J.Lo's Trainer Shares Exactly What She Does to Get Her Abs—And It's No Joke

From Oprah Magazine

This summer, Jennifer Lopez turns 50. To commemorate the multi-hyphenate's birthday on July 24th, we’re counting down with 50 Days of J.Lo, a celebration of the woman who’s shown us all by example how to be ageless—inside and out.

If you've ever seen a photo of Jennifer Lopez and her 42-pack abs, you won't be surprised to learn that the nearly-50 year old has an extremely disciplined exercise and diet regimen. The Hustlers star has earned every single one of her muscles through sweat equity and strong will. Though we wish we could tell you "It's easy! Any gal can do it!" or "This tiny trick will get you J.Lo's jacked biceps in seconds!" after one conversation with her trainer, Dodd Romero, it became clear that J.Lo's intensity can not easily be duplicated. However, her moves and her diet tricks (hello, 10 day no carb, no sugar challenge) can be followed if you've got the resolve. Here's what J.Lo's workout routine and a day in the life of her body entails.

Like a true athlete conditioning herself before the big game, Lopez—who is in the middle of her nationwide "It's My Party" tour—likes to get an exercise session in before taking the stage, Romero, who was A-Rod's trainer for years, tells OprahMag.com. "It's her pre-game warmup," he says. Her performances, of course, complete with cardio-filled dances that would make even the most advanced Zumba instructor blush, count as yet another hardcore workout.

She trains for roughly an hour, four to five times a week, focusing on different body parts each time, Dodd says. Here's the breakdown of some of her moves.

J.Lo's Typical Ab Routine

Set 1:
50 hanging ab raises.
50 rope crunches
50 incline sit ups with a 45 pound plate.

Set 2 :
Everything from the first set but with 35 reps.

Set 3:
Same thing, but with 21 reps this time.

Oh, and Dodd says she doesn't take breaks between each set. Did you hear that? Jenny from the Block is a machine.

J.Lo's Lower Body Routine:

Again, while her workouts are always evolving to keep things fresh, Dodd told Us Weekly that when they're not focusing on abs, a leg day might involve five sets of the following:

• Supported lunges with dumbbells into weighted rope crunches

• Single dumbbell sumo squats into hanging leg raises

• Weighted leg presses into calf raises

• Seated leg extensions into weighted lying leg curls

• Weighted hip thrusts into calf raises

For her bum, she also does something that her other trainer, David Kirsch, refers to as a "platypus walk," which he says is "the quickest, most effective workout for your butt." And, the good news (if you like pain) is that you can do it anywhere. He also told People that she's a fan of his 32-minute express workout routine, which you can read more about here.

And as for arms...

While we can't confirm that this is still a part of her daily routine, Kirsch told Self that he's done variations of "Spiderman Push-Ups" with J.Lo, and it's the total body move he recommends for all of his A-list clients. Here's a tutorial:

If you recall, she's also taken up pole-dancing for her upcoming role as a stripper with steel grit in Hustlers, which she said is no joke. "It’s like acrobatic; it’s [working] different muscle groups,” she told Jimmy Kimmel. “The things [pole dancers] do with their legs and everything, and go upside down…it’s hard," she said, adding, “I have a lot of respect for people who do the pole.”

Exhausted yet? Now comes the (sort of) fun part! Food...

J.Lo's Diet

Those killer abs are built on fresh foods and high protein. "She needs really good fuel for all the things that she's doing," another trainer Tracy Anderson told People. "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."

When she and A-Rod aren't challenging each other (and the internet) to a no carb challenge, she'll enjoy the occasional complex starch like oatmeal with fresh berries, sweet potatoes, brown rice, quinoa, and rice bread.

"She stays away from processed foods and gets her nutrients from whole sources," Dodd says. Those include, egg whites, white meat turkey, chicken breast grass-fed beef, and salmon or sea bass for healthy fats. Once a day, she treats herself to a "handful" of nuts. Don't worry though: she does allow herself one cheat day a week—which probably includes a chocolate chip cookie, which A-Rod once said is her guilty-pleasure.

When she is being hyper-regimented (read: no sugar) but still craves a sweet, Dodd tells us that her snacks include sugar-free Jell0, sugar-free popsicles, protein shakes, and protein pancakes—made with protein powder, no flour, and topped with sugar-free syrup.

And instead of caffeine, she drinks tons of tons of water. Oh, and she also skips alcohol.

Feeling inspired? Overwhelmed? Remember, just like Rome, J.Lo's body wasn't built in a day.

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