If you’ve seen Hustlers or any of the promotional trailers — Jennifer Lopez’s new movie about a gang of strippers who do what it takes to get money flowing — then you’ll know how bodaciously ripped she is.
While we think all bodies are beautiful, attaining that level of fitness isn’t easy — and we give her major props for it.
And not for nothing, Jennifer is 50 years old. While age is but a number, the body is still a quirky biological beast that does wonky stuff — making it harder and harder to get and stay fit with each passing year.
Her diet tricks (check out her 10 day no carb, no sugar challenge) can be followed, but are pretty extreme. Her workouts? Advanced Zumba instructors and athletes would have trouble keeping up.
Now, we know she’s got millions of dollars and a whole team of people helping her. But dancers, actors, and singers — oh, you know, like the triple threat that is J-Lo — have to train hard for tours, movies, and performances, which is where peak fitness and nutritional savvy come into play.
Eat crap, and you probably won’t be able to perform in front of thousands of people or stay up all night shooting a film.
It’s a privilege, of course, but it’s probably super daunting, too.
We scoured the internet everything our fitness queen has said about fitness, health, and nutrition, for a little inspiration.
According to Harper’s Bazaar, it’s not just genetics when it comes to Jennifer’s insane six-pack. Nope, it’s all hard work, sacrifice, and dedication.
She maintains serious clean-eating and fitness routines. And she means business.
J-Lo also still considers herself first and foremost a dancer.
“Dance has always been a huge part of my life and taking the time to move my body and do something that’s so good for me is key to my happiness. And I really believe that when you take care of yourself and work to stay healthy, you’re better able to take care of those you love. So working out is definitely a priority for me,” she told Hello!, a weekly magazine in the UK.
She also explains how she’s never struggled with accepting her body type.
In 2010, she said, “I’ve never looked at my body in a negative way,’ she told us in 2010. ‘I was always very comfortable with who I was. Confident.”
“In my family, curves were glorified and part of the culture,” she told InStyle. “It was just like, ‘Jennifer has a big butt, and it’s good.'” Not only that but as a teenager, she never idolized size 0 models who were often on the cover of fashion magazines.
“I didn’t realize what I was doing,” she says. “I was just being myself,” she continued.
She has loved and embraced her body through pregnancy and cringe-worthy questions asking if she was worried about embarrassing her children because she flaunts her curves.
In that interview with Complex interview, she slammed the question asking, “I’m not allowed to be sexy because I’m a mom? It’s like, how do you think I got my children?”
“At the end of the day, they care more about me being there, taking care of them, than if I’m sexy in a video. And I’m not saying that one day they may not be like, ‘Mom! Why did you do that?!’ But I don’t think that in 10 years I’m going to be doing that either,” she added.
Even while she was expecting and her body was changing daily, she accepted her size was would change.
“When I got pregnant, I remember watching my back, belly and butt grow and thinking, ‘I will never be the same again.’ Then I remember right after the twins were born having that weird jiggly belly — and kind of loving that, too,” she said in an interview. “Because I earned that jiggly belly. Then came trying to get my body back into shape and how long that took. A whole year.”
Let’s start with her eating habits.
Okay — try not to cry here. Remember, Jennifer’s got cameras in her face every single day, so of course, she’s gonna be more strict than the rest of us. But still — it’s inspirational.
First, she cuts out the crap — entirely.
According to People, celebrity trainer Tracy Anderson said, “It’s all organic and it’s all very well thought out, with the balance of very high-quality proteins and a lot of nutrient-dense food… everything is fresh.”
That means no refined foods or unhealthy choices.
You won’t catch her eating Wonderbread or a plate of starches that have no nutritional value. But you will catch her doing food challenges which require to cut out just about everything else.
It’s not about not eating. It’s about eating smart.
As Jennifer said to Hello!, “Most restaurants offer healthy, low-calorie meals so I watch for things on the menu that fit my lifestyle. I’ll have a salad or some fish with veggies. And I make sure I drink lots of water throughout the meal.”
Protein is her go-to food.
To beat the cravings for not-so-healthy foods, she goes for tons of proteins (like fish and quinoa) which keep her feeling fuller longer.
She piles on the veggies, too!
According to the Independent, Jennifer sure does eat her greens. She adores “asparagus, Brussel sprouts, broccoli and kale.”
There are some quality carbs in there, too.
According to Prevention Magazine, Jennifer eats brown rice and sweet potatoes when she wants to carb up in a healthy way.
And some snacks. If you can call them that.
Okay, so she’s definitely NOT munching on gooey candies or warm donuts, but she does snack. It’s just that she snacks on cut veggies and fruit. “Protein is my go-to whenever I start having cravings….It fills me up and keeps me full longer. It’s a great muscle fuel,” she told Hello!.
