When celebrity chefs Gordon Ramsay and Bobby Flay aren't filming their many cooking shows, they're working on their fitness.
Day one: I started my experiment with Ramsay's workout routine
Ramsay does a little bit of everything to stay in shape. According to Delish, aside from hitting the gym, the chef also enjoys outdoor activities, like swimming three times a week.
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My pool is not open, so I opted for another form of cardio instead. Since swimming is a total body workout, I hopped onto my elliptical and increase the resistance to mimic the intensity of treading water.
After 20 minutes, I was breathing heavily and my glutes and arms were burning. I lowered the resistance before continuing for another 10 minutes to make it a 30-minute workout in total.
Day 2: I did bodyweight moves as Ramsay would
I woke up today feeling good about my cardio workout yesterday.
According to Men's Journal, the chef does more endurance training workouts rather than heavy lifting to stay slim.
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Ramsay does push-ups, battle-ropes, and squats when he's in the gym with his trainer so I looked up more moves to curate my own type of endurance-style workout.
In addition to the push-ups and squats, I did walking lunges, sit-ups, and regular and side planks. I did three sets of 60 seconds for each exercise. It was a simple yet challenging bodyweight workout that felt good to complete.
Day 3: This bike ride had my legs feeling like Jell-O
I've been feeling good each day this week following a Ramsay-inspired workout routine. For today, I switched things up since the celebrity chef is apparently a fan of weekend bike rides.
Luckily, the weather was cooperating so I put on my headphones and set out for a 3-mile bike ride. I purposely rode to a hilly area so I was guaranteed to get my heart rate up and get the blood flowing.
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I was definitely sweating on my way back from the trail and all those hills had my legs feeling like Jell-O. I have a feeling I'll be sore tomorrow.
Day 4: Attempting an Ironman-like workout wasn't the best idea
Men's Health reported that Ramsay competed in an Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii in his mid-40s.
An Ironman Triathlon is one of the toughest physical competitions one can compete in, according to Active. It's made up of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride, and a marathon 26.22-mile run raced in that order.
I wanted to create my own variation of this event by going on the elliptical, a run, and a bike ride all in one workout. I opted for 15 minutes on the elliptical to mimic swimming, a 2-mile run, and a 3-mile bike ride.
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I don't do cardio often so halfway through my run, I began questioning why I chose to do this workout today. My lungs were definitely burning and I was feeling somewhat dizzy. I slowed my running pace down a bit and let myself do a light jog to regain my composure.
Once I was back from the run, I hopped onto my bike. By the time the 3-mile bike ride was over and I was back home, I allowed myself to lay on the ground to catch my breath and cool down.
Day 5: This bodyweight workout was tougher than expected
I decided to do another endurance training workout today despite feeling sore in places I didn't know I could feel sore.
I did a circuit of exercises for today's routine that consisted of five bodyweight squats, five push-ups, five dumbbell push presses, 15 seconds of sit-ups, 30 seconds of jump rope, and rest for one minute.
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I repeated this circuit for four rounds. I underestimated how tough five reps of each exercise would be because it definitely had my muscles burning.
Day 6: This bike ride was easier than the last
After the past few workouts I've done, hopping onto a bike was the last thing I wanted to do. Instead of thinking negatively, I told myself I'd feel better afterward.
My brother enjoys bike riding and recommended a change of scenery for today's workout. We went to a park and, after a few minutes of riding, I was happy that I pushed myself.
Day 7: A rest day was much needed
For my last workout of the week, I wanted to give myself a recovery day filled with stretching, which I don't think Ramsay really does.
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I laid out my yoga mat and did some foam rolling, which was more painful than I expected.Afterward, I took my time stretching my entire body before going on a light walk around my neighborhood.
Today's recovery day was exactly what I needed.
Day one: I started my Flay-inspired workout routine with a run
I was excited to begin my week of Flay-inspired workouts and compare it to Ramsay's regimen.
According to Men's Journal, Flay runs at least five times a week, so I figured I'd ease into this week of workouts with a long run. I did a few stretches to warm up my muscles first.
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I don't like running but I tried to change my mindset as I eased into the run and focused on my breathing. When I felt tired, I tried to slow my pace down rather than coming to a complete stop.
I continued this pace for 2.5 miles.
Day 2: I underestimated the light weights I used during today's workout
Flay reportedly enjoys taking a SoulCycle class when he wants to give his legs a break from all the running he does. I opted for a bike ride in lieu of a class. I rode about 3 miles around my neighborhood and then came back and headed to my home gym.
I've taken a Soul Cycle class before and there's a portion of the class that incorporates light weights to work the arms. I wanted to replicate this at home as best I could so I grabbed my weights and did tricep kickbacks with a pulse, bicep curls with a pulse, and shoulder presses with a pulse.
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I continued this sequence for three reps and my arms were definitely feeling the burn.
Day 3: This weight-training workout was more my speed
I woke up feeling good and not that sore so I was excited to take on today's weight-training workout.
When Flay is in the gym lifting weights, he does full-body workouts involving bicep curls for the arms, military presses for the shoulders, as well as moves on the Bosu ball — which looks like a rubber exerciseball cut in half — to test his balance.
I would rather break up the muscle groups by different days instead of working my whole body, but I went into this workout with a positive attitude. I began with three sets of 12 bicep curls and tricep kickbacks to work the arms. From there, I moved onto shoulder presses and did the same amount of reps and sets.
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To continue working my upper body, I used my stability ball in lieu of a Bosu ball and did push-ups on it, which was extremely hard. I only got through about eight reps before needing to rest my noodle-like arms.
Next, I did a variation of squats, lunges, and banded work to burn my lower body. I know I'll definitely be sore come tomorrow.
Day 4: This swimming-inspired workout was brutal
Similar to Ramsay's workout routine, Flay also loves to incorporate swimming into his regimen so I found a swimming-inspired workout for today.
I started with 30 seconds of single-arm strokes with resistance bands. From there, I did 30 seconds of squat jumps with my arms overhead. I was already feeling the burn but I pushed to continue.
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Next, I did another 30 seconds of chest flies with the same band before moving onto flutter and scissor kicks to work my abs.I grabbed my 10-pound dumbbells and did 15 reps of walking lunges with an overhead press, then 15 Russian twists, and lastly 20 seconds of supermans with flutter kicks.
This workout made me wish I did an actual swimming workout instead, which could have been easier.
Day 5: I opted for a run so my muscles could have a rest today
I was feeling really sore from the past two days of workouts so I figured I'd do cardio today to give my muscles a break.
I went on another run and struggled through most of it. I didn't realize just how sore I was until I began this run — my back, legs, and abs hurt.
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Once I got back, I foam rolled to relieve my achy muscles since I had two more workouts to get through this week.
Day 6: My stamina felt like it improved over the week
I was feeling stronger and I even think my stamina improved over the course of this week.
I went for a longer bike ride today and surprisingly, it felteasier than my shorter ride earlier in the week.
Afterward, Iused my 5-pound weights to increase the intensity and did a series of push-ups, tricep kickbacks, and shoulder raises. I did three sets of 20 reps and I felt the burn with today's heavier weights.
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Day 7: I did a full-body workout to end the week on a strong note
To officially end this week of workouts, I decided to do another full-body weighted workout.
This week left me feeling strong and my arms even looked a bit more toned. I decided to use heavier weights for today's sequence of squats to a press, deadlifts to an upright row, squats to a bicep curl, and a 60-second plank.
These compound moves simultaneously worked my upper and lower body. Although it was a shorter workout compared to the others this week, it was probably one of the most intense ones.
After reflecting on the past two weeks, I preferred Flay's routine over Ramsay's
I genuinely enjoyed the past two weeksfollowing Ramsay and Flay's workout routines.
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Both chefs follow very similar workout plans involving a lot of runs and swims. I've probably never ran or biked as often as I did these past two weeks.
Ramsay's routine was more focused on cardio and endurance training, which was mainly bodyweight exercises. Between the runs, bike rides, and zero weights involved, I grew tired of Ramsay's regimen and I found myself wanting to lift a weight halfway through the week.
On the other hand, Flay's week of workouts also involved a lot of cardio — but it did include weight training which I always appreciate. Either way, both workouts left me sore but felt doable for all fitness levels.
Click to read more celebrity workouts that we've put head-to-head.