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Chip and Joanna Gaines have stepped up their fitness game.
During a recent appearance on the “Stronger” podcast hosted by Don Saladino, the couple discussed how they started working out together, with Joanna sharing that it’s “crazy” that they had “known each other for almost 25 years” and had “never once worked out together.”
“I think I started thinking, ‘How in the world have we never worked out?’ We never even talked about it. I mean, he trained for a marathon, but I was pregnant,” she said. “We have never talked about ‘Oh, let’s do this fitness thing together. Let’s do this.’ We’ve never had that conversation.”
Chip echoed his wife’s statements, adding that in their 25 years together, “you think at some point that thought would have been introduced to our ecosystem.”
CHIP AND JOANNA GAINES’ MAGNOLIA NETWORK BACKLASH PUTS HOME RENOVATION STAR IN HOT SEAT
Chip and Joanna Gaines started working out together recently. (Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SiriusXM)
“I would take on an assignment, whatever the assignment would be, and same with you, then I would be like, ‘I want to do that, let’s do that together,’ but … it was my thing, and you supported me through the whole thing,” he said. “I remember we had to modify the food that I was eating, or I tweaked my ankle …and you were so helpful through the whole thing, but it’s not like we started going on long jogs together.”
It all changed when Joanna reached out to Saladino, who, aside from podcasting, is also known for his work as a fitness entrepreneur and coach who has trained celebrities and athletes.
Joanna recalled knowing she needed to invest more time in her wellness routine, and that she “needed like a kick in the butt” to get her going.
“This year, seeing our parents, especially like my dad, he just actually had a knee surgery, knee replacement surgery on Friday, a hip replacement a couple of months before,” she said. “Just watching my parents, I keep thinking, ‘OK, I’m now at the age where I need to choose.’ It’s no longer ‘Oh, I hope I’m healthy for a long time,’ I actually have to start doing something actively and intentionally.”
Joanna was encouraged to exercise after seeing things her parents are facing as they get older. (Getty Images)
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The former HGTV star first shared that she and her husband began working out with Saladino in a January 2025 Instagram post which featured a video of her doing push-ups and other exercises in the gym.
In the caption, Joanna shared that she and Chip made the decision to start working out together “for the first time in our marriage” back in September. She recalled not being able to do even one push-up on the first day due to a back injury she sustained while in college.
“A few months in and I’ve never felt stronger,” she wrote. “Today I did FIFTY push-ups! So I’m celebrating and putting this out there… I’ve let time, age, injury, and busyness be my excuse of why not to workout. I’m finally over the ‘it’s too hard’ hump and I’m ready to go! Who’s with me?!”
When speaking with Saladino on the podcast, the two opened up about how the most difficult part of exercising as an adult is comparing yourself to your younger self. Joanna admitted to being motivated by the idea of getting back to the way she looked as a teenager, but that working with Saladino has helped her focus on “forward motion.”
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Chip and Joanna found it hard not to compare themselves to their younger selves. (Weiss Eubanks/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)
Chip agreed the comparison to his younger self can be challenging, especially when struggling to do something that used to be easy for him.
“I was just naturally gifted in all these things, and once it became a challenge to do them, I got worse and worse at it, which is not great, because if you can only do it when it comes easy to you then it’s not really a thing. It’s not really a gift or a talent. It’s when it’s hard that you then still show up,” he said.
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