Shakira is a curvy covergirl! The 44-year-old flaunts her amazing figure on the November 2021 cover of Cosmopolitan, rocking a silver swimsuit. In the issue she reveals that she recently picked up two new athletic activities that help maintain both her physical and mental wellbeing. What are they and what else does the superstar do to prioritize her health? Read on to see 5 ways Shakira stays in shape, which she's told others, and the photos that prove they work—and to get beach-ready yourself, don't miss these essential 30 Best-Ever Celebrity Bikini Photos!
1. She Recently Started Skating and Surfing
In her new interview with Cosmopolitan, Shakira revealed that over the pandemic, she discovered two new activities. “These new hobbies that I never thought I’d be able to take on later in life, skating and surfing—they are very therapeutic and liberate my mind,” she said. “I’m not a great surfer. I just started a year ago, and it’s a hard sport to make progress on. It’s unbelievable how much pleasure I find in this. How all my troubles are washed away by the waves. There’s something about the ocean and the salt and the wind that heals all the wounds. I found that’s my own meditation, but it wouldn’t be bad if I do the real kind. I think I need it.”
2. She Exercises Almost Daily
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Shakira has been training with Anna Kaiser for years with five-day-a-week sessions and sometimes two-a-days. "We alternate between strength and cardio intervals. Some days we do just cardio and then strength and some days we start with strength and then do cardio, we like to mix it up," Kaiser told E! News. "I want to make sure that she is improving her endurance so that she can go into a two-hour show and also has the strength and stamina to make it through a five-month tour. It's about making sure she gets a little bit of everything."
3. She Wears a Heart Monitor
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Shakira wears a heart monitor and uses it to set her workout goals, as it "keeps her the most focused," Kaiser said. “Maintaining a certain heart rate for a prolonged period of time can help you burn more calories and fat while also improving your cardiovascular health,” confirmed Chris Travers, MS, to the Cleveland Clinic. Also, “it’s also possible to overexert yourself, and a heart rate monitor can alert you to that danger, too.”
4. She Does Mostly Strength and Cardio Training
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Shakira’s workouts alternate between strength and cardio intervals, per Kaiser. “Some days we do just cardio and then strength and some days we start with strength and then do cardio, we like to mix it up," she told E! News. "I want to make sure that she is improving her endurance so that she can go into a two-hour show and also has the strength and stamina to make it through a five-month tour. It's about making sure she gets a little bit of everything."
5. Creating Music Is Like “Therapy” for Her
Shakira/Instagram
When asked by 60 Minutes what making music does for her, she liken it to therapy. “Sometimes it saves me a visit to a shrink,” she said laughing. “Such a therapeutic, yeah, cathartic vehicle, you know, for me to express my thoughts and my angst. Sometimes I'm just restless, and I don't know what it is. And I think it's— what I just need is a piece of paper and a pen or my computer, and just start writing. And then being able to put music to those words. It's something really beautiful, I guess.”