Although many times (if not almost always) we fall into the trap of superficiality and 'insist' on focusing on how 'good' she looks 'for her age', on her challenging glutes and her steel abdomen, Jennifer Lopez is, above all, a true physical and mental powerhouse, sculpted through effort, sacrifice, and perseverance.
Direct witness of her spectacular performance at the Movistar Arena in Madrid - today she will be in Barcelona and tomorrow in Bilbao - Gisela Schwartz, dancer and founder of 'Danzar y Conectar', knows very well the work behind the singer's amazing display of strength and energy in each of her performances on her 'Up All Night' tour. "At 55, Jennifer Lopez defies any cliché about age. She is strength, rhythm, and sensuality. She is pure magnetism and, even if you don't know all her songs, you can't stop paying attention to her for a single minute. As a 59-year-old woman who also dances, I am impressed watching her sing and dance for over two hours non-stop, with six costume changes and with that overwhelming energy from start to finish."
For Schwartz, JLo's performance in Madrid was much more than a musical show. "It deeply moved me. For me, it was not just a 'show', but a clear proof that nothing fades after 50. When you do what you are passionate about - dancing, in her case - the body not only does not age, but it lights up. And that's what she conveys on stage: that she is lit up!".
According to the founder of 'Danzar y Conectar', Lopez shows us that "passion has no expiration date and is contagious, as it also 'lights up' all the women watching her from the audience".
The success of the New York artist, in her opinion, is "the result of an integral discipline, physical, emotional, and spiritual that any woman, in her own way, should cultivate". There is no doubt. The driving force of her life is passion: "The body, the hormones... When you do what you are passionate about, everything aligns and responds perfectly. Passion, once again, is the key to moving the best energy".
But beyond passion, to 'endure the strain' of singing and dancing for hours on end (in heels and under the spotlight) you have to be very physically strong. "Jennifer not only sings and dances, but she has to coordinate everything with the dancers, with the visuals projected behind her, and all this without easing up at any moment, which requires an intense cardiovascular, strength, endurance workout, and above all, an absolute control of breathing and body".
Regarding the choreographies, Schwartz confesses to being "very surprised by the different styles she dances on stage, from contemporary dance, rock hip hop, urban funk, and jazz funk to, as she is doing in Spain, flamenco". And all this, "without missing a single step or tempo and following as the first one a cast formed by dancers younger than her without falling behind at any moment".
What is her secret to enjoying such a spectacular physical condition? "For me, JLo is the reference of a healthy woman who knows her body perfectly and knows what it needs to be well," says Carola Prato, personal trainer.
In her opinion, "it is very clear that she takes good care of herself, that her workouts are appropriate, both for her age and to meet her professional commitments, that she eats 'clean' and probably takes nutritional supplements, something very common in the United States".
Strength training, as Lopez shows on her Instagram account, is one of the fundamental pillars of her preparation. "Over the years, muscles gradually lose power and, if we do not tone them with specific routines, they will stop fulfilling their main missions as guarantors of movement, protectors of bones and viscera, and calorie-burning 'ovens'. She usually works with free weights or with pulleys and, recently, she is also incorporating yoga poses into her sessions," she concludes.