Celebrities and Fitness

Extract from Times Online On Celebrities and fitness.

September 06, 2003
The Bodyshapers
Lifestyle gurus

MADONNA
Queen of fitness faddism
Not many 45-year-old mothers of two get voted the most popular fitness role-model in magazine polls, but then Madonna‘s obsession with keeping in shape — from her strict diet to her rigorous routines — has given her an amazing ability to popularise previously obscure activities.

Claim to fame: There is the music, of course, but Madonna’s fads give her wannabes so much to wanna be. Ms Ciccone can inspire acres of news coverage with her latest enthusiasm, whether it is Ashtanga yoga, Pilates, or simply a three-hour workout. She even conceived her first child, Lourdes, with the assistance of her former fitness instructor.

Lasting legacy?
A nation of middle-aged yoga-strained casualties who never had Madonna’s natural flexibility.