Carrie Underwood’s favorite workout is super fast and intense

Simple is not the word you would use to describe most celebs’ fitness regimens. But for megawatt singer Carrie Underwood, that’s just not the case.

Underwood’s favorite workout is Tabata, AKA rapid-fire HIIT drills developed in Japan, because they’re known to get your heart-rate up quickly and boost your metabolism. “It’s great because you only have to focus on one thing [at a time]. You can pick like 5–10 moves and keep them all pretty simple. And by round four you’re burning,” she tells me at the Calia by Carrie Underwood Mother’s Day campaign launch on May 3 in New York City.

“It doesn’t have to be complicated.”

Her favorite go-to drills? “I love your basic moves like squats and push-ups, and I’m working up to doing a pull-up, and just kind of basic stuff with weights,” Underwood says. She prefers to stick to her tried-and-true routine (and often works out with trainer Eve Overland on Skype.) “I feel like everybody is always looking for like the thing, or the classes or whatever it is that’s going on,” Underwood says. “It doesn’t have to be complicated.”

Another place you can find her breaking a sweat? On the playground with her son, Isaiah. “I always try to make the most of whatever I’m doing in my life and just squeeze it in,” Underwood says. “My son loves to go to the park. And I’ll go there and I’m like there’s a monkey bar, I’m going to do five pull-ups. Why not? You just fit them in. There’s a step, there’s a bench, let’s do some dips. He’s having fun, and I like doing those little things to make my life better.” Who’s feeling the fitspo? 

These are the fitness routines Blake Lively and Emma Stone followed to prepare for physically demanding film roles.