I recently had the chance to chat with Gunnar Peterson, trainer to the stars who has become somewhat of a star himself. He's been featured in too many magazine articles and television shows to count, and counts among his clients celebrities like Angelina Jolie and Hugh Jackman.

Immediately after we began to talk, it became apparent why he has so many fans -- he's tough, and he knows his stuff, but he's also really likable. After teasing me about how I could be working out back to back with Hugh Jackman if only I were in the area (at which point I just died, people -- just being near Hugh Jackman would give me a cardio workout!), we got into the good stuff, like which of his celebrity clients hit their workouts hard, and what we should be doing to maximize our gym workouts.

You know how some stars look amazing all the time, whether they're out promoting a film or not? Turns out that it's not magic. "Some are genetically geared toward being fit," said Gunnar, "but the ones who are consistantly in great shape work out hard." Of course, there are clients who only come in when they have a photoshoot coming up, or because their manager or agent made them, but Gunnar sees plenty of celebrities who are always ready to work up a sweat.
When asked who some of his hardest working clients are, Gunnar rattled them off: "Hugh Jackman, Sylvester Stalone, Angelina Jolie, Bruce Willis, and Kim Basinger. And Jennifer Lopez, of course," which got us talking about her recent triathlon. "She really trained hard for it," he said. "Wherever she was, she stayed with the workout. She might have only had 45 minutes or two hours, but she got it done."

He had plenty more secrets to share, so be sure to check back for the second and third parts of the interview this week!