Skip to content 
Gunnar Peterson is a world-renowned fitness trainer, author, speaker, creator of effective fitness programs, and developer of fitness equipment focusing on functional training.
He has worked with hundreds of celebrities and athletes to help them achieve their goals. Gunnar’s celebrity list includes Jennifer Lopez, Nicole Scherzinger, Jessica Alba, Sofia Vergara, Jennifer Aniston, Matthew McConaughey, Sofia Vergara, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, Billie Dee Williams, and Heidi Klum.
The fitness industry is full of people trying to sell you their success. They want to brag about how they’re the best and that you should believe them because they’re successful. However, it’s hard to know who we can trust and whether what they say is true.
Gunnar Peterson has been one of Hollywood’s most sought-after personal trainers for over two decades, but he isn’t selling his story as others do. He doesn’t need to because his resume speaks for itself.
Gunnar’s client list speaks for itself. Gunnar doesn’t need to prove his fitness credentials because they are rock solid. He is one of Hollywood’s most successful trainers who has worked with hundreds of celebrities and athletes, including some of the world’s fittest people.
Gunnar Peterson’s early years
Gunnar was born in Houston, Texas, to Gunnar James Peterson and Gunnar Sue Ellen Ashcraft. As a child, he struggled with his weight. His mother enrolled him in weight watchers when he was ten years old. Like most people, Gunnar struggled with fitness and learned to care for his body.
His early struggles caused Gunnar to take an interest in a fitness career. He wasn’t always Gunnar Peterson, the trainer to the stars. Gunnar was a very active child, and Gunnar’s parents enrolled Gunnar in various sports. He seemed to take naturally to health and fitness. Gunnar had to learn like everyone else, but he knew more and faster than everyone else.
By college, his body was less than 10% body fat. After college, Gunnar married Janet Crown. Together, they have three children. Unfortunately, the marriage would eventually divorce as the couple grew apart.
Gunnar Peterson, the trainer,
Gunnar graduated with a degree in Physical Fitness Psychology and Nutrition from Duke University in 1985. He is also a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), a National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) Certified Personal Trainer (CPT), and is certified by the American Council on Exercise.
Gunnar has gone from Gunnar the man to Gunnar, the trainer, because of his fitness knowledge and client list. These days, Peterson owns and operates a private training facility in Beverly Hills, California, where he works out with nine clients daily.
Hollywood and professional sports leagues recognize him for his functional training expertise and commitment to developing and implementing innovative fitness techniques. In addition, his client list has given Gunnar the ability and knowledge to write the best-selling book G-Force in 2005. The book focuses on the four F-words of training: Function, Foundation, Freedom, and Focus.
In addition, some of the world’s most prominent fitness magazines feature Peterson. His magazine appearances include Muscle and Fitness, Glamour, Clean Eating, Allure, Elle, InStyle, In Touch Weekly, US Weekly, Men’s Health, Women’s Health, and Self. His television appearances include The Today Show, Fox & Friends, CNN, CNN Headline News, The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch, Extra, shows for E! and VH1, and a fitness expert on reality television shows.
Not only does Gunnar write books and train famous people, but he also creates fitness equipment. With his fitness product development company, Outside Shot, Peterson started The Bottom Line, a body exercise machine; the RAC, an accessory that incorporates weighted upper bodywork with Spinning; and Hoop Hands, a basketball-specific resistance training aid.
Gunnar Peterson’s diet plan
Gunnar understands the importance of a diet. He doesn’t have a specific diet plan, but Gunnar shared some eating tips with Steve Edwards on LARadio .com. Gunnar’s top advice is to remove no food group from your daily diet.
Gunnar also tells people not to make their days about what they can’t eat. Instead, he recommends two to three servings of fat daily, much more than most people naturally eat in a day.
Gunnar doesn’t recommend overdoing it with fats, as the Keto diet prescribes. Instead, he recommends adding healthy fats to your daily diet because they’re good for your heart and brain.
Gunnar likes salmon because it’s a lean fish that Gunnar can recommend to anyone, regardless of their current eating habits. He also suggests adding nuts to your daily diet because they’re rich in healthy fats, and everyone already likes them.
