RADU'S SIMPLY FIT

Radu's Simply Fit shares Radu's training experiences and specialized routines for numerous celebrities, including Cindy Crawford, Matthew Broderick, John Kennedy and Vanessa Williams. The following is an excerpt from Cindy's workout:

When Cindy decided to play the part of a Miami district attorney in the 1995 thriller Fair Game with William Baldwin, we talked about how to prepare. I told her, "As a hero on the screen, you will have to look sexy, but you will have to perform." I knew I needed to talk to the stunt coordinator to find out exactly what Cindy would have to do in the film in order to figure out how she should train for it. I was more interested in what Cindy's character, a very athletic attorney, would do than in what Cindy the actress would do. But when I spoke to the stunt coordinator, he didn't understand; he said, "Just keep her strong and toned. Don't worry about it." I realized that we weren't going to have a team talk; that Cindy and I were going to have to plan it out.

After reading the script, she told me her character was going to have to perform a running escape, jump onto a moving train, and punch somebody out. To be credible, I believe actors should be able and willing to perform their own stunts, at least within reason. But many of the stunts in Fair Game were big risks, ones too big for Cindy to take. "Okay," I said, "I understand you don't have to perform, but we're going to change your routine to be very athletic." Even though Cindy wasn't going to do her own stunts, I wanted her to be capable of doing them, to know what it is like to hit someone hard, or to leap from the ground onto a moving train--and to look like someone capable of pulling off these moves.

I knew the director would have Cindy do the lead-up to each stunt; she would need to appear to be on the brink of doing something spectacular and breathtaking. But I also knew that actually trying something is a lot different from just pretending; it adds a new dimension to how you think and how you carry yourself. You get the attitude of "I can do this," and it shows in your demeanor. We began training on the stall bars, the mats, the rings. I made her do pad work, punching and kicking pads that I held in my hands. I taught her to punch hard enough to bring a man down.

Cindy understood what I was doing with her training, but the tricky part came when she went off to shoot the movie. She had a trainer on location, who I knew would only focus on keeping her looking good, not on training her for performance. I didn't want the other trainer's aesthetics-based workouts to derail my teaching. So I told her to continue some of the things we did in the gym, like running, jumping, and skipping, on her own. By taking these elements of her training with her, she could remember our gym and the Radu way.

My little trick worked. One night I had a bad dream that Cindy had broken her leg, and I was so worried that I called her first thing in the morning and told her assistant about it. When she called me back she said, "Radu, it's amazing you had this dream! I'm okay, but you won't believe this! Remember the stunt where my character jumps onto a train? When we were shooting, the director asked me to run alongside the train and stop at a certain point. But when I started running, I heard your voice in my head, urging me on, and I thought, 'I've done this with Radu, only it was much harder. I can do it here.' And I jumped onto that train!"

Cindy is a hard worker. If you give her something to do, and the guidance and instruction she needs to do it, she will hammer away at it until she gets it right--or better than right. She's a perfectionist who expects nothing but success of herself, and she is used to coming out on top. But when she leaped onto that train in front of the cast and crew of Fair Game, she surprised even herself. I had given her the tools to achieve, and she used those tools to accomplish more than was expected of her, and more than she expected of herself.

That is a beautiful thing about the process of getting fit, the way the benefits of your hard work suddenly spring up in your daily life. Of course you will get much spring up in your daily life. Of course you will get much satisfaction every time you're able to add another rep to your routine, or run an extra mile. But the big payoff comes when, just like Cindy, all of a sudden you can do with ease things that you never thought you could do, or that were always a struggle before you began exercising.

Try the following exercises, which I include in Cindy's workout to give her power and strength in her thighs and buttocks (a sensitive area even for her, as it is for many women). For each exercise, do three sets of ten, fifteen, twenty, or twenty-five reps.

1. Knee-to-chest swings

Stand arm's length from a wall, placing both hands on the wall for support. Bring your right knee toward your chest, then swing and extend straight behind you. Return to start and continue swinging the leg forward and back in a continuous movement. After completing one set, switch legs and repeat.

2. Lateral leg swings

Stand arm's length from a wall and place both hands on the wall for support. Cross your right foot in front of your body, then swing it straight out to the side. Swing the leg from side to side in a continuous motion. Switch legs and repeat.

3. Front-and-back swings

Stand with your left hand on a wall, chair, or tree for support, your right arm relaxed. Lift your right leg in front of your body, then swing it back behind you, keeping the knee slightly bent. Swing the leg forward and back in a continuous motion. Switch sides and repeat.

4. Hurdles

Stand with both hands on the back of a chair, a full arm's length away. Lift your right leg with the knee bent; bring the leg forward, then extend it behind you and to the side. Switch legs and repeat.

5. Shot-put lunges

Begin by lunging to the right, right leg forward and knee bent, left leg extended behind you. Reach forward with your left arm and bend your right arm so that your right hand is next to your right ear. Spring up and reverse position, changing your weight to your left leg. With both legs straight, bring your right arm around to extend it in front of you, as if throwing a shot put. Spring up to return to start and repeat. Complete one set, switch sides and repeat.

6. Plié squats

Stand with legs wide, toes pointing out, arms resting on thighs. Squat down as far as you can, allowing your hands to slide to your knees; do not let your knees extend past your toes. As you return to standing, contract your buttocks and press down through your heels.