collapsed lungs on two occasions, along with a ruptured appendix and a tonsillar cyst. Jessica also suffers from asthma. Her illnesses kept her in hospital a lot, leading to isolation and loneliness.
Jessica graduated from Claremont High School at the age of 16. She then attended the Atlantic Theater Company to pursue a career in acting. This is something she had wanted to do from the age of five. In 1992, when she was 11, she won an acting competition in Beverly Hills, with the prize being free acting classes, leading to her signing with an agent. Her first role was a bit part in the 1994 movie Camp Nowhere.
Jessica followed up her appearance in Camp Nowhere with a recurring role in the Nickelodeon series The Secret World of Alex Mack. The following year she won a recurring role in the TV series Flipper. Jessica was already a skilled scuba diver, having been taught by her mother, who was a lifeguard.
In 1998, Jessica appeared in the crime drama Brooklyn South and Beverly Hills 90210. The following year she appeared in the romantic comedy Never Been Kissed. She got her big break when she was chosen from more than a thousand candidates by director James Cameron to play the lead in the TV series Dark Angel.
Jessica’s breakthrough screen role was 2003’s Honey. More big-screen success followed with Sin City, Fantastic Four, and its sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.
Between 2007 and 2010, Alba focused on romantic comedies. From there, she took on a variety of roles, including 2015s Barely Lethal, 2016’s Mechanic: Resurrection, and 2019’s Killers Anonymous.
In 2012, Jessica launched The Honest Company, which sells a collection of household goods, diapers, and body care products. In 2015, she started a line of skincare and beauty products. Jessica is also heavily involved in charity work and activist causes, including the plight of great white sharks and gay rights.
Jessica Alba Nutrition Program
Due to her frequent illnesses, Jessica has always been health conscious. She has followed a pretty healthy diet all her life. However, she still sometimes faces the challenges of eating healthy on the run and meeting the challenge of yummy high-carb temptations.
For the last few years, Jessica has been working with health coach Kelly LeVeque to fine-tune her nutrition.
Jessica loves smoothies and begins almost every day with a smoothie. Before working with Leveque, she would often skip breakfast. Later in the morning, she usually grabbed something unhealthy to satisfy her hunger pangs. Her coach encouraged her to get into the habit of starting the day with a smoothie.
Jessica is a spokeswoman for Zico coconut water and loves to add it to her smoothies. Here’s one of her favorite breakfast smoothies:
Strawberry Bliss Cocoshake
Ingredients:
- 2 x Scoops of Strawberry Whey Protein Powder
- 1 x Large Banana
- 1 x Cup of Coconut Water
- 1/2 cup of crushed ice
Instructions:
- Blend all ingredients in a blender for 30-45 sec.
Cutting Back on Carbs
LeVeque has helped Jessica cut back on her carb consumption. The actress was in a habit of combining a vegan rice bowl with her favorite snack — salted popcorn. However, this was negatively affecting her blood sugar balance. She now restricts herself to just one carb meal per day.
Salted popcorn remains Jessica’s weakness. Her office used to contain a movie theater-style popcorn machine, and she’d snack on the treat all day long. However, her health coach has helped her cut way back.
LeVeque has helped Jessica replace her popcorn snacks with avocado in the form of guacamole, which provides plenty of healthy fats, helping control blood sugar levels and keeping you satiated.
Jessica’s lunch and dinner meals are low on starchy carbs. Instead, the focus is on lean protein, fat, fiber, and greens.
On holiday, Jessica allows herself to eat more carbs than usual and indulges in Italian foods like pasta and ravioli. Here is what a typical day of eating looks like for Jess:
Breakfast
- Smoothie
Lunch
- Lean chicken breast, green salad, olive oil
Afternoon Snack
- Avocado on wholewheat toast
Dinner
- Grilled Salmon, sweet potato, brussels sprouts, carrots
Related: 12 Foods That Contain the Highest Amount Of Protein
Jessica Alba Workout Principles
Here are the training principles Alba abides by:
- Make your workout schedule work for you: Jessica has learned not to be too flexible with her workout times and lengths. She now alternates between early morning and evening workouts, depending on her schedule.
- Mixing up workouts: Jessica varies her routines regularly to keep her body guessing and sustain her interest and motivation. Sometimes she uses the traditional rep counts, and other times she relies on training to the clock.
- Always warm up at the start of your workouts: She borrows from yoga warm-up moves such as sun salutations and dance moves rather than boring traditional steady-state warm-ups.
