Malaika Arora, Shilpa Shetty might be the fittest women in Bollywood. And they're in their 40s

Bringing beauty, hard work and experience to the table, women celebrities over 40 are breaking through the age ceiling. With their seemingly ageless physique, a new guard of stunningly fit women — Malaika Arora, Shilpa Shetty, Sushmita Sen, Karisma Kapoor, Kajol — is redefining expectations of the midlife body. In films, on television, in the news media and in public life, these women — all of them mothers — are transforming our notions of a woman’s figure and inspiring a proverbial jaw drop with their fit-at-forty bodies.
Think of Shilpa Shetty, with her lithe legs, Kajol’s lean, elegant beauty, Karisma Kapoor’s defiantly adolescent figure, after two children, Malaika Arora’s hourglass curves and Sushmita Sen’s slim physique and sculpted arms.  The expectations for women over 40 used to include the inevitabilities of a slowing metabolism and decreased muscle tone as they enter perimenopause and menopause.  But these highly-dedicated women represent the new ageless body. If you too wish to step up your game, and be fitter than you ever have been, read on. Here's how Malaika Arora, Shilpa Shetty, Sushmita Sen, Karisma Kapoor and Kajol stay in shape:

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Shilpa Shetty
There's no doubt Shilpa Shetty has one of the fittest bodies in Bollywood. The 44-year-old actor-turned-reality TV-judge and author, who recently launched a fitness and wellness app — The Shilpa Shetty app — keeps her figure in flawless shape by following regular workouts. An advocate of daily physical activity, she does cardio, light weights and yoga. Recently, she appeared in a magazine cover shoot wearing figure-hugging ensembles, showing off her sculpted arms, strong abs and those jaw-dropping legs that have no age. And then there are her much-talked-about Sunday binge Instagram posts — a series of mouth-watering videos, where the star shows the world what she's cheating on her diet with each weekend. Her mantra? A cheat meal every now and then is perfectly acceptable, as long as you work it off and eat healthy the rest of the week.

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Malaika Arora
She may be turning 46 in 10 days, but Malaika Arora is still in that same lean shape from 20 years ago. Fortunately, the former MTV VJ is open about her fitness regime. Her secret? The reality TV judge prefers to mix things up when it comes to her workouts, choosing between Pilates, repetitive cardio, and yoga. With a philosophy of "your body is a temple and you should respect it," Malaika is the real deal when it comes to all things healthy. Malaika has been known to exercise a couple of hours a day, six days a week, combined with good old clean, healthy living. Malaika credits yoga for her core strength and flexibility. She said in a 2018 interview, "Suryanamaskar is a full-body workout as it massages, detoxifies, and stimulates almost every organ of the human body. It improves blood circulation and brings a glow to your face. It is an incredible link between the warming-up poses and the intense yoga asanas. For me, Suryanamaskar is my complete workout package."

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Karisma Kapoor
We think Karisma Kapoor is actually aging backwards. It's been more than 20 years since she was a movie regular, and the mom of two somehow looks almost exactly the same. And if her impossibly chiseled abs are any indication, staying in killer shape is a huge factor. For that, Karisma credits her healthy diet and she makes working out a priority. For her, fitness is only one part of the equation. Diet is as — if not more — important. There is a perception that a lot of models and actresses starve themselves. But that’s not always the case. Karisma makes healthy food choices and eats foods that properly fuel her for the day. Her diet reportedly includes six to seven small yet balanced meals in a day. That being said, Karisma does rely on a few workout tricks to take care of herself: yoga, for one.

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Kajol
Not every 40-something can say that she and her 16-year-old daughter are doppelgangers, but Kajol and Nysa Devgn look like twins lately. What keeps the actress looking so good? We're not totally sure how this industry icon looks almost exactly the same as she did when she burst onto the scene in the '90s, since she stays pretty quiet about her fitness regime. But her healthy diet — including fish, paneer, eggs, nuts and lean chicken— and intense, calorie burning, and muscle toning exercise regimen — endurance training, yoga, lifting and squats — play a role, revealed Kajol's personal fitness trainer and health consultant, Shereveer Vakil, in a Filmfare interview.

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Sushmita Sen
Soon to be 44, Miss Universe 1994, Sushmita Sen, looks astonishingly trim and strong. Look closely at those envy-inducing gym selfies, and you'll find a triumphant tale of survival and grit — a slip disc injury at the age of 31 almost curbed her workouts for good. Refusing to succumb to the restricted mobility that came as the result of her back injury, she slowly charted her path back to peak fitness with help from her personal trainer, Nupur Shikhare. Today, you'll find Sushmita acing many different forms of suspension training, including aerial silk yoga. Her trainer revealed in a Vogue interview that Sushmita is also proficient in workout forms like callisthenics, knuckle push-ups, combination martial arts, aerial silk yoga and strength training.