Jennifer Aniston’s workout secret isn’t what you think (her trainer reveals the fitness rules she swears by)

Some weeks, your workout enthusiasm just ghosts you. You want to get fit, you even mean to get moving, but somehow… it just doesn’t happen. If that sounds like your current gym vibe, Jennifer Aniston’s trainer Dani Coleman has some refreshingly sane advice: chill out and start small.

“I always tell clients to aim for three to four workouts a week,” says Dani, who’s the head trainer at Pvolve (yes, the same brand Aniston is obsessed with). “Four is a trainer’s dream, but three is way more realistic with people’s schedules.”

Basically, she’s saying: don’t let perfection get in the way of progress.

"Start small," Coleman told E! News. "It sounds so cliché and simple, but I’ll choose consistency over intensity any day for clients and I just want you to get into the habit and the practice of adding daily movement into your life. Consistency over intensity and start small—scale up."

Translation? Don’t come in swinging like you’re training for the Olympics on day one. It’s not a fitness bootcamp montage—it’s real life. And pushing too hard too fast is actually one of the biggest mistakes new exercisers make.

“People try to dive in headfirst and take on too much,” Dani explains. “But it’s more important to honor where your body is right now. It’s the little choices you make every day that build the bigger picture.”

Her golden rule? It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Motivation might get you started, but it won’t always stick around. So dig deeper—figure out why you want to work out, and keep that in your back pocket for those low-energy days.

Speaking of which, Dani is also a big fan of listening to your body. If you’re dragging, don’t feel guilty about scaling back. “Whether you’ve got 30 minutes or you’re running on fumes, it’s okay. You don’t always need to be at 100 percent,” she says.

Some days you’ll show up with a full tank. Other days, you’ll roll in with just 50% energy and a crumpled ponytail. Both are valid. And both can work.