How Shakira Stays in Shape: Trainer Breaks Down Workout, Diet
Shakira has hips that don’t lie, and a no-nonsense training regimen to get it that way.
“I love to focus on strength and dance separately. Sometimes if she has a really busy day, we will end up doing cardio on a machine, but most of the time, we are doing dance-cardio,” Shakira’s trainer, Anna Kaiser, exclusively reveals in the latest issue of Us Weekly, while discussing her eponymous Virtual Studios program for $39 per month. “I will teach her a series of routines, and she has used the moves in her performances are in her choreography, which is really fun.”
After Shakira, 47, completes Kaiser’s dance-centric moves, they move on to a “strength session.”
“I usually start with the strength session for about 30 to 45 minutes, and then I’ll add about 15 to 30 minutes of cardio post-strength session,” Kaiser tells Us. “Her cardio is more low impact [and] she really loves to get her brain involved and learn new ways of moving and but keep it low impact.”
For the strength portion of the workout, Kaiser advises Shakira to do a “combination of heavier weights, like eight or 10 [pounds], and a burnout.”
“Lighter weight, higher rep,” she says. “More like my sculpt workouts that I do online. Then we have fun afterward, like, to dance! The dance is meant to elevate and boost the efficacy of the strength training we’ve just finished because at that point your muscles should be fatigued.”
Shakira balances her frequent workouts — she trains with Kaiser four days a week — with her music career, other business endeavors and raising her sons. (The singer shares Milan, 9, and Sasha, 7, with ex Gerard Piqué.)
“She’s so busy with so many different parts of her day [as a] mom, philanthropist, business owner, recording artist [and] producer,” Kaiser says. “There’s so much going on that by the time we get to dancing, It’s really pushing her endurance and stamina because of everything she’s already accomplished that day. It is a really nice energy lift in the middle of the day too and mood-booster and as well as power components.”
According to Kaiser, Shakira fits in training time “wherever she can” to accommodate her schedule.
Getting abs like Shakira isn’t just due to her workouts, but also her diet.
“[She gets her abs from] mostly eating nutrients [and] eating around,” Kaiser tells Us. “You want to make sure you have a great combination of protein and carbs after you workout. Feed your muscle. The more muscle you have, lean muscle, you have in your body, the faster metabolism. For every pound of muscle that you gain, you’ve earned an additional 50 calories every day without doing anything. So if you gain 10 pounds of muscle, you’re burning an additional 550 calories a day without working out.”
The fitness guru continued, “So, in order to do that you have to eat, your muscle has to have to have something to work with. The most important time is right after your workout so that they have the fuel to recover and repair themselves and that is good quality protein and nutrient-dense carbs.”
Shakira typically eats an omelet and greens for breakfast, a salad with protein for lunch and then a “small dinner” of protein and steamed vegetables.
“She does have a crazy sweet tooth on top of it,” Kaiser adds, revealing Shakira used to keep a “drawer of sweets” with candy, chocolate and Nutella in her home. “I used to have to watch her very closely. She’s much better now.”
Kaiser, who also attributed Shakira’s killer bod to “ample amounts of sleep,” further noted that she is no longer militant about the musician’s indulgences.
“We’re not specific about it anymore because she really understands it doesn’t make her feel good,” Kaiser says. “You start to tune into your body more as you age. I don’t really police the sugar intake like I used to but I’ll tease her about it for sure.”
Kaiser adds, “She gets really hungry during abs when we’re doing core she’s doing an exercise at the end of a hard workout. … We like to keep coconut water in the studio so she can have something at the end of that workout.”
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You can train like Shakira through the Anna Kaiser Virtual Studios program, featuring a weekly curated program of classes, for $39 per month.
For more on Shakira’s fitness regimen, pick up the new issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands now.
With reporting by Amanda Williams
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