Without a doubt, one of the best things about being a fitness editor is digging into the workout routines of some of Hollywood’s rich and famous. From Chris Hemsworth (here’s the resistance band workout he used on the set of Thor: Love and Thunder) to Natalie Portman (here’s how she built her biceps), I’ve tried plenty of workouts designed for celebs, albeit in far less glamorous surroundings.
One woman whose workout is googled in the thousands each month is Khloe Kardashian, so I set out to find out more.
There’s no doubt about it — Khloe works hard for her enviable figure. Training with personal trainer Joel Bouraima, also known as Coach Joe on Instagram, Khloe has shared a few of her workouts with her followers.
In fact, Coach Joe shared a whole week of her workouts in a blog post on Kourtney Kardashian’s wellness site, Poosh. In the post, he revealed that Khloe works out for an hour a day, from Monday-Friday. On Wednesday, she does her own Pilates or cardio workout, but for the other four days, she’s in the gym by 6 am for a workout.
To find out more, I tried one of the workouts Khloe shared on her Instagram page — read on to find out what happened.
A reminder: what works for Khloe might not be right for you and your body. If you’re new to exercise or returning to exercise following an injury, it’s a good idea to check with a personal trainer, or your doctor, before taking on a new exercise routine.
What is Khloe Kardashian’s workout?
Luckily for me, finding and recreating Khloe’s workout didn’t take too much work — the Keeping Up With The Kardashians star has shared a lot of her hard work on Instagram.
The workout went as follows:
A warm-up of your choice — Khloe opted for the stair stepper.
Circuit 1:
10 heel-elevated squats
10 deadlifts
10 kneeling lat pull downs
10 seated shoulder press
1-minute jumping rope
30 seconds of hanging abs
Repeat four times before moving on.
Circuit 2:
10 single-arm snatches with a 20-pound weight (10 on each side)
10 front weighted squats
10 rows with a 25-pound weight
15 kettlebell tricep pushes
30-second side gallops on each side on the treadmill
20 weighted abs with a 20-pound sandball
Repeat four times before moving on.
Circuit 3:
10 weighted burpees
10 mountain climbers
Repeat four times.
I just tried Khloe Kardashian’s workout — here’s what happened
Within the first five minutes of this workout, I wished I was in Khloe’s state-of-the-art home gym, as this workout had me moving from my yoga mat to different machines constantly, and unlike Khloe, I was sharing the gym with around 75 other people who didn’t give a damn about this write-up. This isn’t Hollywood, readers.
Unlike Khloe, no part of me enjoys the stair stepper, so I opted for a jog to the gym as my warm-up, before going into the first circuit. Khloe didn’t put her weights on the first circuit, but as she alternates between a set of 20 and 25-pound dumbbells for the rest of the workout, I grabbed both and got going. That said, you should always opt for a weight that feels right for you — the exercise should feel difficult by the final rep, but not impossible, and you should still be able to finish the set with good form. A pair of the best adjustable dumbbells will help.
By the end of circuit one, I felt like I’d gotten a good full-body workout, and I was only a third of the way through. There’s no doubt about it — Khloe isn’t messing around. The first circuit had really worked my legs hard, and I could definitely feel the burn. The circuits seem to focus on fewer reps with heavier weights, which is different from my normal HIIT style bodyweight strength routines. They also pair cardio with weight training, which keeps the heart rate elevated for the whole circuit.
The second circuit focused more on the upper body, but there were still some front-weighted squats thrown in for good measure. In the Instagram video accompanying this workout, Khloe uses a trap bar for the front weighted squats, but unfortunately, my gym didn’t have one, so I used a barbell instead.
Again, the arm exercises used heavier weights than I’d normally reach for, but I managed to complete the ten reps, proving perhaps I need a Hollywood personal trainer to push me a bit harder in the gym.
As a runner, I found the side gallops on the treadmill pretty bizarre, but by far the hardest move in the set was the weighted ab tucks. Unfortunately, my gym didn’t have the reformer machine it looks like Khloe uses in her video, so I grabbed a TRX band and did some tucks while wearing my ankle weights. Not ideal, but it still torched my core by the final rep.
By the time I got to the third and final circuit, I was sweating buckets and ready for the workout to be over. Unlike Khloe, my gym sessions don’t often run past 40 minutes, and I was pretty much at an hour (as mentioned before, standing and waiting for equipment to be free is a joy only us mere mortals will understand).
Thankfully, the final two moves — burpees and mountain climbers — were both completed on an exercise bench. For the weighted burpee, Khloe jumps up with a weighted ball, then puts it down on the bench and jumps her legs in and out. Followed by mountain climbers. I did all four circuits together, as I was already running late for a meeting, and as a workout finisher, it did the job, leaving me with my heart rate elevated as I left the gym.
My verdict? This workout put me through my paces and worked me hard. Serious kudos to Khloe — if she does that four days a week, she’s a superhero.
And if you're feeling bloated after this or another workout then here’s why, according to a gut expert.
Next: You can also read what happened when I tried Kim Kardashian’s glute workout and I also tried working out like Nicole Kidman for a week — here’s what happened.
