Music icon and actress Janet Jackson is known for her catchy songs, beautiful voice and incredible dance moves. While it's no secret that she's battled with her weight in the past, today she looks better than she ever, thanks to key lifestyle changes. From the red carpet to her incredible videos, she has a routine to keep her body tight like it is in her videos, including the dance hit, "The Pleasure Principle."
It's hard to believe it's been over 35 years since the song and video came out!
The video was seen by critics as iconic and was received two nominations at the 1988 MTV Video Music Awards, eventually winning one. "The Pleasure Principle" was the only song not to be written or produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, which the rest of the album, "Control" was produced by.
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In the video, she was a young 21-year-old Janet dancing around and busting a move to her infectious lyrics. The video actually came out the week of her birthday. Personally speaking, it'smy jam!
Janet shared how she got ready for that video and how she makes her fitness routine a lifestyle now.
1. Change Up Your Routine Often
“I don’t like to work out, and I get bored easily,” Jackson says. “Tony [her trainer] is great. He comes up with something new all the time. When I’m getting ready for a tour, I’ll work out with the dancers to build my endurance. He’ll put us in teams, and we’ll do all sorts of drills and races. Everybody is drenched with sweat before we start one dance step.”
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2. Slim Down With Sports
“Tony knows that I love sports, so that’s what we’ll often do,” Jackson says. “There are times when I don’t want to run on the beach, so to get me to run on the beach, he'll bring a football. I’m just like a dog with a tennis ball—I get so excited. And we do drills. Sometimes we go to the batting cages and hit balls. He switches it up all the time. And that's what I love.”
3. Calories Aren't Always The Real Problem
“For me, it's about being an emotional eater and learning how to deal with that,” Jackson says, noting that her past weight gain was often the result of binge eating brought on by sadness, boredom, or stress.
4. Find A Trainer Who Understands You
“My trainer is wonderful. He's not one of those guys always in your ear, yelling, yelling, yelling. I can't take that. That will make me say, ‘You know what? You can take all that and stick it.’ So, yeah, he's really good with...
...me and he's very sweet.”
5. Be Serious About Your Workouts…No Matter How Long Or Short They Are
When prepping for a tour, Jackson works out six days a week to build up her stamina for her nonstop dance numbers. While that sounds like a lot, she actually doesn’t spend hours in the gym. But...“We'll work out for 30 minutes, 20 minutes,” she says. "And it'll be a full-blown, serious workout, with cardio and strength training.”
Now, take a look at Janet throughout the ages...
