Jay-Z Workout & Diet: How Jay-Z Uses Power Moves

Jay-Z Workout

The Jay-Z workout uses Power Moves. Your muscles are powered by your joints.  So, using more joints, at once, means you will be using more muscle groups. In turn, you’re expending more energy (and more calories). Jay-Z’s trainer, Marco Borges, is all about efficiency and core movements. The Jay-Z workout is about trying to work his Shoulders (S), Hips (H), Elbows (E), and Knee (K) all at once.

Jay-Z says he only surrounds himself with the best. That includes his workout trainer, Marco Borges. Jay-Z, or Shawn Carter, takes advantage of Borges’ Power Moves to get in shape. In the Jay-Z workout below, each exercise has a corresponding (S,E,H,K): Shoulders (S), Hips (H), Elbows (E), and Knee (K). This indicates which joints are being worked in the exercise.

Jay-Z Workout Monday Routine = Total Body Circuit & Cardio

Jay-Z starts his Monday workouts with a 5 minute warm up. Then, Jay-Z goes into his circuit training workout. The Jay-Z workout goes for 12-15 reps of each exercise. You may not be able to do that many starting off, but at least work your way up to that level. Rest for a minute at the end, each time you do this circuit. Then, repeat the circuit 2-3 more times. Finally, get your cardio in. Jump on the treadmill, or do what you can, to get 30-45 minutes of interval training.

Total Body Circuit: 3-4 circuits (do a set of each exercise, then move to the next). 12-15 reps:

The four Power Moves come from your joints:

1. Hip (H)
2. Knee (K)
3. Shoulder (S)
4. Elbow (E)

In his book, Power Moves: The Four Motions to Transform Your Body (Amazon), Marco Borges says that powering these joints makes your body perform compound movements. Your Hip (H) joint supports all your body weight. There are 17 muscles that support your hips and core. About the hip joint Marco Borges, Jay-Z workout trainer, says to work the hips, do:

Squats, pelvic tilts, plies, lunges and skating. All of the gluteus muscles run through the hip. Want a great looking bum? Work the hips. There are seventeen muscles involved with the movement of the hip.

Jay-Z says that the media follows him very closely. But, what seldom gets reported, Jay-Z says:

Seldom reported is what keeps me motivated, strong, and powerful–my Power Moves. In continuously striving to be the best, i need to operate with my health in full gear. I have to earn it. In doing so, I turn to the world’s best trainer, Marco Borges.

Jay-Z Workout Tuesday Routine = Total Body Circuit & Cardio

Jay-Z starts his Tuesday workouts with a 5 minute warm up. Then, Jay-Z goes into his circuit training workout. The Jay-Z workout goes for 12-15 reps of each exercise. You may not be able to do that many starting off, but at least work your way up to that level. Rest for a minute at the end, each time you do this circuit. Then, repeat the circuit 2-3 more times. Finally, get your cardio in. Jump on the treadmill, or do what you can, to get 30-45 minutes of interval training.

Total Body Circuit: 3-4 circuits (do a set of each exercise, then move to the next). 12-15 reps:

The four Power Moves come from your joints:

1. Hip (H)
2. Knee (K)
3. Shoulder (S)
4. Elbow (E)

In his book, Power Moves: The Four Motions to Transform Your Body (Amazon), Marco Borges says that powering these joints makes your body perform powerful, compound movements. Your Knee (K) joints keep you upright and balanced. 

Jay-Z workout trainer, Marco Borges, says the knee works:

Quads, hamstrings, adductors, and abductors. The knees give us the ease to walk, run and jump with grace. Work it with squats, leg extensions, leg curls, and deadlifts.

Jay-Z says that he loves the simplicity and innovation of the Power Moves workouts.

Jay-Z explains Marco’s workout method:

Marco focuses on moving your four major joints–shoulders, hips, elbows and knees, instead of your muscle groups. [O]nce you understand how different movements of the joints stimulate different sets of muscles you can really do anything you want.

Jay-Z Wednesday Workout Routine = Total Body Circuit & Cardio

Jay-Z starts his Wednesday workouts with a 5 minute warm up. Then, Jay-Z goes into his circuit training workout. The Jay-Z workout gpes for 12-15 reps of each exercise. You may not be able to do that many starting off, but at least work your way up to that level. Rest for a minute at the end, each time you do this circuit. Then, repeat the circuit 2-3 more times. Finally, get your cardio in. Jump on the treadmill, or do what you can, to get 30-45 minutes of interval training.

Total Body Circuit: 3-4 circuits (do a set of each exercise, then move to the next). 12-15 reps:

The four Power Moves come from your joints:

1. Hip (H)
2. Knee (K)
3. Shoulder (S)
4. Elbow (E)

In his book, Marco Borges says that powering these joints makes your body perform powerful, compound movements. Your Shoulder (S) joints make your chest, back and shoulders strong and toned. Jay-Z workout trainer, Marco Borges, says the shoulder works the:

Deltoids, which provide flexibility and a range of motion, the trapezius muscles, which form the triangle in your shoulder […], the rhomboids which pull your shoulder blades inward […], and the pectorals, your chest muscles which flex and adduct the upper arms. Work it with shoulder presses, pushups, pullups, shoulder flys, and lat pull-downs.

Jay-Z says about the Power Moves workout:

Marco has taught me that you don’t need a gym, or even a lot of time, for that matter. You just need the will. Once his philosophies creep into your head, you will never be the same. You will always know that the power to become the best is in you.

Sources for the Jay-Z Workout Routine include:

• Interviews with singer Jay-Z.
• Interviews with Jay-Z workout trainer, Marco Borges.
• Marco Borges’ Book: Power Moves: The Four Motions to Transform Your Body (on Amazon).
• Magazine Interviews in Men’s Health, GQ, and Rolling Stone.

Continue on to learn about the Jay-Z workout Thursday and Friday Routine: