Gillian Anderson has never been a gym bunny. Instead, there are two gym-free, affordable and efficient ways she stays fit – and neither requires much effort. Speaking of her preferred workouts, the X-Files star and mum-of-three, who turned 58 yesterday, previously told the Daily Mail, ‘I don’t try that hard to stay in shape.’
But while she might not be one for pushing herself, she does know how beneficial keeping active with age is. On an episode of How To Fail with Elizabeth Day, she shared that after decades of stubbornly rejecting exercise, since turning 55, she felt ‘ready’. ‘People talk about longevity and if you want to live longer or be able to pick up your grandchildren, and so in that context, I feel like: OK, I’m ready now,’ she said. ‘I am going to do it the way I want to do it.’
Below, find the two workouts she does right now, and everything she’s said about her routine.
Gillian Anderson’s workout routine NEAT exercise
On How To Fail, she shared that she had started to ‘work with a trainer on an app.’ ‘She sends me things,’ she explained. ‘You know, it’s even the smallest things such as not taking the lift, taking the stairs, you know, all the things that you hear.’
The type of movement she’s referring to is known as NEAT exercise. Standing for Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis, it’s the energy you burn through everyday movement that doesn’t require the time taken on planned workouts, like walking, gardening and doing household chores.
As Anderson explains, it might not feel like much effort, but everyday movement like this has a much bigger impact on your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) than your structured gym workouts. NEAT accounts for roughly 50% of the calories you burn each day; structured exercise typically contributes to only around 10%. It’s about finding more opportunities to move across each day – without having to carve out time for intentional exercise. Some examples include:
Washing the car Fidgeting Walking upstairs Walking the dog Carry grocery shopping Gardening Playing with children or pets Using a standing desk Walking to the gym, shops, office instead of taking public or private transport
Gisela Schober//Getty Images
Yoga
Yoga has been a two-for-one mind-and-body workout in Anderson’s fitness routine for years. She first mentioned it in an interview with InStyle in 1998, when she was explained she had been practicing since attending DePaul University in Chicago. ‘I remember it was 3 in the morning and I’d just come home and I was going to do yoga,’ she laughed. ‘I did this one posture that you’re not supposed to do if you had any alcoholic beverages. And I did it collapsed on the floor.’
One year later, she told Redbook she had been ‘doing yoga again for the first time in a long time’, adding that, ‘I always thought that unless I was sprinting and lifting weights, I wasn’t doing anything.’
In 2015, she told the Daily Mail: ‘I go through stages of yoga a few times a week.’ Just last year, she revealed to Elle that she still uses ‘meditation and yoga’ to connect her mind to her body, adding that ‘I do notice the difference when I allow myself the time to take that space and connect the mind and body.’
From attending university in 1996 to now, that’s 30 years of a regular yoga practice. And it’s no wonder Anderson has stuck with it: studies show that as well as calming your mind, it will boost flexibility, strength, balance and mobility – all especially important as we age. Double the benefits from a single workout.
Final thoughts
Anderson’s routine is a reminder that fitness doesn’t have to mean pushing your body to its limits or carving out hours per week for gym workouts. Her biggest priorities are making fitness fit seamlessly into her life and making it functional: she uses NEAT exercise to prolong her life and stay fit for grandchildren; practices yoga to bring her mental clarity; and she’s previously shared that she brings in a personal trainer when a particular acting role requires it. It’s about making it work for you.
As Women’s Health UK’s fitness director and a qualified Pilates and yoga instructor, Bridie Wilkins has been passionately reporting on exercise, health and nutrition since the start of her decade-long career in journalism.
After earning a first-class degree in journalism and NCTJ accreditation, she secured her first role at Look Magazine, where she launched the magazine’s health and fitness column, Look Fit, before going on to become Health and Fitness writer at HELLO!
Since, she has written for Stylist, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Elle, The Metro, Runner’s World and Red. Today, she oversees all fitness content across Women’s Health online and in print, spearheading leading cross-platform franchises, such as ‘Fit At Any Age’, which showcases the women proving that age is no barrier to exercise.
She has also represented the brand on BBC Radio London, plus various podcasts and Substacks – all with the aim to encourage more women to exercise and show them how. Outside of work, find her trying the latest Pilates studio, testing her VO2 max for fun (TY, Oura), or posting workouts on Instagram.