Let’s not forget about the magical H20.
According to Hello!, Jennifer is all about getting adequate hydration. Yep, she drinks tons and tons of water.
This is probably why she looks half her age, too.
“Drinking plenty of water, especially before a workout, can help you push harder and get more out of your exercise routine,” Jennifer told Hello!.
Oh, and there’s one more thing: No caffeine. Or alcohol.
Yeah, this sounds kind of rough, we won’t lie. Our morning coffee is kind of everything. She says, however, that she does drink decaf, according to Hollywood Life.. Whew. We were beginning to think she’s a robot.
The alcohol thing, though? Not a drop.
According to the Independent, she doesn’t really have any vices — no drinking and no smoking. She says that this helps maintain her oh-so-glowy skin (and it shows!).
Now we’re gonna dish on her workout routine. We can all take some pointers from Jennifer.
Jennifer’s not just healthy, she’s buff. That body takes dedication, time, and effort — and we applaud her for it.
First things first: She doesn’t view working out as a chore. To her, it’s a boost.
Most of us will do anything to stave off a workout. We’ll do it tomorrow, we plead with ourselves. Not Jennifer. This woman kicks ass all day every day — and it starts with her morning workout. She told Hello!,“I am 100 percent convinced that working out is part of what makes me so happy.”
She gets into the gym first thing in the morning, too.
According to Us Weekly, Jennifer doesn’t put off the gains: “I don’t like doing it later…It’s harder to get there when I have my day going already.” Is she not right?
Unsurprisingly, she loves to dance as part of her workout regimen.
“Dance has always been a huge part of my life and taking the time to move my body and do something that’s so good for me is key to my happiness,” according to Harper’s Bazaar.
But that’s not all. She mixes up her workouts, too.
According to Insider, Jennifer is all about weight lifting, bike rides, Pilates, and strength training. They say the key to stay fit is mixing it up — and Jennifer is proof of that for sure.
She’s got fitness trainers on both coasts, of course.
Jennifer works out with both Tracy Anderson (in Los Angeles) and David Kirsch (in New York). Both trainers push her in different ways.
And each trainer offers her different challenges, too.
According to Harper’s Bazaar, with Anderson, Jennifer does more relaxed freestyle workouts, while Kirsch has her do more intense workouts, like high-intensity interval training.
The pair incorporate arm weights with moves that corporate the butt, thighs, and core.
When it comes to working out her upper body, she does Spiderman pushups.
[fm_youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDhwoytH5fY"]According to Harper’s Bazaar, Jennifer’s go-to move is the Spiderman push-ups. Basically, you use a bosu ball to do pushups, working out the arms, core, and chest.
Kirsch workouts are all about kickboxing, circuit training, lunges, burpees, and defining her abs. They also incorporate HIIT workouts into her training to target the stomach.
Her trainer recommends doing it in a time crunch, too — so all you busy folks out, there take!
If you’re short on time, you can do it as a standalone move and feel like you accomplished something. You can also incorporate it into your regular upper-body or core workout,” Kirsh explained to SELF.
She loves a killer full-body workout, for sure.
Kirsch developed his signature 32-minute workout, which can be snuck into just about anyone’s day. The goal, he says, is less — but at a higher intensity, according to Insider.
If you can target your whole body in one go, why the hell not?
Kirch’s 32-minute workout uses all sorts of stuff, like medicine balls, resistance bands, and dumbbells. It’s a low impact workout, too.
She’s no stranger to popular sweat-inducing workouts.
According to Harper’s Bazaar, she works with Kirsch to do all sorts of stuff: kickboxing, burpees, and circuits. Whew!
So what about that famous butt of hers? Yeah, there’s a workout for that, too.
According to trainer David Kirsch, Jennifer does something called the “Platypus walk.” It’s basically walking forward and backward in a squat position.
Actually, there are a few workouts responsible for shaping her famous derriere.
According to Well + Good, Kirsch also has her doing squat jumps, lateral lunges, plie toe squats, and more. Are you sweating just thinking about it? Us, too.
But it’s really all about that Platypus walk, folks.
According to Kirsch, this walk is “the quickest, most effective workout for your butt,” according to Insider. Get into Platypus position, everyone!
They say the best workout motivation is to have a partner in the gym. And J-Lo sure does.
Jennifer works out with none other than her boo — Alex Rodriguez. In fact, he shared their super-sweaty couple’s workout onto his Instagram. #CoupleGoals?
Jennifer and A-Rod get into the gym together and absolutely crush it.
