Anytime a woman makes a living using her body, people are inevitably fascinated by what she eats and how she works out. Just read pretty much any article written about Victoria’s Secret models..

I’m completely guilty of this type of scrutiny of my fellow womankind, but I never really considered porn stars’ physical characteristics in this way.

Then last week Gabrielle Union appeared on Conan O’Brien’s show and told him that the porn stars she sees working out at her gym (she recognizes them — wink, wink) inspire her to work out harder. She even follows them to the juice bar to copy their vegan-food-ordering ways. “I’m on the porn diet!” she proclaimed.

It was a funny quip and it got Union a lot of attention, but then I started really thinking about it. Absolutely nothing is left to the imagination in porn, and you see every inch of these women’s naked bodies, often in positions that aren’t so flattering. The assumption — and there have been plenty of ex-porn-star memoirs to fuel this — is often that drugs are prevalent in the industry and everyone stays fit by having coke-fueled orgies and plastic surgery. This could very well be the case, but the fact that some porn stars are working out at Gabrielle Union’s undoubtedly upscale LA gym aroused (heh) my curiosity about these mystical creatures/caricatures: How does a porn star stay in shape?

I tracked down four adult film actresses — Dana de Armond, 34; Asa Akira, 29; Chanel Preston, 28; and Jessie Andrews, 21 — to ask. And surprisingly, their routines are more Goop than 50 Shades of Grey. (Well, except for their descriptions of which sexual positions are the most difficult and calorie-burning. Hint: Try a strap-on.) Read on to hear their fascinating conversations about body image issues, their conflicts with food, and the pressures they experience working in the porn industry.