By IRA DREYFUSS Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - Even though Hollywood stars are mortals like the rest of us, they look like they have bodies like gods. How do they do it?
Through a combination of motivation and self-analysis, according to Karen Voight, who has trained a number of stars.
"More people are looking at them and criticizing their every little weakness, so there is much more pressure," said the Los Angeles-based aerobics teacher, writer and video star.
Just the same, motivational techniques that work for the stars also can work for the rest of us, Voight said.
Successful exercisers find their individual approach, she said: "The best thing to do is to figure out by process of elimination what you can enjoy pretty much, most of the time."
For entertainer Bette Midler, it was finding a way to make exercise fun, Voight said. Midler once joked in a step aerobics class, while hopping onto the platform again and again, that it reminded her of her career, she said.
For actress Stefanie Powers, it's the drive to be her best, combined with the wisdom to recognize what her best is, Voight said. "She's learned to work with her body at whatever stage she's at." If she doesn't kick as high as someone else, that's OK - she's kicking as high as she can.
The ability to choose an individual goal instead of setting someone else's body as the ideal is a mark of a successful exerciser, Voight said.
"Most successful people have figured out their strongest point," she said.
Stars already know how to find their niche, because it's how they set themselves apart in their careers, Voight said. But most other people don't think about the form of exercise they'd do best at, the trainer said. They instead join a program and try to fit themselves to it, whether or not it meshes with their needs. Needs should come first, she said.
For instance, a thin person could go easy on aerobics and work on adding muscle by working out with weights, while a heavier person might need the caloric burn of aerobics to hold the weight in check, Voight said.
Stars who are successful exercisers also take a more analytical view of their own bodies, she said.
Rail-thin supermodel Elle MacPherson gained about 25 pounds for the movie "Sirens" because her character was supposed to be "more voluptuous." But MacPherson was able to shed the weight later in large part because she never really felt it was part of her to begin with, Voight said. "The extra weight was not something she owned," she said.
And actress Diahann Carroll was able to concentrate on making her thighs more firm in part by seeing them as something she needed to change, not a condition of her life, Voight said.
"She would bring it up," the trainer said. "It was not an apologetic thing. It was, 'OK, this is a part of my body I am not happy with. Can we do a bit more?' "
But there are limits to using Hollywood as a model for the perfect body.
The stars have support systems that the rest of us don't have. For instance, a celebrity often has a personal assistant to make sure that the workout is scheduled, that the equipment is ready and that anything else that's needed is also there. "Everyday people don't have that luxury," Voight said.
Also, part of those well-photographed good looks may result from good lighting and camera angles, "and there's a lot of retouching done," she said.
Another part may be plastic surgery - taking off flab here with liposuction and adding fake bulk there with implants, Voight said. "It's a myth to think it was all done with exercise," she said.
So people who want to look like a star can use this as a way to get started, but they are better off in the end if they decide what their own bodies should be, Voight said.