Gunnar believes in a diet-based approach rather than an exercise-based approach to fitness. He says working out is a waste of time if you do not address nutrition, which Gunnar believes is 80 percent of the solution for getting in shape.
Focus on the nutrients, not the calories
Gunnar recommends eating as much raw food as possible, including fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds, because they contain the nutrients you need to live.
Gunnar says cooking destroys the food’s enzymes, vitamins, and minerals. He doesn’t believe in calorie counting because he believes you can eat whatever you want as long as you eat the right foods in the correct serving sizes.
Gunnar prefers to eat food based on his biochemistry rather than calories. He suggests eating smaller meals more frequently to stabilize glucose and avoid the sugar roller coaster ride.
Gunnar says to train to eat, which allows you to perform your workout, stay active, and burn stomach fat. Not eating destroys your metabolism, damages your health, and makes it more challenging to reach your fitness goals.
Gunnar Peterson’s workout plan
For Gunnar Peterson’s workouts, Gunnar is all about intensity. Gunnar doesn’t believe in doing the same training over and over. Instead, his workouts are constantly changing because he believes in muscle confusion, a workout theory that states that switching up your workouts will make your muscles work harder.
Gunnar takes a real-life practical approach to fitness. He emphasizes functional training. The purpose of fitness is to allow you to live an active life. A fit person can perform functional activities such as running, jumping, bending, squatting, and crawling when necessary.
Gunnar believes that if you do the same workouts week-in and week-out, your body gets comfortable and stops responding as it should. He prefers to focus on body weight and cardio rather than weights because Gunnar says it helps burn fat more quickly, giving his clients the body they want.
Gunnar believes that fitness is about more than just burning calories or moving weight from Point A to Point B; he says fitness goes beyond the physical realm and has a mental component as well, which Gunnar believes his strength-based cardio helps build.
No generic workout plan
Gunnar doesn’t tell his clients to follow an exact workout plan because he doesn’t believe in cookie-cutter fitness. Instead, he asks questions about goals, lifestyle, and what the client is looking for physically before he makes a plan.
Gunnar says many of his workouts involve only bodyweight exercises because he doesn’t want his clients to put too much pressure on their joints. Also, bodyweight exercises improve a person’s functional abilities.
Gunnar Peterson doesn’t think people should have to wear a ton of equipment if they’re doing bodyweight exercises for their workout. Instead, he says it’s important that his clients feel challenged because Gunnar believes fitness is about working hard, achieving goals, and having fun.
Gunnar believes that if someone doesn’t like their workout, they’re not going to do it. Gunnar’s workouts are about what the client wants and needs because Gunnar believes this will motivate them to make fitness part of their lifestyle rather than something temporary.
A Gunnar Peterson-Like Functional Fitness Workout
- Spiderman 4 sets; AMRAP reps, 30-second rest time.
- Burpees 4 sets; AMRAP reps, 30-second rest time.
- Bear Crawl 4 sets; AMRAP reps, 30-second rest time.
- Crab Walk 4 sets; AMRAP reps, 30-second rest time.
- Planks 4 sets; AMRAP reps, 30-second rest time.
- Running Jump Rope 4 sets; AMRAP reps, 30-second rest time.
- Walking Lunges 4 sets; AMRAP reps, 30-second rest time.
- Push-ups 4 sets; AMRAP reps, 30-second rest time.
- Squats 4 sets; AMRAP reps, 30-second rest time.
- Wall Sit 4 sets; AMRAP reps, 30-second rest time.
- Donkey Kick 4 sets; AMRAP reps, 30-second rest time.
- Battle Ropes 4 sets; AMRAP reps, 30-second rest time.
Note: AMRAP stands for as many reps as possible.
The last word on Gunnar Peterson, a world-recognized fitness trainer
Gunnar Peterson is a renowned fitness trainer and New York Times bestselling author. Also, he has been called one of the most influential trainers globally, with over 100 clients, including celebrities like Madonna, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Lopez, Ben Affleck, and Renee Zellweger.
In this article, we have explored his most outstanding achievements as a personal trainer and looked at his family life, which shaped who he is today. We hope you enjoyed reading about him! What does your experience tell you? If you or someone you know is looking to improve your health, share this article on Facebook or Twitter so that others can learn more about self-care.
