Jennifer Lopez Believes Her Physical Fitness is Her Key to Having Balanced Mental Health
Whether it's her fashion choices or her youthful looks, Jennifer Lopez is the cynosure of all eyes for all that she does. The Shotgun Wedding actress recently opened up about her rigorous fitness routine and spoke in length about the importance of "always evolving" and "challenging" oneself with physical activities. In an exclusive with US Weekly, she spilled the beans about how a daily exercise routine can be a motivating factor in developing a positive attitude.
“It’s no secret that fitness is a very important part of my life,” the Second Act actress said while talking about her latest collaboration with BODYARMOR, a sports drink company, for their "Choose More" campaign. “I think there’s a positive correlation between exercise and mental health. When you find a good balance through determination and focus, we’re naturally pushing to be the best version of ourselves.”
Continuing on the subject of mental health, J.Lo explained, "Taking up exercise seems to reduce the risk of developing mental illness. It also seems to help in treating some mental health conditions, like depression and anxiety." The mother of twins Max and Emme spoke about her exercise schedule and said that she likes to wake up early in the morning to hit the gym. Daily Mail reports that J.Lo follows a strict fitness routine "first thing in the morning" - which is often before 5 am - no matter what her busy schedule has in store.
Exercising is a motivating factor for J.Lo, her longtime trainer David Kirsch confirmed, back in 2018. Revealing the level of physical activity and the high-energy routine he said, “The workouts are my express workouts. There is no rest, we’ll grab a quick breath chatting in between, but that’s how we do it. Her workouts are high octane and there is a lot of movement.” The Parker actress prefers working on her core during their sweat sessions.
Her health and wellness instructor revealed at the time, “We’re doing a lot of planks, side planks and we do this medicine ball toss while holding a lunge so we’re monopolizing the room. If you look at her core now it’s just so tight and her waist is so narrow, so that works the core and works on chiseling the obliques and giving an overall strong, beautiful middle. And she definitely flaunts that — as she should.”
Her new album This Is Me… Now is about to debut, and she is in the best of mental and physical health. But the Get it Right singer reveals that there had been a burnout phase in life that was like a wake-up call to get back in mental shape. “There was a time in my life where I used to sleep 3 to 5 hours a night. I’d be on set all day and in the studio all night and doing junkets and filming videos on the weekends. I was in my late 20s and I thought I was invincible,” she wrote in On the JLo at the time. “Until one day, I was sitting in a trailer, and all the work and the stress it brought with it, coupled with not enough sleep to recuperate mentally, caught up with me.”
And that is when she began her journey towards balanced mental and physical health through a proper fitness routine. The Grammy nominee likes to mix various exercising techniques when it comes to maintaining her svelte figure, and it includes kickboxing, circuit training, core work, lunges and burpees. “I’m always evolving and looking for things that keep me excited and motivated,” she explains. “I’m not afraid to challenge myself, so I’m open to pushing myself, which is what I’m doing right now as I rehearse for my new album, [This Is Me… Now], coming out this summer."
