Shape Magazine - Interview Holly Marie

Who isn’t obsessed with Pretty Little Liars. Back in its fourth season, the shows twists and turns and all-star cast makes it easy to keep coming back to Rosewood for more.

Holly Marie Combs (who plays smart and sexy mom Ella Montgomery to Lucy Hale’s Aria) is one of the many reasons we keep tuning in. “You definitely start to get an idea as to who the good guys and the bad guys really are this season. It's exciting and as surprising as ever,” she says. “We are sworn to secrecy. Contractually. But I can tell you I am A. Just kidding....”

Though she can’t spill secrets from the show, she can spill her own. We caught up with the star to find out her own workout obsessions, celebrity body crush, and more.

1. She and her boyfriend hike every morning.
“We live in the mountains with hiking trails so we have no excuse not to,” says Combs. “I don't count miles. I feel I've gone far enough if every muscle in my body feels awake with circulation but not to the point where I feel I have worn myself out.

2. She doesn’t push herself through workouts like she used to.
“At this point in life I have realized that the next forty years need to be about maintaining my muscles, joints, and posture. I don't push my body through workouts as I've done in last 39 years like to ‘ask’ my body to do things now instead of ‘telling’ or forcing my body to do something now.”

3. She’s a big fan of Pilates.

“In between my first and second child Pilates helped my body a lot. In between my second and third I had to amp it up a bit with kickboxing training, which I did until I was six months pregnant with Kelley,” she says.

4. She’s super impressed with how healthy the PLL’s are on set.

“All the girls (Lucy Hale, Ashley Benson, Shay Mitchell, and Troian Bellisario) are so great when it comes to taking care of themselves. My generation was, um, different. We (not naming any names) would play pool, shoot darts, and drink beer then roll in at 5:30 am with a Venti something, order from In-N-Out for lunch and do it all again the next day,” Combs jokes. “The PLL's roll in with green tea and coconut waters, vegan lunches and juice cleanses. Best of all they are strong, not just skinny. They are fit and devoted to their own health. They are impressive individually and as a group. Lucy keeps trying to keep me up early to try her favorite spinning place. I'm scared! Our set is amazingly healthy. They have really healthy snacks at all times. Lucy and Troian are vegetarians. There really is never any junk food around, thankfully.”

5. She gets sweaty to Metallica.
On her playlist? “I’ve got Matt Kearney, Radical Something, and a little Metallica thrown in for good measure,” she says.

6. She loves all things sushi.
“I’m definitely a sushi person. I know I can eat a lot and still be fairly healthy,” Combs says. “I was a vegetarian through many of my teen years and easily revert back to that occasionally, but my immune system is usually happier with a bit of real meat. I would love to learn [to make my own sushi] when I locate some spare time. It would be nice to buy my own fish. To know exactly how fresh it is and precisely where it comes from.

7. She doesn’t love beets but will never give up potato chips.
“Beets just aren't my thing. I can't get into them,” Combs admits. “A lot of my snacks are healthy. I love things like hummus, carrots, and celery, but I will never give up potato chips.”

8. She admires Gwen Stefani’s physique
“Gwen Stefani is my celebrity body crush,” she says. “She is a mom of two boys and she somehow finds a will and a way to be physically fit, write, tour, perform, and have a healthy marriage. All the while staying true to herself. Impressive.”

9. She loves her own body most because it allowed her to have children.
“It has carried me this far in life with fairly little trouble,” she says. “And it allowed me to have my three sons.”

10. She wishes she had no concept of time.
“[When I’m working out] I watch the clock like a hawk, painfully aware of every passing minute,” Combs admits.

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