14 DAY TRIAL // Anyone who’s seen Lady Gaga’s latest video for her collaboration with Beyonce, “Telephone,” can see that she’s toned up. Not that Gaga was ever fat or anything, but she just seems in better shape now. Aside from the dancing she does on her current tour, the Monster Ball, the singer has also had some help from personal trainer Harley Pasternak and his 5 Factor Workout, as FitSugar informs.
Gaga is just one of the many celebrity clients Pasternak works with on a regular basis and, no doubt, he’s also behind her newly-toned figure. Any woman can get this body, he says, as long as he makes sure she has no more than 25 spare minutes. The idea that one needs to sacrifice at least one hour of their time is overrated, the fitness expert underlines, because the secret is not to train hard but to train smart.
“There is a big difference in training hard and training smart. And when you combine cardiovascular and resistance training you’ve hit two birds with one stone. So even though you’re only doing a five minute cardio warmup, and five-minute cardio cooldown, you’re in your fat burning zone for the entire 25 minute workout,” Pasternak says. Resistance training is essential to get the kind of toned body that Gaga has right now, the trainer further explains.
For starters, Pasternak has Gaga doing deadlifts. “This is a great exercise for the hamstrings, which a lot of people overlook. I know women, in particular, always want to get their abs tight, but deadlifts are great for working the [backside],” he says. Another good exercise is the reverse incline dumbbell row. “Quite often, women slouch. This exercise strengthens the upper back and posture muscles. Better posture makes your abdominals look leaner and tighter and gives you a natural [breast] lift,” the trainer explains.
The “Poker Face” hitmaker also does dumbbell side bends and ab rotations for that fabulously toned tummy she showed off in the “Telephone” video. Again, the secret to well-defined muscles is in training smart, Pasternak says.