TOP TRAINER - JORDI VILASUSO

Actor Jordi Vilasuso hustles to stay in shape for Hollywood.

By Sebastian del Marmol; Photography by Dania Graibe

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You can take the actor out of Miami, but, as Jordi Vilasuso proves, you can’t take Miami out of the actor. On his latest visit back home, the daytime Emmy-award winning actor wasn’t off the tarmac at MIA for half an hour when he knew he had to make a quick stop at La Carreta for a croqueta and cortadito.

But don’t let his guilty pleasures fool you, this rising star knows that to make it in Hollywood these days you have to hustle, and for that you have to be in shape. Jordi spends at least two hours driving to and from meetings in Tinseltown but sneaks in nutrition with protein shakes and power bars when on the road.
 
As a teen, the now 27-year-old used to over train, looking to build excessive muscle mass. “I had this whole idea that what it meant to be a man was to be big and bulky. But when I got to LA I realized it limited me in terms of parts I could play – only jocks or thugs,” Jordi says.

Since then he cut down on his heavy lifting and focused on integrating mind and body into his fitness routines and added more stretching, cardio and yoga. A leaner and wiser Jordi – he credits yoga with helping his acting craft – is now focusing his efforts on the silver screen after spending three successful years on the soap Guiding Light (where he won his Emmy) earlier in the decade. Fans of the Coral Gables-raised actor can see Jordi as “Diablo” in the feature film La Linea (The Line), which stars Ray Liotta, Andy Garcia and Armand Assante out this year.
 
Jordi’s three exercise tips:

1. Don’t forget to breathe: Sounds simple enough but he says forgetting to breathe when working out can be counterproductive to your training goals. “If you don’t provide enough oxygen to your muscles it will create stress on your body instead of relieving it,” he says.

2. Yoga time: Three or four times a week, Jordi leaves his cell phone in the car for 90 minutes and dives into his yoga. By holding difficult yoga positions for extended periods, Jordi says you learn how to focus and concentrate. “You have to stay with it. Otherwise you’ll fall off the pose and onto your (butt).”

3. Stretch: While most stress stretching before a workout, Jordi says it’s just as important for him to stretch out afterward, even if you do so in a steam room. “I’ll be the weirdo in the back of the steam room touching his toes or in the pigeon pose."

Jordi knows bulky doesn’t mean better. In the May/June issue of SOBeFiT Magazine, he and Editor-in-Chief Marta Montenegro show you how to close the trunk as they demonstrate the latest Top Trainer routine.