She's approaching the big 5-0 later this year, but gym addict Madonna still has the body of a woman half her age. Whilst earlier this year, the mysterious bruises under her eyes sparked speculation she'd gone under the knife in a bid to slow down the ageing process, there's simply no denying that she's looking her best ever, just in time for the launch of her latest album, Hard Candy, and upcoming world tour. In short, the Queen of Reinvention has done it again!

Fitness Freak
In a frantic bid to roll back the years, Madonna remains nothing less than 100 per cent dedicated to her super-strict workout regime. Keeping her limbs lithe and her washboard tum in tip-top shape is, she insists, simply down to sheer hard work.

With a new album launch and a multimillion-dirham tour on the horizon she enlisted the help of celeb fitness guru Tracy Anderson to help maintain her athletic physique. Together they religiously follow a hardcore exercise plan, working the lotus position, doing the latest dance floor moves and pounding the park pavements six days per week.

Getting In The Guru
Fitness trainer Tracy Anderson is famous for her revolutionary exercise regimes which promise to whip clients into shape quicker than they can say "power pilates." Madge first heard about Tracy from pal Gwyneth Paltrow who hired her in a bid to shift her baby belly after giving birth to Moses... with instant results.

"I had an amazing trainer and worked out twice a day and did dance cardio and felt like a complete nerd and I just really worked hard. I got into shape," said Gwyn.

Macro Measures
Madonna sticks to a super-strict macrobiotic diet - so restrictive that even a slice of toast with jam is considered sinful!

Her diet is crammed full of lean protein, tons of grains and only organic fruit and vegetables. Shying away from even the occasional indulgence, she never touches junk food and says, "I don't really eat food in restaurants - you can never be sure what's in it, can you?"

Sound a little too extreme for you?

Tracy's Top Tips

Instead of monotonous workouts at the gym, Tracy creates her own fitness methods based on pilate techniques combined with choreographed dance sessions and aerobics. She swears that if you workout at the gym using traditional machines "you'll get tighter and toned, but you're not going to go down a size. I'm doing something totally different."

Instead, she bases most of her workouts on Pilates-esque routines on a machine she created called the "Hybrid Body Reformer", which has a moving pulley system to work the muscles from different angles, and promises clients can lose nine inches in their first 10 workouts!

1 With half an hour of your favourite songs on your iPod, hit the treadmill, running for one song, skipping for another, and sprinting for the next.

2 If you don't want to bulk up but want to build muscle tone, never work out with weights heavier than 1.5 kilos.

3 For maximum results, follow a combination of toning - waking up muscles rarely used with regular high-intensity cardio workouts.

4 At the gym, alternate a resistance class with an intense dance-cardio workout - take a ballet class, but do it with one kilo weights strapped to your ankles to tone up your legs.

5 Doing the same exercises over and over bulks your muscles. It's important to change your rotations and hit your muscles from different angles.