My boyfriend and I tried J. Lo and A. Rod’s workout routine—here’s what happened

“David…will you do J. Lo and A. Rod’s workout with me?” I put out feelers to my boyfriend via text message because my editorial team was looking for a couple to try the gritty, weight-heavy sweat sesh that the #fitspo couple shared on Instagram. “Sure,” he replied.

Fast forward to the weekend, when I found myself waltzing around the gym, filming David knocking out reps, lifting my own fair share, and rewatching this Instagram on J. Lo’s feed over and over and over again to make sure we were as fit as J. Rod (or A. Lo…if that’s your jam).

View this post on Instagram

Thank you @dallascowboys & @cowboysfit for a great workout! #repost @arod ・・・ Big thank you to my good buddy Jerry Jones and the @dallascowboys for treating us to an amazing workout. We appreciate the hospitality and privilege of using your tremendous facility. If you want to see more of our workout regimen, sign up to @fitplan_app.

A post shared by Jennifer Lopez (@jlo) on Jun 26, 2019 at 5:59am PDT

//www.instagram.com/embed.js

To start things off, we begrudgingly got on the Stairclimber because the gym where we worked out didn’t have A. Rod’s preferred Jacob Ladder machine. Jacob’s Ladder is a hellish contraption that forces you to stair climb with both your arms and legs, while spiking your heart rate and recruiting every muscle in your body. IMHO, though, the Stairclimber is an equally hellish alternative. David lasted the whole five minutes we’d planned for the machine, but I only made it for about four minutes and 20 seconds. Instagram: A. Rod slays like it’s  nothing. Reality: me heaving in a corner.

ad_intervals[‘412950_div-gpt-ad-9261280-3’] = setInterval(function () {
if (ads_ready) {
clearTimeout(ad_intervals[‘412950_div-gpt-ad-9261280-3’]);

ADVERTISEMENT

googletag.cmd.push(function(){googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-9261280-3’);});
}
}, 100);

Once our bodies were warmed up (and I caught my breath), it was time to move onto strength training, and let me tell you, A. Lo (again J. Rod, if that’s your flavor) knows a thing or two about that. In the hyper-lapsed sequence on Insta, they can be found doing chest presses, bicep curls, tricep pull-downs, lat pull-downs, weighted Supermans, and battle ropes galore. I can get behind all of these because when David and I work out together, it tends to be strength training. And so we begin.

But actually…not just yet, because I’d like to pause for a second to ask a v important question: Do you know how fun it is to play fitness trainer, especially when your significant other is your victim? The answer: Very. Related: Do you know how embarrassing it is to film that person’s workout and have them film yours? Bet you can guess. I’m all for a sweaty selfie, but having my S.O. walk around me as I attempted lat pull-downs and kettlebell squats without grimacing wasn’t one-bit fun. And yet, while doing my best Jenny from the Block, we made two friends who were also filming themselves, though it should be said that they were doing so to check their form while we were doing so…for my job.

Once we’d knocked out about three rounds of 20-reps at each station, we moved on to battle ropes. We set them up, dropped to a squat, and threw those heavy AF ropes up and down as hard as we could for four, 30 second intervals, feeling pretty badass while doing so. Again, while A.Rod made this look extremely easy, I puttered out after about 15 seconds each time, cursing as loud as I could each time. It made me feel kind of annoyed until I remembered that working out is kind of A. Rod’s job, and then I moved on. Emotional rollercoaster, this workout.

We sealed the workout with a sweaty kiss and danced around the room while blasting “If You Had My Love”—which looked absolutely nothing like J. Lo when she gets down in the gym. I’m happy to report, however, that everyone was watching us, so for those few short moments when all eyes were on us, we really felt like we were nailing the whole J. Rod (can we settle this?!) thing. While we managed to make it through the workout without breaking down into tears or giving up all together, I realized that working out with your S.O. is a great way to bond and motivate one another, whether or not you go for the 360-degree shots documenting it all. In the words of J. Lo, “love don’t cost a thing,” but I learned that sweat can add value to relationships, making every couple you see at the gym a true power couple.

Also try the downward dog-push-up hybrid that J.Lo’s trainer swears by. And this is Jennifer Lopez’s plank series which she sometimes will do in her workout routine. 

ADVERTISEMENT