May 7, 2026, 4:06 pm | Read time: 4 minutes
Waking up one morning and being paralyzed–a horrifying thought that became a terrible reality for Hollywood star Hayden Panettiere. This happened to her exactly one year ago. In an interview, the 36-year-old revealed details about her paralysis and demonstrated some exercises that helped her fight her way back to her feet.
Since childhood, Hayden Panettiere has been in front of the camera, loving to do her own stunts–whether as a cheerleader, a figure skater, or in the action series “Heroes.” The actress is familiar with physical challenges and the resulting injuries. But then something completely unexpected threw her off course. “Last year, I struggled with an injury. I had a nerve injury in my lower back,” she said in an interview with “Women’s Health“. “One morning I woke up and felt only tingling from the waist down. I couldn’t move my toes and couldn’t lift my foot at all. No one could give me a proper answer. I sat there thinking, ‘Oh my God, will I be paralyzed for the rest of my life?’ Physically, it was definitely the scariest thing that ever happened to me.”
Back on Her Toes–Thanks to Barre Training
What helped Hayden Panettiere literally get back on her feet was a special workout: Barre. The training includes exercises inspired by classical ballet, often performed on tiptoes. The actress emphasizes that Barre and working with trainer Marnie Alton helped her recover from the injury and paralysis.
In a workout video from the interview, it’s clear that the exercises at the barre still challenge Panettiere. But she revealed how far she has come in recent months. While doing heel raises at the barre (alternating between standing on tiptoes and lowering the heels), Panettiere explained, “I really struggled to regain the muscles in my arches and ankles. The fact that I can do this again is crazy. I need to be able to wear high heels again–that’s the goal.” And she continued, “I have to hold onto the barre because otherwise, I can’t stand on my toes. I haven’t been able to do that for months.”
Close to the Finish Line
Hayden Panettiere is not quite back to her old self yet. But she knows she’s on the best path to getting there. “I am so blessed to have made it this far, to have recovered so much. It feels like I’m almost back to my normal self. But it also feels like the last stretch is now the hardest part. The closer you get to the finish line, the more difficult everything feels,” the actress described her current state and admitted, “I am a perfectionist and demand a lot from myself. That’s why it’s hard for me to have to put in so much effort and time to become as strong as I once was.”
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What Panettiere Learned from the Injury
The shock and struggle of the past months are evident in the Hollywood star, but so are newfound confidence and perhaps a bit of new wisdom. “Before this injury, I always took it for granted that I would stay fit. When I got the injury, I realized I had to work on myself mentally and push myself, especially when it gets tough. But I also had to learn not to let my ego get in the way and do too much, risking re-injury,” Hayden reflected on the past year. “My definition of being strong has definitely changed over the years. It used to be about being thin and petite. Today, it’s about staying strong and training all my little muscles and lengthening them. (…) It’s just so important to keep the muscles under tension so they hold the skeleton together. The stronger my muscles stay, the less likely I am to get injured doing stunts and wild athletic things.”
The Recovery Workout
Together with her trainer, Hayden Panettiere guided viewers through some of the typical Barre exercises that helped her recovery in the “Strong Like” video by “Women’s Health.”
The Exercises Featured:
- Deep Plié
- Heel Raises
- Diamonds (performing plié with heels on a Pilates ball)
- Diamond Pulses
- Plié Squat
- Curtsy Lunge (also known as Cross Lunge)
- Wide Stance Forward Fold