While it’s a little too late to start prepping for your summer body (I mean come on ladies, it’s already June), it’s never too late to start working towards your overall body goals. With consistency, you’ll build a stronger and healthier body that’ll last throughout the year. Here are the celebs whose bodies I envy most. To be honest, if I could take a body part from each of them and combine them into one, I’d create my dream body for sure!
J. Lo
Lo’s body is so sickening that she makes me ill! At 49, she has better abs than girls half her age; she is dedicated to keeping her body and overall health lean and clean. I won’t even sit here and write a rave review of her body, her pictures do enough justice. Instead, I’ll share her trainer’s insight into her strict yet admirable diet and workout plan. Ladies, feel free to copy and paste into your iPhone notes for future reference.
First things first, drinking water is key in her routine. "Drinking plenty of water, especially before a workout, can help you push harder and get more out of your exercise routine," she told Hello!. But while she drinks plenty of water, she doesn’t consume caffeine...or alcohol...at all, which is advice her nutritionist provided that she’s stuck to for keeping her body tight.
For food, she sticks to a balanced, nutrient rich diet, and has cut out all processed and refined foods. It’s all organic.
Now, onto the workout. Outside of her love of dance, the gym is what she says keeps her happy. Want to try and obtain a body like hers? Welp, here’s her go-to full-body workout:
- Wide Stance Squat
- Reverse Lunges
- Plank on a Medicine Ball - 30-second plank.
- Lateral Lunge
- Dumbbell Row to Tricep Extension - 10 reps on each side.
- Shoulder Taps
- Side Planks
- Overhead Slams with Medicine Ball
- Torso Rotation with Resistance Band
- Squat with Row and Bicep Curls with Resistance Band
- Tricep Extensions with Resistance Band
- Medicine Ball Sit-ups
- Weighted Jack Knives
- Russian Twists
- Push-ups with Glider
- Pike-up Planks
Let me know how that works out for y’all because this is one diet and exercise plan that WILL NOT work for me.
Eniko Hart
Wife of funny man Kevin Hart, Eniko goes hard in the gym during what appears to be daily from her Instagram posts. She worked out pre, during and post pregnancy with her son Kenzo and her body has only transformed into something greater since giving birth. Her workouts focus primarily on the lower body with a series of bench presses, squats and leg exercises, all with the assistance of weights. She believes in doing things “the natural way,” sweating it out on the Stairmaster, doing jumping lunges with weights, squats, the row machine, ball slams, ball tosses, toe-touches and a lot more. She’s a beast at it too! Her videos don’t even show her catching a breath. The results are a solid a$$ and perfect core.
Mary J. Blige
I guess divorce does a body good because after MJB left her (allegedly) trifling husband, she decided the best revenge was a snatched waist and abs of steel. At 48, Mary is looking better than ever before. The Queen of Hip Hop Soul gave the 4-1-1 on her reinvigorated body and style in an interview with SHAPE Magazine. She consumes low carbohydrates through eating a healthy breakfast, lunch, and dinner mixed in with protein shakes. And like most fitness and diet experts recommend for shedding pounds and keeping skin radiant, Mary also drinks a gallon of water a day to keep her system flushed out. The rest of her diet consists of meats, cheeses, greens and healthy fats while maintaining the carbohydrate levels at a minimum. Along with her diet, she also hits the gym; she utilizes my favorite workout of lifting weights three times a week and focuses on her arms, legs, and glutes. To keep her butt toned, she does a lot of squats and bench presses. She also does a serious cardio workout, running 4 miles, multiple days a week. “My main exercise is cardio,” she says in her interview with SHAPE. “The treadmill is fine but running outdoors gives me the best results. I try to log 6 to 8 miles a week. I could be in the worst mood, but when I do my cardio I feel much, much better.” Not to mention, her famous Mary bop she does on stage surely adds to her fitness routine. Go Mary!
