Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Favorite Workout Will Get You As Strong As Buffy

Photo: Getty Images / Tommaso Boddi / Stringer; Graphics: Well+Good Creative
Because I've (shamefully) never watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer (and yet I am about to speak enthusiastically about Sarah Michelle Gellar's workout), I decided to take a crash course by cueing up a montage of the hit show's opening credits on YouTube. I learned that Buffy Summers (Gellar) is the dictionary definition of a badass. Buffy slays indeed. And if her workout of choice is any indication, she treats her real-life workout sessions a lot like kicking demon booty.

Gellar, co-founder of Foodstirs baking company, tells Well+Good that her exercise of choice is Platefit, a 27-minute high-intensity interval training workout performed on a device called a Power Plate, which claims to "challenge you, strengthen you, and renew you" by moving in three directions at once (left to right, front to back, up and down). "The vibration activates your muscle reflexes, and during our workout classes, muscles are contracting 30 to 40 times per second," says the website. Basically, the machine creates an instability that's not dissimilar from the one you may experience on a Pilates reformer. Feeling slightly off balance means your muscles really have to get to work.

Currently, the studio has three California locations, offering classes at $17 a pop (not obscene in the world of boutique fitness). Platefit also offers sessions that target specific body parts, deep stretch options, barre and dance versions, and even bootcamps. Gellar's go-to is considered "vibration training," and its purported benefits are many. "Vibration training is more than physical fitness, it’s a way to better health: stronger bodies, stronger bones, brighter more glowing skin, and better sleep," reads the website. "We utilize the science of vibration to wake up your cells, increase circulation, drain and detoxify the lymphatic system, reduce inflammation, and accelerate recovery time." Plus, the whole experience is express. You can get your heart pumping for 30 minutes and then go about your day.

Depending on where you call home, you might not be able to get in on Buffy's most treasured workout just yet. But until the day Platefit expands, you channel that vampire slaying prowess into all your time at the gym. Challenge accepted.

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