As the 28-year-old pop star gets ready to release her fourth studio album, “Prism,” on Oct. 22, her personal trainer Harley Pasternak tells Metro how she stays in shape.
Katy Perry debuted her single “Roar” under the Brooklyn Bridge during the MTV Video Music Awards in August.
Credit: Getty Images
The Katy Perry body
She may have John Mayer, 42 million Twitter followers and endless record-breaking hits, but Katy Perry is just a regular gal who wants the same thing as every other woman in the world: to look and feel great as quickly and safely as possible. To that end, Pasternak says,“Katy and I train together three times a week — a typical session will last up to 45 minutes.
“Every day is different, but we’ll always start off with a five-minute cardio warm up, either on the eleptical or on a bike, followed by an upper body exercise, a lower body exercise and an abdominal exercise. We do repeat this sequence as a non-stop circuit a number of times before ending with a five-minute cardio cooldown.”
Posture is key
Being on stage is not only all about her presence and stamina. “People are constantly rolling their shoulders forwards — whether that’s because they’ve been [sitting] down for too long, texting or working in front of a computer. We really focus on trying to undo that and elongate the front of her body by working her upper back muscles (rhomboids) with things like cable and dumbbell rows. We also focus on her lower back with exercises like Superman and her hamstrings by doing stiff-leg deadlifts. We’ll also do tricep press-ups or dumbbell tricep extensions to work the back of her arms,” says Pasternak.
Going that extra mile
“I tell all my clients to wear a pedometer and aim to take at least 10,000 steps a day,” says Pasternak. “Katy likes to hike, so sometimes she’ll supplement a typical day with a long walk to make sure she hits that goal.”
The Katy Perry diet
Pasternak makes sure Katy eats five times a day: three meals and two snacks. Every time she eats there has to be a protein, a fiber and a healthy fat. This helps her feel full, boosts her metabolism and helps keep it high.
What a regular day looks like
Breakfast: Breakfast smoothie
Lunch: Salad with grilled chicken
Dinner: Shrimp stir-fry
Snack 1: Cut veggies with hummus
Snack 2: Air-popped popcorn
The Katy Perry workout
Do three sets of 20 reps for each move.
Skater Lunge
Works the glutes, quadriceps and a bit of your adductor muscles and hamstrings.
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. With your right leg, step back and across your body, dropping your right knee behind your left heel. Then return to the beginning stance and do the opposite — step your left leg back and across your body, dropping your left knee behind your right heel.
Triceps Press-Up
Works the triceps.
Lie on your stomach with your hands on the ground beside your chest. Keeping your elbows tight against your ribcage, press up in to a cobra-like position using your triceps. Return to original lying position and repeat.
Superman
Works the lower back and butt.
Lie face down on the floor with your arms and legs fully extended. From this position, lift your arms toward the ceiling, as if you were flying. Lower back down and repeat.For increased difficulty, add your lower body, lifting your legs at the same time as your arms so that your body looks like the letter ‘X’ from above. Tap the floor with your hands and feet between reps.
Bent-Over Dumbbell Row
Works the back.
Start by standing with feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent, holding a dumbbell in each hand with your arms by sides, palms facing toward you. Bend your knees and hinge forward from your hips, pushing your butt back and keeping your back straight, but as close to parallel to the floor as you can get. This is your start position. To initiate the row, drive your elbows behind you, squeezing your shoulder blades together, to bring dumbbells tight against your ribs. Lower dumbbells toward floor, slowly releasing the row movement and return to standing start position. That’s one rep. Make sure you look straight ahead — not at the ground — for the duration of the movement.
Lying Side Bends
Works the obliques.
Lie on the ground on your left side, hands stretched above head. Lift right knee and pull right elbow down so they meet. Return to start. Repeat on other side.
