Janet Jackson [1] is known for her killer dance moves and infectious vocals, but after giving birth to a baby boy [2] in January, we're seeing a new side to the singer and learning all about how she snapped back into shape. According to E! News, Janet worked with trainer Paulette Sybliss [3] to lose about 70 pounds, and surprisingly enough, their "intense" regimen didn't involve any cardio [4].
It's a common misconception that cardio is the only way to lose weight [5], but Janet is just one of the many people who didn't need a fast-paced machine [6] to get their bodies looking incredible. Her intense strength training [7] with Paulette helped Janet drop the pounds and get extremely toned before embarking on her State of the World tour [8].
Paulette told the site that she started working out with Janet in March, and although Janet initially only wanted to lose weight [10], their goals developed into muscle building, and the hard work definitely paid off.
"We were training a minimum of four times a week and the sessions were never less than 45 minutes, no more than an hour," Paulette said. "Very intense, though. Very intense training. . . We were doing three or four exercises with weights back to back. You would look at her and think she'd done like an hour of cardio with me, but when you're working with weights and you're working the muscle that way, it elevates the heart rate, but also it's creating that fat-burning effect both during the session and also when she left me, and that was key."
By the time her tour kicked off in September, she was ready to go. Janet's dance routines while performing [12] definitely helped get her heart rate up and get a nightly workout in, but on tour, Janet's goals were different. Paulette shared that instead of rigorously burning fat, she wanted Janet to just "maintain" her postpartum body [13] by "adding a little bit more lean muscle and sculpting."
While Paulette didn't give Janet any rules [14] about cheat days or indulging in sugar-filled desserts, she does believe strongly in moderation. "If Janet feels that she needs to have a chocolate cake, go ahead and have a chocolate cake. You're not eating it every day. You won't get fat overnight."
"She looks incredible and she's so fit, but she's also healthy," Paulette shared, and she's got that right — Janet looks amazing!