Juice cleanses, crickets, and a posture coach: Salma Hayek reveals her health secrets at 54

The actress has shared her secrets to looking youthful. Photo / Supplied

Now that the holiday season is coming to an end, many of us will be setting health and fitness goals for a New Year - and maybe we could learn a thing or two from Salma Hayek, writes the Daily Telegraph.

The actress, 54, shared bikini photos on Instagram, sparking questions about how she stays so in shape.

It's important to remember that Hayek has booked a leading role in a Marvel movie - this year, she'll appear on our screens as Ajak in the Eternals film with Angelina Jolie, Kit Harington and Richard Madden.

And we all know that Marvel expects its stars to be in peak physical shape - Thor actor Chris Hemsworth's personal trainer revealed his gruelling training regime last year. So it's fair to say Hayek has a few advantages when it comes to keeping fit. But even before she became a superhero, the mum of one has been very open about her diet and fitness routine and how she stays healthy.

She's a big fan of juices and is co-owner of Cooler Cleanse, which offers meal replacement juice cleanses to help with weight loss (note that some dieticians and nutritionists dispute how effective these are).

But Hayek has said the juice isn't necessarily the key to weight loss, but rather the cleanses help change her relationship with her diet, which as many of us know, can often be less than ideal.

"Cleansing is like my meditation," she said. "It makes me stop, focus and think about what I'm putting into my body. I'm making a commitment to my health and hitting the reset button."

And Cooler Cleanse's "post-cleanse" maintenance diet might reflect her daily diet. There are no preservatives, stabilisers, colourings, flavourings or additives. Instead of red meat there's poultry or fish, as well as no dairy, alcohol, wheat, eggs, or sugar, except from fruit.

She's also talked about getting protein from insects like fried worms and crickets.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Salma Hayek Pinault (@salmahayek)

When it comes to fitness, Hayek admits she's not a keen exerciser. She's spoken on Instagram about her preferred NEAT activities (non-exercise activity thermogenesis), like walking her dogs, dancing, and horse riding.

But when her acting roles require it, she does do strength and flexibility exercises, from HIIT to kickboxing and Pilates. Hayek is also a fan of yoga. She told People magazine: "I work with a woman in London who taught me how to hold my body in a way where the muscles are activated all day long. So even when you brush your teeth, you're working the muscles.

"It's restorative yoga. She taught me how to tone [my muscles] without clenching them. You relax them and focus on the parts that need to be used, but never with tension. If you're aware of your body, you'd be surprised by the effect it can have."

Hayek also revealed that massage helps keep her looking young.

"Massage oxygenates, activates the circulation, and keeps the muscles healthy and firm. I cannot tell you, even just for the lymphatic [system], what [facial] massage does for the face," she said.