In an inspirational video that Alex Rodriguez shared to his YouTube, you can see the couple hitting the gym, laughing a lot, and turning the heat up to 11 in the gym.
[fm_youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ajYuzgeCQ0"]Can this couple’s workout be any more baller? We think not.
In this video, Jennifer Lopez thanks the actual Dallas Cowboys and CowboysFit for a great workout. Dream come true, right?
Have you seen Jennifer training for Hustlers? Talk about hard workouts.
There’s no denying J Lo was in insane shape before shooting, but she told Popsugar, “I knew I had to get in better shape the minute I decided to do Hustlers.”
The hardest part about all of her training? Learning to pole dance.
“It was awful. In your mind you think ‘Oh I want to learn how to pole dance, that sounds sexy! Oh wow, this is going to be fun,’ and then the reality of that steel pipe against your bones and trying to hold on with your inner thighs — it’s not fun,” she admitted. But like any type of training, “Once you kind of get a few moves down, you actually do feel really awesome.”
“It’s fine if you’re 5-to-10 years old and you’re trying to learn how to do acrobatics. When you’re my age, your body is like ‘What are you doing?'” she said.
“I don’t kill myself. I used to do more workouts when I was younger. I’ve learned how to do it smarter now,” she added.
In a video shared by Jennifer Lopez herself, she shows you her grueling Hustlers training regimen. It’s pretty amazing that she’d had no prior experience.
Can we all agree that pole dancing is basically an Olympic SPORT, friends?
It’s HARD. Did you know that there are pole dancing classes pretty much everywhere? Here’s why:
“Pole dancing strengthens muscles, joints and connecting tissue. During a pole session, you’ll put less stress on your joints than you would if you were running or doing an aerobics class,” according to Pole Fit Freedom.
Since you are required to work your upper body, core and thighs, by lifting your own body weight for extended periods of time while climbing up a vertical pole with no foot-holds, it shouldn’t be a surprise this is a full body workout.
According to the same site, “all of your muscles are being worked so the blood is flowing to all of them and this is a great cardiovascular workout.”
The increased cardiovascular health, means having a lower risk of heart disease, strokes and heart attacks.
If you’re still on the fence, “pole dancing can burn the same number of calories in 30 minutes as aerobics or callisthenics” and will lead to a more sustainable weight loss over a long period of time.
And, we’re honestly down for anything that’s improve the quality of your life, build up our self-confidence, and that has psychological and emotional health benefits.
Lifehack, also claims the workout also helps prevent osteoporosis later in life by not putting huge stress on your joints, like other forms of exercises do, like running.
…and it might make childbirth less painful!
“Pole dancing develops exceptionally strong back and abdominal muscles, which helps minimize back pain during pregnancy and actually helps you have a smoother and less painful childbirth,” the site reveals.
While we’ve been flocking to the star for decades, unsurprisingly, she’s got a celeb following, who see her as an inspiration.
Game of Thrones star, Emilia Clarke, recently revealed the superstar inspired one of her most daring looks.
During a red carpet interview before the Emmys, she shared her thoughts about Hustlers and her look.
“I think that J.Lo in ‘Hustlers’ is the greatest introduction of a character I have ever seen,” Clarke said.
“I heckled in the cinema — I’m English, I don’t do that, but I did — so J.Lo is my inspiration for this evening. I plan on channeling her all night long,” she continued.
The fangirling was mutal, as J-Lo reposted the interview on her Instagram account.
“When the Mother of Dragons meets #Ramona,” she captioned the post. “I love u @emilia_clarke,” she captioned her post.
Clarke also gave Lopez a shoutout in her own Instagram post, describing her look for the night.
We can learn plenty of lessons from our girl J-Lo.
Staying fit isn’t just about making movies or being on-camera. It’s about treating yourself with respect and love, through all the decades of your life. And J-Lo has proven that it pays the heck off.
Exercise is about loving your body. Not hating it.
Staying fit lowers your risk of heart diseases, strengthens your bones, and supports your cognitive function, according to Medline Plus.
If you want to do your own Jennifer Lopez workout, you totally can!
[fm_youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ktf7-TwhKZY"]Try the workouts above, or follow the video above. Kirsch himself leads the video, so you know you’ll get a full-body, super fun (and super intense) workout.
Channel Jennifer when you need a little boost.
Don’t skip a workout, get it done first thing in the morning, and find a buddy to hit the gym with you.
Thinking about following jumping on the pole dancing band wagon?
There’s are a ton of resources, beside just watching the movie, that’ll encourage you.
And according to the pole dancing community, they’re welcoming to all, “supportive, non-judgemental, and caring.”
Here are a few Facebook groups for pole dancers to join:
