Brooke Shields, 59, Does This Low-Impact Workout 5 Times A Week

Over the past few years, Brooke Shields has re-examined everything, from her haircare to her childhood in Hollywood. That same philosophy has applied to her fitness, she now reveals.

“I’ve changed my entire approach to exercise,” Brooke, who exclusively chatted with Women’s Health in partnership with GSK for their Thrive@50+ campaign, says. “I really only do things that, at the end of it, I want to do again the next day. I don’t do any other things that make me dread being physical. I just can’t do it anymore—whereas it used to be a badge of honor to be miserable.”

For more than 30 years, Brooke, now 59, used dancing as her main form of fitness. But once she quit a few years ago, Brooke wanted to find a new kind of exercise—and ended up breaking her femur, falling off a balance board during a training session. She needed six foot surgeries to heal her injuries.

Years of rehab “changed the entire way that I approached working out,” she says. Here’s what to know about Brooke Shields’ workout routine.

She does Pilates and other group fitness classes.

Before her foot injuries, Brooke used to work out with a trainer. But she’s since discovered that she doesn’t “love individual attention,” instead preferring to be “one of a group.”

“I don’t try to cheat during classes, but I don’t feel like being scrutinized,” she says. “I know they say they’re helping, but I’m just like, ‘I don’t want that kind of attention!’”

But Brooke is particular about what classes she attends, adding that she can’t do “80 percent” of the intense ones that her little sister does. “My knees won’t work,” she says. “I’ve done a lot of damage to my body. So now, I really put myself in a position to look forward to how I’m going to feel—not just after, but during.”

Brooke attends low-impact fitness classes four to five times per week, mixing in Pilates with “anything that deals with strength and stretching.”

“I can probably make myself arrive somewhere for 50 minutes, and I’ll always feel good during it,” she says.

Ultimately, she wants to incorporate strength training into her routine, too. She’s hopeful that it will help build up bone density, which she’s become “acutely aware of” as she gets older. (According to experts, resistance training can make for “stronger, denser bones,” plus weight-bearing exercises like running and walking.)

She fuels her body with ‘balanced meals.’

Over the past few years, Brooke has also been shifting the way she eats, sharing that she listens to her body more now.

“I’m really starting to realize that if I crave something, I probably need something in it,” she says. “I did it when I was pregnant—I just gave into all my cravings, because it was usually eggs, and protein, or pasta. But now I’m better off.”

Brooke likes to eat “smaller, more balanced meals” throughout the day so she can remain full.

She’s saying ‘yes’ to the things that energize her.

From food to fitness, Brooke is focusing on prioritizing herself—and that applies to all areas of her life.

“I’m saying ‘yes’ to doing things that give me joy rather than everything having a purpose to get you to the next thing,” she says. “It’s like, ‘Do I want to go see the ballet?’ Maybe I do, but I’m not going to go for the wrong reasons anymore.”

Each night, she tries her hardest to get eight hours of sleep. She’s also drinking less alcohol. “I never really drank a lot as a kid, and then made up for it in my thirties and forties,” she says. “I realized the toll that takes on me physically.”

Part of that work, she says, is partnering with GSK for their THRIVE@50+ campaign, which encourages everyone 50 years and older to ask their doctor or pharmacist about their risk for shingles and potential vaccination. She’s seen the effects of the “isolating” disease firsthand: Two of her close friends have dealt with it, one of whom had extreme “pain.”

Overall, Brooke encourages women to take charge of their wellbeing–no matter the obstacles in your place.

“Start owning the information that you take in about your health,” she says. “Once we start making this the norm, I think it will be easier for women to self-advocate. You’re not being difficult. Self-advocation should be empowering, rather than something to be afraid of.”