HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — In Hollywood's competitive climate, accolades often go to performers who either pack on the pounds (think Renée Zellweger as Bridget Jones or Charlize Theron in "Monster") or let their frames waste away (Christian Bale in "The Machinist").

There's been another category at the movie theaters recently: the phenomenally fit.

Hilary Swank shows off a chiseled back as a boxer in her Oscar-winning performance in "Million Dollar Baby," Jessica Biel was a vampire slayer with deltoids to die for in "Blade: Trinity" and Jennifer Garner sported tightly toned abs as an action-hero in "Elektra."

The actresses won't get much praise, though, from the general public, whose sentiment runs along the lines of: "If I had a trainer and a personal chef, I'd be in the best shape of my life, too."

Not so fast, say the fitness consultants to these stars. It's true that celebrities enjoy perks, such as private training and nutritionists, and have plenty of time and motivation — such as big paychecks and costumes that leave nothing to the imagination.

But, the Laws of Physiques aren't suspended for the stars.

Swank, Biel and Garner earned their bodies the old-fashioned way: eating right and exercising. A combination of cardio and weight workouts were central to all three actresses' regimens.

All three women ate three moderately sized meals and two or three snacks per day, kept a close eye on portion sizes and drank plenty of water.

Having a trainer at your side is nice, said fitness consultant Bobby Strom, who helped whip Biel into shape for "Blade," but "I can't get on the machine and work out for Jessie. ... She has to make the commitment. She has to choose what she's going to put on her plate."

Biel echoed the same. She recalled that at the height of her training, women pulled her aside to ask, "What's your secret?" It was a question that Biel identified with — and resented just a bit.

"I was, like, 'Secret? You want the secret?' The secret is, there is no secret," Biel said. "There's no pill, there's no diet, there's no magic drink."

The trainers agreed to describe their clients' workouts for their big screen roles to show that there's nothing easy — or particularly mysterious — about getting in shape, no matter who you are.

And you don't have to spend as much time in the gym as the stars do, they said, adding that an hour's time, five to six days a week, will make a difference.

Before her latest role as a take-no-prisoners vampire slayer in the new movie "Blade: Trinity," Biel, 22, already had a body most women would covet.

Strom's assignment went beyond simply getting Biel into shape for a grueling, physical shoot in which the actress would perform her own stunts.

He also had to transform her lithe athletic body into that of a hyper-stylized vampire assassin with an hourglass figure.

First, there was weight training — something she'd never really done before — and she had to rev up her cardio activity with martial arts and kickboxing.

The toughest tasks, Biel said, were Strom's torturous jumping squats, which tightened up her legs and core muscles.

In all, she was working out and training about two hours a day, five to six days a week, including her fight training for the movie.

"I was just coming home and crashing. I had never really worked out that hard before. I don't think I dreamt once, I was just so tired," Biel said. "I was thinking, 'What have I gotten myself into?' "

A few weeks into the new regimen, Biel felt her body changing from the inside, but fretted that she wasn't seeing similar changes on the outside.

Eventually, she got a glimpse of herself on film.

"I said, 'Wait, that's me?' " Biel recalled with a laugh. "I felt like it happened overnight. I was working out and eating right, and working out, and nothing was happening. And then, boom, overnight, I had muscles!"

With "Blade" behind her, Biel has eased off the training, but still makes exercise a priority.

Now, though, she ratchets up the intensity and incorporates weight workouts into her routine — "I like the muscles."

Swank walked into the gym model thin, and struggling to keep weight on as she spent hours each week in a ring with boxing coach Hector Roca, preparing for her role in "Million Dollar Baby." Shooting was just nine weeks away.

"There wasn't a moment to lose," said Grant Roberts, who was hired to focus on Swank's nutrition and weight training. Swank, 30, was practically a vegetarian, too. "Honestly, I don't know how she was standing up, with all that boxing."

He immediately revamped Swank's diet so she could add the weight she needed to convincingly play a boxer, and give her the strength to survive workouts that sometimes lasted more than four hours.

While Garner and Biel were consuming just under 2,000 calories a day, Swank was eating up to a whopping 4,000 calories a day, nearly all of it carefully calculated protein and essential fats.

She often had to wake up in the middle of the night to down another protein shake to meet her caloric goals.

Swank said the biggest change was not in her body, but in her mind.

She credits her trainers with helping her to change her attitude in an old-school way, one that has long worked for boxers who need to conjure up the ferocity to fight.

She'd fire herself up with an internal pep talk while she imagined the fearsome boxer she wanted to look like.

"I'd be lying in bed, thinking, 'I don't want to do this, I don't want to get up' and then I'd start telling myself: 'If you want to grow, you've gotta get up. ... This is a great experience you've got here to get in shape and change your body,' and I'd really, really think about what I wanted to look like," she said. "By then, I'd jump out of bed."

She did the same thing with her weight training, which she found particularly challenging. She realized that when she found herself thinking, 'I can't do this, I'm too tired,' she dragged through the workout.

But when she took the time to change her attitude, or, as she puts it, "get out of my own way," she ripped through the same workouts with greater ease. "The mind is a very powerful tool," she said.

While the diet for Swank is too severe for the average person, Roberts points to it as an example of how powerful a tool food can be.

By the time the cameras began rolling, Swank had gained 20 pounds, nearly all of it lean, hard muscle.

When Garner was shooting for "Elektra," she had to be ready for hair and makeup by 5:30 a.m. Filming was unpredictable and often went far into the night, so night workouts weren't an option.

Instead, Garner would practically roll out of bed to meet Valerie Waters, who has been training Garner for years for her TV series, "Alias," at 4 a.m. The workout lasted 60 minutes, from warm-up to cool down, giving Garner just enough time to shower before dashing onto the set.

"You don't need to spend all day in the gym," Waters said.

Along with concentrated workouts, Garner is a big believer in Waters' nutrition plan and eats every three hours like clockwork.

The actress typically cooks for herself, so she knows precisely what she's eating and can keep an eye on portion sizes.

Meals revolve around small servings of protein and high-quality carbs, Waters said.

Waters recalled going to a movie recently with Garner, where all around, people were munching on popcorn and candy and slurping sodas. Midway into the movie, Garner, 32, pulled out a baggie she had packed with carrots and hard pretzels.

In other words, don't tell Waters that celebrities have it easy.

"Do you think that she really wants to get up at 4 in the morning? No," Waters said. "It's just as hard for her to get up after a few hours sleep as it is for everyone else. ... You still have to not eat the cookies. You still have to not have that glass of wine."