At 44, The Masked Singer star Nicole Scherzinger looks pretty epic.
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Ever since she shimmied into our lives as the lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls, Nicole has had a seriously sculpted physique – and I've long been intrigued by her exercise regime. Does she do 100 sit-ups a day to maintain THOSE abs? Is she hammering out the cardio to maintain her figure?
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I did my research and decided to work out like Nicole Scherzinger for one week. Here's what happened…
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Nicole regularly shares her workouts on her social media. Often she works out alone, other times she works out with her incredibly handsome boyfriend and former rugby star, Thom Evans, whom she met when he was a contestant on celebrity X Factor.
Nicole and Thom often exercise together
I've met both Nicole and Thom, separately, at various different times and events, and both are just as beautiful in the flesh as they appear on social media/pap shots/TV.
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Yes, genes play a role, but equally, it's clear they both work hard to maintain epic physiques. So what does Nicole do to achieve her oh-so-toned bod?
Nicole Scherzinger is exceptionally toned
The former Pussycat Doll seems to mix cardio and weights, which from my personal trainer standpoint, is the best way to go about things for a strong, fit body. She also seems to do a fair bit of high-intensity exercise - the squat jumps and burpee-type workouts.
Oh, and she does some partner workouts, involving battle ropes, weighted lunges, ball slams, press ups and tuck jumps.
Judging by her Instagram videos, Nicole also mixes up resistance bands, hip thrusts (my favourite!), and landmine squats.
View post on InstagramWATCH: Nicole Scherzinger shares her workouts on Instagram
Nicole hasn't spoken much about her fitness regime, preferring to share video insights into her workout rather than give details, but from what she has posted, the beauty of many of Nicole's workouts is that they're home-based. But then again, she appears to have a well-kitted-out gym at home, unlike the majority of people.
I decided to work out like Nicole at my usual go-to, Fitness First at London Bridge.
I decided to go for the partner workout that Nicole shared with her boyfriend, Thom. However, I did it alone.
View post on InstagramWATCH: Nicole's workouts with Thom look seriously hard
I went for 45 seconds on, 15 seconds off, doing three rounds of the following moves:
Battle ropes
Dumbbell weighted lunges
Ball slams
Press ups
Tuck jumps
This is very much a heart rate raiser; I was pretty sweaty afterwards and my Apple Watch clocked up a tasty 209 calories. I assumed it would be higher to be honest, but I shan't dwell on calories.
Nicole Scherzinger's workouts ensure she looks super toned
Nicole has been spotted sweating it out at swanky spin studio, Soul Cycle. I am not a spin fan, but if it means I'm being more like Nicole, then I'll do it.
Instead of Soul Cycle, I went to Psycle, which has several branches in London. It was 60 minutes of sprints, uphill sprints and lots of press-ups on the bike handles.
Nicole Scherzinger enjoys spin-based workouts
Nicole, being a dancer, has serious rhythm. She can move. I can't say the same for myself. So during a spin class when you have to start basically dancing on the bike, I zone out.
Regardless, I did enjoy this spin session.
I opted for the spicy workout below, which Nicole shared on the ‘gram.
View post on InstagramWATCH: Nicole Scherzinger wows fans with intense exercise session
I started off with a 20-minute treadmill run and then went into the below moves, working for 60 seconds on each, with a 20-second rest between each move. I did this three times.
Deadlifts
Ball slams
Box jumps
Forward and reverse lunges
16 battle ropes and 2 burpees with a resistance band
Oh boy, this was fun. Well, my kind of fun. The resistance band for the burpees did get annoying though, so I scrapped that. A word of advice: if box jumps aren't for you, opt for step-ups instead, perhaps with a dumbbell in each hand.
Nicole Scherzinger works up a sweat with her workouts
Time for Barry's Bootcamp, a class Nicole has spoken about in the past. I do love Barry's as it's a great sweat session that packs in cardio and weighted movements. Plus, if you pick the right instructor, you'll have the most epic music experience.
The session I chose was in the London Soho studio at 9am. The treadmill element of the class was brutal with a mix of inclines and sprints to really make my legs burn. The dumbbell element of the class incorporated many challenges such as completing a number of moves and reps in a set time. It was sweaty, but I loved it.
Nicole Scherzinger has an impressive collection of workout wear
I wasn't entirely sure what to do today, but I found this workout on Nicole's Instagram; a fiery little glute burner, and decided to try it for myself.
View post on InstagramWATCH: Nicole Scherzinger fires up her glutes
The moves involved were:
Landmine squats
Resistance band donkey kicks
One-legged glute bridges with dumbbells
Resistance band donkey kicks
Glute bridges with dumbbells
As, yet again, there were no timings (Nicole, if you read this, PLEASE can you tell us how long you do each move for?), I opted for 20 reps of each, four times round. I used a thick resistance band like Nicole, and boy, did my bum fire up. There really is no better feeling than active glutes!
A weekend hike is in order! Nicole has previously spoken to about hiking with her girlfriends, so I figured I would do the same.
Nicole Scherzinger and Thom enjoy hiking
Sadly, none of my mates were keen on a crack-of-dawn hike. So, I laced up and hit the hills of erm... Greenwich in London, for a long old walk.
I actually ended up walking a lovely 10km which took about 90 minutes. During my walk, I listened to a couple of podcasts (one about gut health and another about manifesting), and upon returning back to my flat, felt weirdly invigorated and refreshed. Is this how Nicole stays so chill?
Today, I rested. Because every week should contain at least one day of rest.
You don't need me to tell you this, but high-intensity exercise places a lot of pressure on the body. So warming up with active stretches and mobility movements is really important. If you suffer from painful joints, then avoid movements with a lot of jumping; you're only going to cause more pain.
Treadmills, battle ropes, dumbbells, boxes to jump on. It's safe to say that my fellow gym-goers didn't appreciate my equipment hogging. I did avoid the gym rush hour, however, and opted for doing Nicole's workouts late morning when there were fewer glares.
The home-style workouts that Nicole shared definitely took me less time than my usual weighted routines or long runs. In fact, I found myself amazed at how much more time I had.
Would I continue with the HIIT-style workouts? Perhaps once a week max, as although they save on time, they're brutal on the body and I really prefer my resistance training.
Psycle is EPIC for spin. Everyone is smiling and having a great time. But honestly, the numb bum, my inability to stay in time with everyone and the fact my legs can’t go as fast as everyone else's… it's a failure for me. Sorry Nicole, but this was one part of your regime that I won't be continuing with.
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