Legendary rocker Lenny Kravitz is revealing how he keeps up his equally legendary abs.
While he’s always been in fantastic shape, he underwent a kind of fitness “Lenaissance” later in life, Men’s Health writes in a cover story about the the “Are You Gonna Go My Way” singer.
It happened before Kravitz turned 50 — he felt bloated and out of sorts. In response, he moved in with his personal trainer and close friend in Miami for half a year.
Kravitz has worked with trainer Dodd Romero for nearly 30 years. Romero also works with other A-listers including Denzel Washington, Jennifer Lopez and Ryan Seacrest.
Romero put Kravitz on a tough workout routine in the gym and on bike rides. It helped Kravitz feel better, and it renewed a commitment to his health.
Now, amid an international tour, Kravitz said he calls Romero at all hours from gyms around the world for workout guidance. He works out five or six times a week for 45- to 60-minute sessions.
“You realize as you keep spending time on the planet that aging is not how you thought it would be,” Kravitz told Men’s Health. “Now I’m in better shape than I was 10 years ago, 20 years ago. Ten years from now, I will be in better shape than I am now.”
Kravitz, 62, might be the king of a long and vigorous “hotspan,” a trendy wellness term for the period you’re attractive and sexually desirable.
Lenny Kravitz’s workout tips
Kravitz is big on discipline — including making sure to work out no matter what.
His goal is sculpted rather than bulky. “I want a very narrow silhouette, more like Spider-Man meets Bruce Lee,” he said. Lee is “bad — a thin, cool guy who obviously had muscle tone and who moved and flowed really gracefully.”
That’s why Romero prescribes a wide range of weight and rep combinations: Rather than a routine three sets, he calls for 10 to 12 reps of a challenging weight. Men’s Health reports this is to “nourish ligament health and preserve muscle mass.”
He’ll start, for example, at a low weight like 10 pounds for bicep curls and hit as many as 55 reps for a warmup. Then, he’ll move up in weight and adjust reps accordingly, finishing at 40 pounds for five reps.
Now for the six-pack, which Men’s Health reports morphs into an eight- and even 10-pack over the course of a workout — of course it involves a great core routine.
Kravitz will do two or three sets of 21 reps of core exercises, such as hanging leg raises, planks and different crunches.
“All this is natural: no peptides, no human growth hormone, no testosterone,” Kravitz said. “There’s nothing wrong if people want to do those things. But there’s an alternative. You can do it naturally with exercise and food. Is it harder? Yes. Does it take more work? Yes. But that’s how I choose to do it, and it’s 100% attainable.”
Kravitz doesn’t track his fitness with any tech like an Apple Watch — he checks his waistline and whether he can fit in 28-inch pants.
“I can gauge everything by how I’m in my pants,” he said. “Like, if my pants are a little tight, I know I’m getting outta shape. My friend Denzel Washington gave me this phrase, ‘The pants don’t lie.’”
Kravitz also follows intermittent fasting, but mostly because he doesn’t like waking up and eating. He does a low-carb, mostly vegan and raw diet. He likes egg white omelets, protein shakes and salads, plus an amino acid supplement.
“Age is a funny thing,” he said. It’s not about the number — it’s about what you did with the time.
“You can have a 1964 Mustang that looks like it came off the line yesterday. It’s gleaming, with an engine that purrs,” Kravitz said. “You can also have one that’s rusted, dented, beat up and doesn’t work. Same car, same year, but a very different outcome as a result of how you maintained it. It sounds silly the way I’m simplifying it, but that’s how it is to me.”