- Listening to music: Alba loves to move to the beat, so she’s always plugged into her favorite tunes in the gym.
- Go with your gut: Jessica does not bound herself to a workout program. If she doesn’t feel like lifting weights, she goes for a hike instead.
- Focus on recovery: Alba knows how important post-workout recovery is. She uses a foam roller to massage her muscles while ensuring she gets seven to eight hours of sleep each night. Furthermore, she eats a quality protein/carb meal within 90 minutes of finishing her workout.
Related: Upper Body Warm-Up You Should Be Doing Before Every Workout
Jessica Alba Workout Program
Jessica is a big fan of the 3-2-1 workout program, popularized by celebrity trainer Ramona Braganza. Romana has been Jessica’s trainer for several years.
Each 3-2-1 workout consists of:
- 3 x Cardio Segments
- 2 x Circuits of Strength Training
- 1 x Core Segment
The workout program was created by Romana while working on Into the Blue with Jessica, as the star did not have a lot of time to train. There was also not a lot of equipment available. As a result, Romana made the workouts very versatile, and they can be done with weights or with nothing but your body weight.
The workout is also adaptable time-wise. You can take an hour or compress it into 30 minutes. Each time you will still follow the 3:2:1 format of cardio, strength, and core training. Here is how it works:
- Cardio I: Begin with a 5 to 10-minute warm-up, such as jogging, cycling, or rowing on a rowing machine.
- Circuit I: This circuit alternates between upper and lower body movements, including four to five exercises, and will be done for two to three rounds.
- Cardio II: Cardio is stepped up using intervals and hill training. Sprint on the exercise bike, treadmill, or rowing machine for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Circuit II: Again, this circuit alternates between the upper and lower body but uses different exercises than the first circuit.
- Cardio III: This is the most intense cardio session. It may be a High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) session or involve functional training moves like sled pushes and battle ropes.
- Core: The workout finishes with a core strengthening circuit of four to five exercises.
Sample Jessica Alba Workout
Here is a sample of the 3-2-1 workout that Jessica currently performs in the gym:
Cardio I
- 5 minutes on a rowing machine at a moderate pace
Circuit I
- Squat (135 lbs): 12 reps
- Dumbbell Bench Press: 12 reps
- Reverse Lunge (10 lb dumbbells in hand): 12 reps (each leg)
- Lat Pull-down: 12 reps
Jessica does three rounds of this circuit, with two minutes rest between rounds.
Cardio II
- Plyometric jumps from a step-up box: 15 reps
- Jump Rope: 100 skips
- Five-yard tap sprints: 5 reps
Jessica does three rounds of this circuit, with two minutes rest between rounds.
Circuit II
- Leg Extension: 12 reps
- Renegade Row: 12 reps
- Glute Machine Kickback: 12 reps
- Side Lateral Raise on a Cable Machine: 12 reps (each arm).
Jessica does three rounds of this circuit, with two minutes rest between rounds.
Cardio III
- HIIT Tabata treadmill session alternating between 20-second sprints and 10-second rest periods for eight rounds.
Core
- Cable Machine Crunch: 20 reps
- Cable Side Bend: 20 reps (each side)
- Cable Torso Extension: 20 reps (each side)
- Hyperextension: 20 reps
Jessica does three rounds of this circuit, with two minutes rest between rounds.
Jessica performs her 3-2-1 workouts three times per week on alternate days. On her non-workout days, she does some form of an active recovery routine. Depending on her schedule, it could be anything from 10 minutes of lighting cycling to going for an hour-long hike in the woods.
Watch Jessica Alba’s Full Body Booty Blasting Workout
Jessica Alba Supplement Regime
Alba is not big on supplements. She prefers to get her nutrition through whole foods. However, she does take a daily multivitamin.
Jessica also adds whey protein powder to her daily smoothies while ensuring the powder is an isolate with very low carb and sugar content.
Alba is also a coffee lover. She will have a strong cup of coffee the hour before her workouts, providing around 150 mg of caffeine to deliver an energy boost to her training.
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Conclusion
Jessica Alba brings an athletic, toned body to the screen in every one of her TV and movie roles. In this article, we’ve discovered that she follows a realistic, adaptable, and versatile routine and nutrition program to maintain her physique and health.
Give Jessica’s 3-2-1 workout a try and see if it works for your lifestyle and goals. Leave a comment below to let us know how it goes.