Craig Melvin didn’t reach “Sexiest Man Alive” status just by sitting on the couch — he had help from a famous workout.
The TODAY co-anchor recently won the “hotter than your cup of coffee” morning host category in the People’s Sexiest Man Alive Readers’ Choice poll.
It may have helped that Savannah Guthrie encouraged viewers to “vote early and often” after he was nominated last month. But guests on the show also couldn’t resist asking Craig about how he accomplished the feat and stays in shape.
“Tell us what you did, I think people want to know,” NBC News medical contributor Dr. Akshay Syal teasingly inquired during a segment about exercise goals for every age on Friday, Oct. 23. The inquiry prompted laughter from TODAY’s Dylan Dreyer and Laura Jarrett.
“Pilates — a lot of Pilates, because I was having issues with my back and my core,” Craig answered.
“You too can win the award if you do Pilates,” Syal jokingly told the viewers.
Pilates, named after founder Joseph Pilates, focuses on exercises to strengthen and tone the core — which includes the abs, back, hips and glutes — plus the arms and legs, explains TODAY Fitness contributor Stephanie Mansour, a certified personal trainer and a yoga and Pilates instructor.
Repeated movements work the midsection, which can be especially beneficial for people with back problems, she adds. The low-impact workout helped to cure her chronic back pain.
Pilates can be done on a mat or a reformer machine. When Craig previously tried the machine version, he called it “perhaps the most intense” workout he’d ever done, noting that it left him sore for three days afterward.
Mansour recommends these 20 simple Pilates exercises for beginners to strengthen the core, relieve back pain and flatten the stomach.