Personal trainer Tracy Anderson has helped tone the physiques of A-list stars such as Madonna, Gwyneth Paltrow and Shakira. She tells Liz Lamb how to achieve the perfect body.

SHE’S nearly 50, but Madonna has the body of a woman half her age. Her sculptured muscles, toned legs and flatter-than-flat stomach seem to defy her years.

How does she do it?

The singer’s secret weapon is a 5ft blonde called Tracy Anderson, a woman who also has a body to die for and a burning desire for ladies the world over to achieve the same.

“I really want to get the message out there,” says Tracy, who is calling from her agent’s office in New York having flown in from LA the night before to attend her son’s choir concert.

“I want to help women change their lives and their bodies.”

While Madonna is her most high-profile client, it was actually actress Gwyneth Paltrow who discovered Tracy.

After putting on more than two stones following the birth of her son, Moses, in 2006, the star was eager to shift her weight ahead of filming Hollywood blockbuster Iron Man.

“It really changed her body,” Tracy says. “She looks amazing.”

Gwyneth then told her best friend about the fantastic results she had achieved and Madonna promptly signed up too. Tracy also works with Julia Roberts, Molly Sims and Shakira.

But she is adamant you do not have to be a superstar with a hefty bank balance and lots of time on your hands to achieve the body of your dreams

She says: “Madonna and Gwyneth are both career women, they both have children and they have just as busy lives as everyone else.

“Gwyneth doesn’t get to work her own film schedule. She has to be there when they tell her and she has to fit in around that.

“She has the same struggles as the rest of us.