Gentlemen prefer body-builders! Pictures reveal how Marilyn Monroe kept her iconic figure in shape with weights and a bizarre diet

Marilyn Monroe became world-famous for her curvy figure, but it may be surprising to know that keeping that alluring hourglass involved a lot of work. 

Just before she hit it big in 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes', Philippe Halsman photographed her for LIFE magazine, taking a few candid shots of her daily workout routine. 

One picture of Monroe in a hugging white dress made it onto the cover of the April 7, 1952 issue, while the shots of her lifting weights in a terry-cloth bikini were left on the cutting room floor - rarely seen. 

 

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Health conscious: In an early photoshoot, Marilyn Monroe is pictured working out with weights at home

 

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Cover girl: The pictures were taken by photographer Philippe Halsman for LIFE magazine. She made the April 7, 1952 cover

 

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Glimpse: The candid shots of Marilyn working out didn't make it to the magazine, and have rarely been seen

The black-and-white photographs show a very-serious Marilyn performing squats and military presses with a bar, and bench-pressing small weights. 

She then cracks a smile mid-handstand and gives a come-hither look while relaxing on the floor. 

At the time of the photoshoot, Marilyn was not yet a household name but even then she was beginning to use her wiles on men. 

Halsman later wrote about the shoot and talked about being quite enamored with his subject. 

'She flirted with all three of us,' Halsman said. 'And such was her talent that each of us felt that if only the other two would leave, something incredible would happen. Her sex-appeal was not a put-on - it was her weapon and her defense.' 

 

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Come hither: Halsman later wrote about the shoot, saying Marilyn was extremely flirtatious with him and the other men in the room

 

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Gymnast: Marilyn giggles as she tries out a handstand

 

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More than just a sex symbol: Halsman noted seeing several intellectual books scattered across Marilyn's cheap apartment on the outskirts of LA

But her cheap apartment on the outskirts of LA also held clues that she was more than just sex appeal. 

 

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'The Talk of Hollywood': The pictures were taken for the April 7, 1952 cover story of LIFE magazine

'What impressed me in its shabby living room was the obvious striving for self-improvement,' Halsman wrote. 

'I saw a photograph of Eleanora Duse and amultitude of books that I did not expect to find there, like the works of Dostoyevsky, of Freud, the History of Fabian Socialism, etc. On the floor were two dumbbells.' 

Marilyn detailed her health regimen later that year in a September 1952 interview with now-defunct Pageant Magazine. 

'Frankly, I’ve never considered my own figure so exceptional. Until quite recently, I seldom gave it any thought at all,' a humble Marilyn said. 

'My biggest single concern used to be getting enough to eat. Now I have to worry about eating too much. I never used to bother with exercises.'

She went on to explain that she spent about 10 minutes every morning practicing 'bust-firming' exercises with small weights - but she maintains she's not a fitness-freak. 

'I don’t count rhythmically like the exercise people on the radio; I couldn’t stand exercise if I had to feel regimented about it,' she said. 

Monroe also talks about her diet, which others told her were 'absolutely bizarre'. 

For breakfast, Monroe drank a glass of warm milk with an egg whipped as well as a multivitamin. 

'I doubt if any doctor could recommend a more nourishing breakfast for a working girl in a hurry,' she said. 

 

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Bizarre breakfast: In an interview with Pageant Magazine in September 1952, Marilyn said she drank milk with an egg whipped in for breakfast each morning

 

 

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Routine: Marilyn also revealed that she did 10 minutes of a bust-firming exercise each morning

 

 

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Relaxed: But Marilyn also said she didn't like to make her exercises seem to regimented

 

 

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Balanced: Marilyn often treated herself to a hot fudge Sunday after a long day of work

 

 

 

The actress completely skips talking about lunch, but says her dinner is almost always the same - some sort of protein with raw baby carrots. 

'I must be part rabbit, I never get bored with raw carrots,' she wrote. 

But she made sure to save room for dessert. 

'In recent months I have developed the habit of stopping off at Wil Wright’s ice cream parlor for a hot fudge sundae on my way home from my evening drama classes. I’m sure that I couldn’t allow myself this indulgence were it not that my normal diet is composed almost totally of protein foods.'