Joey King, 24, has the perfect hack for getting herself out of bed each morning: She just thinks about her two beloved dogs, Fable and Jesse.
“The best part about having animals in your home is that they need exercise,” she tells Women’s Health. “Even when you’re feeling groggy and don’t want to get up, you have to take the dogs for a walk.”
The actress’s past few months have been surprisingly busy. She reprised her role as Taylor Swift’s muse in the “I Can See You (Taylor’s Version)” music video in July, picketed in the SAG-AFTRA strike, and then got married to her partner of four years, Steven Piet, in September.
Oh, and she also adopted a new puppy named Fable.
The actress sat down with Women’s Health to discuss her daily wellness habits, and how her furry friends improve her overall health.
She starts and ends each day with a 30 minute walk.
Joey has had a dog her whole life, so her pets are integral to her daily habits. The very first thing the actress does when she gets out of bed is take her dogs for a walk.
“It’s such a nice way to start the day,” she says. “It forces you to get your legs moving and get some Vitamin D.”
Each day also ends with another 30-minute walk with her pups. “I love taking them for hikes because it’s just so cute to watch them sniff everything,” Joey jokes. “I could sit for hours watching them sniff.”
The actress rescued both of her dogs. And they don’t just get her out of bed, they also help boost her mental health and keep her super active.
In fact, Joey had such a positive experience with pet adoption that she was inspired to partner with Hill’s Pet Nutrition to encourage other people to do the same. “It’s the most rewarding feeling in the world to watch [my dogs] transform before your eyes into these beautiful, happy, funny animals,” she says.
She loves weight training.
When it comes to workouts, Joey is really into lifting heavy. She says it helps stabilize her back and builds strength.
“Weights have always been my favorite because I find it to be the most enjoyable and I see the most change in my body,” Joey says. “If I had to choose one workout for the rest of my life, I think it would be deadlifts.”
And her workouts are no joke. You can catch a peek of the actress crushing some sets on her IG.
Joey also has a super-accessible “personal trainer.”
The actress doesn’t like to stick to any one routine.
“I get bored really easily if I do the same thing over and over again,” Joey says. “I’m not one of those people who can go to a class and have that be my workout four times a week.”
So, instead of relying on her own creativity when she’s pumping iron, Joey prefers to look up workout videos on YouTube. That way, she can easily switch up her routine.
“I’ll literally just Google a workout, and [do] the first thing that comes up,” she says. “There’s this 30 minute kettlebell workout I love that gets me sweating.”
And she’s not kidding. If you’re up for a quick sweat, you can follow along yourself. No expensive personal trainer required. Here’s the vid:
This content is imported from youTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
Joey’s go-to video is great for beginners. In the video, the trainers start with some warm-ups before gradually working kettlebells into a series of squats, lifts, and lunges. Plus, the weight’s shape provides a very unique and targeted exercise for your entire body, experts previously told Women’s Health.
Happy kettlebell swinging, Joey!
News Editorial Assistant
Olivia Evans (she/her) is an editorial assistant at Women’s Health. Her work has previously appeared in The Cut and Teen Vogue. She loves covering topics where culture and wellness intersect. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, running, and watching rom-coms.