Meghan Markle’s intense fitness routine revealed by former trainer

As the daughter of a yoga instructor, Meghan Markle grew up with health and fitness at the forefront of her mind.

While she’s an avid fan of therapeutic activities such as pilates and running, her former trainer has revealed that she also became very adept at weight-based workouts.

Craig McNamee, founder of Catalyst Health in Toronto, became acquainted with Markle three years ago while she was filming Suits in Canada.

Markle’s fitness levels were already of a high standard when she enlisted McNamee’s help, so he devised a series of workouts that could challenge her.

The former actress’s frequent running and yoga meant that she was “already in fantastic shape,” he told Women’s Health. “So it was up to me to take it to the next level.”

McNamee did this by incorporating circuit-based strength training into her workout regime.

“When she gets to the gym, there’s no real complaining,” he said. “She gets down to business right away and really enjoys it.”

McNamee would meet up with the future royal three to four days a week for training sessions that would last approximately 45 minutes.

He focused on putting Markle’s entire body to work by having her do a high number of reps using lighter weights.

“Generally speaking, we had a full-body approach,” he said. “And since Meghan was onscreen, we really focused on posture.”

“Our big focus with all of our sessions was to not be too repetitive and really create a dynamic workout with a lot of variety.”

One of the circuits that McNamee would have Markle do included five exercises done consecutively, followed by a 45-second rest. The circuit was then repeated two or three more times.

The first exercise was a rear-foot elevated split squat and press, which involves holding a dumbbell in each hand above your shoulders, placing the top of one of your feet behind you on a bench and then simultaneously lunging and lifting the weights above your head.

The second exercise was a single-leg kettlebell deadlift, which engages your core and puts your balance to the test.

This was then followed by dynamic plyo step ups and then TRX tricep extensions to challenge your arms and core.

The last exercise of the circuit was hanging abs raises, which McNamee described as “advanced”.

While McNamee and Markle are not currently training together, the pair do still keep in touch.

“Meghan is dedicated to her health, it’s a big aspect of her life - so for her, now it’s about keeping up with the workouts we did together, and making them count,” he said.