Gabrielle Union posted a video of a 6:30 a.m. workout on Wednesday with her favorite workout partner and husband, Dwyane Wade, with the caption, “How I stay motivated.” With her classic sense of humor, Union makes exasperated faces at the camera as she teases, “Why do you work out like that, Gab? Oh my god, you work out sooo much!” The answer? Union simply points at Wade strutting by shirtless while text on the screen reads, “Just trying to keep up witchu playa.”
This isn’t the first time Union has called out Wade as her motivation. In a recent post, she took a moment to get sappy (in the best way): “When I wanna give up, I just look to my side and get that push and smile from @DwyaneWade and I thug it out.” Union points out that intimacy can take many forms. She goes on to say those 6 a.m. sweat sessions are the couple’s private time before the house wakes up, “to love on each other and love on ourselves.”
Wednesday’s workout video shows the two using a stability ball to level up their planks — but with a twist, literally. With both elbows on the ball, Wade was instructed by a trainer (who’s outside the shot) to rotate his upper arms in circles. Union takes a different approach on the same move — pulling resistance bands towards her body instead of moving her elbows in circles — for a dynamic plank pose that works both her abs and biceps. The couple also took a moment for some cardio, dancing to Beyonce’s “Love On Top.”
Beyonce also made a (vocal) appearance in another recent workout post by Union, crooning motivation from her new single “Break My Soul.” The video, posted last Friday, shows Union crushing a montage of impressive exercises: running on the treadmill and doing resistance-band push-ups, cable machine back flys, Bulgarian split squats, deadlifts, ab wheel roll-outs, and more. “Beyonce got me in a chokehold,” Union writes in the caption, followed by eight dancer emojis. We love a confident woman ready to celebrate in a party dress — especially the Prada fringed knit dress she wore during Milan Fashion Week.
If you want to follow along with the “Bring It On” star’s workout, she notes that you can see her full routine on FitOn, the free fitness app, where she collaborated with trainers Gregg Miele and Quinn Fischman from Heart & Hustle Gym in LA.
The 49-year-old also used this workout montage post to get candid about menopause and share her experience with hormonal changes. “My weight fluctuates due to perimenopause and my hormones,” she wrote in the caption.
Perimenopause is considered the transition to menopause and can last from four to eight years. During that time, estrogen levels begin to drop, which leads to weight gain. According to Mayo Clinic, you may need to add additional exercise to your regular routine as you approach menopause. Union says it was suggested that she give up gluten, dairy, alcohol, and caffeine to help regulate her hormones and lessen her symptoms, including memory fog, moodiness, insomnia, hair loss, bloating, and “all the other fun side effects.”
Followers flocked to the comment section to thank Union for acknowledging the reality of perimenopause. Actress Essence Atkins commented, “As always — it’s the honesty for me.” While Union says she stuck to the no gluten and dairy, she signed off with, “I’m ya know, human. I reserve the right to [fluctuate].” We love the authenticity.