Ciara
Ciara is the second coming of Janet Jackson in my book, in terms of both her dancing skills and her fabulous body. The mother of two was able to lose 50 pounds in five months after having her daughter Sienna. She told People Magazine “I would wake up, breastfeed, then get Future [her son] ready for school. Then after I take him to school, come back and work out. Then after I work out, breastfeed and go back and get Future from school. Come back and breastfeed, then go work out again." How was that possible? Like many others on this list, she recently revealed to the hosts of The View that after struggling to lose the final few pounds post birth, despite her crazy workout routines, she drank a lot of water - enough to support her ideal weight - to flush out her system and the weight fell off. In an interview with People Magazine, she revealed she was never a consistent gym chick and focused on “spot training” in between video shoots and performing, but now she understands that daily workouts are key. These days Ciara does a combination of several workout styles, from Tabata and plyometrics to weight lifting and cardio.She often works out with her football star husband Russell Wilson to stay in shape and focuses primarily on her midsection. And of course, she puts her all into her choreography. Her abs show it.
Apryl Jones
This former Love & Hip Hop Hollywood star took Instagram by surprise when she revealed her newly toned body last year. And like Mary J. Blige, her newfound shape came post breakup in the form of a revenge body. She did so organically through daily workouts, for 2-3 hours daily. According to an Instagram post, Apryl says, “…I have trained hard for 2-3 hours per day with intense focus. It has become a little bit discouraging to have people attribute my hard work and dedication to cosmetic surgery and synthetic injections. At the same time, so many of you have been so complimentary and encouraging and have even asked for advice on transforming your own bodies. I would love for you to come on this journey with me as I continue to become the best possible ME.” Her workouts include strength and weight training, squats, and cardio in between.
Karreuche Tran
Karreuche went from little booties matter to slim thick thanks to full body and weight training. She was tired of being skinny with “no meat” on her bones and decided to do something about it. With the help of a trainer, she has three major focus areas: abs, butt and overall toning. She opts for full-body workouts to get maximum results and does a mixture of squats, planks for abs and glutes, minimal cardio routines to avoid losing weight and some weight lifting. What I love about her workouts is that her trainer incorporates a lot of weightless exercises, forcing her to use her body weight as a tool to truly sculpt her body slowly, but firmly. As far as dieting, Karruche stays away from traditional diets because she’s prone to lose weight in the places that matter most to her. She happily partakes in carbs. "Diets don't really work for me. I want to be fit and have some meat on my bones. I stopped eating carbs and red meat for a month and a half, and I was like, 'Oh, no, I lost my butt!' I have to eat potatoes and rice and meat to bulk up. But I do try not to eat too much fast food."
Michelle Williams
This is for all of the skinny girls who think they can’t gain muscle, abs or a little apple bottom booty. I never thought that Destiny’s Child member Michelle Williams would ever form a “shape.” She’s always been naturally thin, straight up and down pencil thin. But through the workouts she shares on her Instagram page, you can see the toning as it forms. Her workouts incorporate a combination of weights, core fitness, use of medicine balls to increase strength and toning, and a little cardio. As a mental health advocate and someone who struggles with depression, Michelle began working out as a way to help control stress and anxiety. "I actually work out because of how I feel afterward. Yes, the physical results I see in the mirror are cool but the place I was in mentally, physically, spiritually, and emotionally in December (post a public breakup) is different from where I am today," she said in an Instagram post. Michelle is one who shows that working out is part of an overall lifestyle that includes great wellness habits.
Mya
For starters, Mya believes that a great body begins from the inside out and that you are what you eat. Her solution is to use food as medicine and she walks the walk through her life as a raw vegan. The 40 year old even has a line of vegan wine and a guide to transitioning to a vegan lifestyle (that you can download for free). Her workouts are versatile, telling VIBE Magazine in 2012: “Cardio is great. Elliptical, treadmill, biking and swimming, but that can be so boring. I find myself taking the stairs versus the elevator, when I can’t necessarily get to a gym. But I think keeping it fun, so it doesn’t feel like such a task, is where us ladies can feel motivated and be consistent. Grab a girlfriend or two, take a Zumba class, a pole class, go roller-skating. Have a girl’s night and play some Wii [fitness games], if the gym is not your deal. You’d be surprised on how things tone up from simple fun.” She sticks to those same workouts today, and looks great!
Angela Simmons
Angela has always been addicted to the gym. She told Vibe, “Working out is an escape from everything else I have going on. So, it’s an important part of my day for me.” With multiple trainers, she isn’t afraid to switch it up and does everything including jogging, spinning, boxing, strength training and yoga. Through it all, she has one goal: to build up and embrace her natural body, hence the hashtag she uses for her workouts: #builtnotbought, which is her new fitness movement.
Who embodies some of your celebrity fitness goals?
