As expected from Shakira, the Colombian star’s workout is all about interval training with dance-like features
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Shakira may have postponed her world tour last year for health reasons, but she’s back and she’s working hard for her fans. To find out what kind of prepping she’s doing, Popsugar turned to her personal trainer Anna Kaiser. She’ll be singing and dancing on stage for two hours, so Kaiser is focusing on building her stamina and endurance.
Anyone who’s ever seen Shakira live knows that her performances are workouts in itself, so Kaiser styles her regime around that. It’s designed like a HIIT program that alternates between different kinds of workouts with varying lengths and intervals.
“The majority of the time, she’s performing in an interval-style format,” Kaiser said. “She’s going for five minutes and then resting, 10 minutes and then resting, then a costume change… on and off for hours at a time.”
As expected, Shakira’s workout involves rhythmic dancing but not the aerobic kind. Kaiser has a special kind of workout called the Happy Hour Workout that’s all about “alternating between cardio and strength intervals” to help the singer become stronger along with increasing stamina and energy.
“For the cardio portion, we’re dancing—we’re keeping it nice and low impact. Nothing too high impact, so she can really use her muscles when she’s dancing and tone at the same time.”
“The majority of the time, she’s performing in an interval-style format,” Anna Kaiser said. “She’s going for five minutes and then resting, 10 minutes and then resting, then a costume change… on and off for hours at a time”
Lastly, there’s a unique treadmill session. “We’re alternating on days with my AK Tread workout—it’s my interval workout on a treadmill,” Kaiser said. “You’re alternating between strength and cardio intervals, but you’re doing it to music and you’re working on all planes of motion—you’re shuffling sideways, you’re skipping, you’re leaping, you’re running backwards for the cardio portion. Then you stop and do the strength portion, but it’s all done on the treadmill!”
It all sounds fun and dynamic, reflective of the kind of performer Shakira is. And it looks like you need to be in a relatively high fitness level to do that on a treadmill. Though that’s not a problem for the singer since she maintains consistency even while touring.
Apparently, she spends one to two days of the week intensifying her workout with Kaiser, and the rest she spends by doing an hour to 90 minutes of exercise. “The main thing we’re focusing on is consistency,” Kaiser said. “As long as she continues with that [program] four to five days a week [while I’m gone] for maintenance, she’s good.”