How Jennifer Lopez Gets Her Awesome Abs at 49
From her classic “J. Lo glow” to her toned body, actress-singer-dancer Jennifer Lopez, the OG triple threat, keeps defying age and gravity. And no display was more evident than the “Shades of Blue” star’s recent 49th birthday in which she showed off her enviable abs in a string bikini.
“Current birthday situation… yup,” she captioned the photo that included her beau, Alex Rodriguez.
Lopez works out trainer David Kirsch who compared her to the “most amazing bottle of wine” who just gets better with age.
Here’s how she does it and why it — obviously — works.
She Does ‘High Energy’ Workouts
Kirsch shared with US Weekly that the workouts he does with Lopez are “high energy” without any rests. HIIT, or high-intensity interval training, is a popular training technique in which you push to your maximum effort through quick, intense bursts of exercise with little rest. This type of training keeps your heart rate up and burns fat faster, even hours post-workout.
To achieve those chiseled abs a la Lopez, including intense cardiovascular activity, like HIIT, is essential. In fact, research published in Medicine & Science in Sports and Exercise showed that high-intensity training significantly reduces total abdominal fat, in addition to abdominal subcutaneous fat and abdominal visceral fat.
She Does ‘A Lot of Planks’
According to Kirsch, J. Lo is doing “a lot of planks” during her workouts, including side planks, which help narrow her waist and develop and strengthen her amazing oblique muscles.
The plank is one of the best full-body movements you can do. A functional training technique, it strengthens your abs, back, and core, as well as your glutes and hamstrings, while also assisting with stability, posture, and spinal alignment.
A side plank not only works the oblique muscles, but it also strengthens your abs, back, glutes, and inner thighs. By doing a full-body functional movement like the plank you’re able to work more than one body group, which makes for efficient and effective workouts.
She’s Mindful About What She Eats
It seems that the star takes the phrase, “Abs are made in the kitchen” to heart. Kirsch revealed that Lopez is very “mindful” about what she eats. “She’s very, very disciplined about what she puts in her body and she doesn’t drink.”
The actress knows that no matter how many hours she logs at the gym or how blessed she might be in the genetic department (and we know she is!) that if you don’t stick to a healthy diet, your abs won’t show. This is why it’s important to eat a diet that’s rich in lean protein and tons of veggies, in addition to increasing your water intake and laying off the booze like Lopez.
Alcohol is a very concentrated source of calories, which means it doesn’t take much — for instance that extra glass of wine with dinner — to throw off your caloric intake for the day. In addition, alcohol acts as a diuretic, causing you to lose water, which you need in order to get lean and muscular. So swap up your glass of Chardonnay for sparkling water — your abs will thank you.
The Takeaway
We can all learn a thing or two from Lopez, especially in how she values her body. According to Kirsh, the star is “very mindful of her body being this beautiful temple and really respecting it.”
By sticking to fat-burning, strengthening workouts and a healthy nutritious diet — including zero to minimum alcohol — you too might be able to achieve those J. Lo abs.
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