The 79-year-old actress has followed this intense programme for decades.

Dame Helen Mirren shared the details of her rigorous exercise routine (Image: Getty)

Dame Helen Mirren has shared the secret of her exercise routine, which she has been following for an incredible six decades. The Oscar-winning actress has had a long and illustrious career spanning 60 years.

While she is well known on both the stage and screen, she has revealed she also takes great care to exercise regularly. Recently, she opened up about workout routine, which takes just 12 minutes a day.

It can be carried out at home, without the need for expensive equipment or gym memberships. Helen commented: “[Exercise] doesn’t mean joining expensive gyms.”

Speaking to Women’s Weekly, the 79-year-old explained that she was “a big believer in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) women’s exercise regime, which is 12 minutes”.

Known as XBX – or the 10 basic exercises – this programme became popular in the late 1950s.

Helen has been partaking in the XBX programme for years (Image: Getty)

It was created to improve the fitness of women in the Air Force, focusing on increasing muscle strength and endurance, flexibility and the efficiency of your heart. The XBX plan pamphlet says that more than 600 girls and women participated in the project’s creation.

How it works

As reported by Women’s Health, the XBX regimen comprises four charts of 10 exercises, each chart progressively more challenging than the last.

These charts are further categorised into levels – a total of 48 levels, with 12 in each chart. ”The time limit for each exercise remains the same in all charts, but the number of times the exercise is performed increases at each level within each chart,” the pamphlet says.