How to Work Out Like a Porn Star

Stamina. Rigid diet. Train hard. Focus. Perform under pressure. This is what it takes to be an Olympic athlete… or a porn star.

Porn stars train their bodies—inside and out—to be the best. It’s not about sex that feels good, it’s about sex that looks good. It’s also a competition. The new talent needs to compete with seasoned pros and outperform them where possible, while the pros have to maintain and battle hard to keep their victories current. Sex on camera is a competitive sport.

Training for porn is a gradual endeavor. Sexual athleticism is built up over time; bodies gradually stretch and comply in ways that were physically impossible for newbies. Three years into my career, I won the “gold medal” of porn: AVN Female Performer of the Year. I was running seven miles a day and met regularly with a personal trainer. I maintained a strict no sugar, low-sodium, low-carb diet that made going to dinner with friends a potential catastrophe. The day before an anal scene I’d obsess over what I could or couldn’t eat. At first I’d refrain from eating at least 12 hours before the scene, then decided that was too risky. I never wanted to shoot a messy scene. A sex star must respect the far-fetched fantasy of clean anal. So I began starving 18-24 hours before the scene, a real issue when scenes were booked three to four days in a row. It was an unsustainable method—long-term anyway.

Few performers love doing squats in reverse cowgirl for 10 minutes—it makes your thighs burn while you sweat, but it looks good on camera. Porn stars don’t just have sex, they perform it for an audience, developing skills and performance techniques just like professional athletes. You can’t show up to work and phone it in expecting to win coveted awards and build a fan base. Yes, I said coveted. You would have to put in the hundreds of hours of Olympian sex to understand just how hard those performers work to do their jobs.

Before a sex scene, I’d lock myself in the bathroom with my self-made stretch-and-cleanse-kit. Enema bottles were rinsed and filled only with water, I’d chew up Imodium A-D (just to be thorough), and then begin the process of stretching out, starting with the smallest toy and working up to my largest. Sometimes this process was quick; other times it took so long the director would bang on the door because I was holding up production. Warming up before a performance can help prevent injuries but no one tells you this. Trial and error does.

The audience at the 2016 Rio Olympics was shocked when French gymnast Samir Aït Saïd missed his landing, broke his leg, and held the Jell-O-like limb up with a smile. Six years ago, renowned porn star Prince Yahshua suffered a similar career-devastating injury: breaking his penis while filming a sex scene (an incident he never foresaw).

“I almost died on set. If we’d waited five more minutes, I would have died on set from blood loss,” says Prince Yahshua. After an emergency surgery, dozens of stitches, and months of recovery, he wanted back in the game and was ready to perform again. He wasn’t going to let the fear of another injury stop him. “Most people run from fear, but me, I run straight to it… fear can be empowering.” Prince went on to win the “gold,” as a three-time recipient of the UrbanX Male Performer of the Year award.

Like life as a professional athlete, porn-related injuries are the gifts that just keep giving. I recently went to the doctor for what I thought was a new back injury. The doctor took an X-ray, and came back in disbelief of just how crooked my spine was. “Did you sustain a serious back injury in your youth?” I wanted to say, “Well, I was a porn star, so I sustained about 600 back injuries.” But instead I put on my friendly Midwest denial and replied “…not that I know of.”

Sometimes the only difference between rookies and professionals is focus; the ability to handle pressure and tune it all out is essential to performing. Male porn stars are expected to be at full mast for hours, while opening up for the camera, sometimes supporting the weight of their co-star in near impossible positions, and then produce the pop shot on command. Physical elements may not be enough in these situations.

Derrick Pierce, MMA trained athlete and renowned porn star, says performing XXX scenes often requires a high level of athletic mental capacity. “When the fight is slipping away most people will fold under the pressure, but that’s where a good performer—a good athlete—will dig deep, take a step back, refocus, and get back in the game,” says Pierce. “I just did a scene in the middle of the valley, in 105-degree weather for two hours in the sun, there were 20 people on set, and we were in Dungeons & Dragons-type costumes. That’s not a physical attribute—that’s mental—and the only reason I was able to finish that scene was because I had the mental fortitude to get it done.”

Adult actress Tasha Reign admits it’s a constant ongoing effort to maintain her appearance, staying in tip-top shape to get naked in front of a camera. “I meditate everyday and do Pilates three times a week or go hiking, and I eat well. I’m a vegan,” says Reign. “When I am in great shape or can go for 45 minutes straight without getting tired that makes my scenes better.”

When a woman on camera is bent over, she’s not just taking it: she’s arching her back to show off the booty, sucking in her stomach, extending her arms, lengthening her neck, tilting her chin (to avoid that double chin look even skinny people can get), angling her eyes to the camera without creasing her forehead, smiling like it’s the happiest day of her life, and moaning with pleasure she hopes sounds genuine. It’s complicated work that’s made to look simple.