Kim Kardashian, a global icon and entrepreneur, is renowned not only for her business ventures and reality television presence but also for her unwavering commitment to fitness. Far from a casual gym-goer, Kardashian adheres to a demanding weekly workout routine, primarily focused on heavy weight training, that has helped her achieve and maintain her distinctive physique. For her, working out is more than just aesthetics; it’s a form of therapy and a crucial part of her mental well-being.
Under the guidance of her trainers, most recently Senada Greca and previously Melissa Alcantara, Kardashian’s regimen emphasizes consistency, progressive overload, and pushing past limits. She typically dedicates five to six days a week to intense training sessions, often starting as early as 5:30 AM.
The Foundation: Weight Training and Consistency
Kardashian’s fitness philosophy prioritizes weight training, with approximately 85% of her gym time devoted to resistance exercises. This focus on lifting heavy weights is crucial for building lean muscle mass, increasing strength, and sculpting her desired body composition. Consistency is paramount to her success, with sessions lasting between 60 to 90 minutes, sometimes even up to two hours. She’s described as a “workhorse” by her trainers, rarely skipping a workout despite her busy schedule.
A Detailed Look at Kim Kardashian’s Weekly Training Split
Kim Kardashian’s workout schedule is meticulously planned, typically involving a split that targets different muscle groups throughout the week. While specific routines can evolve, a common structure includes multiple days for the lower body, a couple for the upper body and core, and often a full-body circuit or dedicated ab and cardio day.
Lower Body Focus: Glutes, Hamstrings, and Quads
A significant portion of Kardashian’s week is dedicated to lower body training, targeting the glutes, hamstrings, and quadriceps. These sessions are known for their high volume and intensity, designed to build muscle and endurance.
Key exercises often featured in her lower body days include:
- Romanian Deadlifts (RDLs): A compound exercise prized for enhancing hip mobility and strengthening the glutes and hamstrings. Unlike traditional deadlifts, RDLs focus on a slow, controlled motion.
- Step-Ups: A highly effective movement that engages the quadriceps, hamstrings, and glutes, also improving balance and unilateral leg strength.
- Hip Thrusts: A fundamental movement for developing strong glutes, improving posture, and enhancing lower-body power. Kardashian has admitted to disliking them, but her trainers ensure they are a regular staple, sometimes performed with a leg extension machine and bench for a deeper range of motion.
- Goblet Squats: Performed holding a dumbbell close to the chest, focusing on form and rep range for strength and endurance.
- Cable Kickbacks: High-rep exercises (often 5 sets of 50 reps per leg) designed to keep the glutes under tension for hypertrophy.
- Squats: Working on depth to build strength.
- Standing Cable Abductions: These target the hip abductor muscles, which are crucial for pelvic stability and leg movement, and can help minimize injury risk.
- Trap Bar Deadlifts and Trap Bar RDLs: Featured in recent routines shared by her trainer, Senada Greca.
Upper Body and Core Strength
While the lower body often takes center stage, upper body and core workouts are integral to Kardashian’s routine, ensuring a balanced and strong physique.
- Upper Body Workouts: These sessions typically include exercises like machine chest presses, assisted pull-ups (which she has been seen performing), and bench dips for triceps.
- Abdominal Training: At least one day a week is dedicated entirely to core work. Exercises often include lying leg-lifts, reverse V-ups, ab bicycle with claps, hanging knee raises, planks, butterfly sit-ups, and high boat to low boat movements.
Strategic Cardio and Recovery
Kim Kardashian’s approach to cardio is strategic, favoring high-intensity interval training (HIIT) over prolonged steady-state sessions.
- Treadmill Sprints: She frequently incorporates treadmill sprints into her routine, noting that she has seen changes from this intense form of cardio. Sprinting is effective for burning calories and improving cardiovascular health.
- Minimal Steady-State Cardio: Her trainers emphasize that only about 15% of her training is cardio, often short bursts of high intensity or longer, low-intensity walks.
- Pilates: To address recurring back issues and enhance flexibility, Kardashian incorporates Pilates into her routine, finding it beneficial for strengthening her core and improving overall body control.
Beyond the sweat, Kardashian also understands the importance of recovery. Her routine may include sauna use to improve circulation and manage inflammation, and cold plunges to reduce muscle soreness and support mental resilience.
The Role of Nutrition and Mindset
Kim Kardashian’s intensive workout schedule is supported by a disciplined dietary approach. She generally follows a high-protein, moderate-carb, and healthy-fat diet, focusing on whole, unprocessed foods. Her trainer, Melissa Alcantara, advised consuming simple carbohydrates like sweet potatoes, and small amounts of fat and protein such as chicken, both before and after training, along with plenty of vegetables. Kardashian aims for roughly 0.8 to 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight daily to support muscle repair and satiety.
Mental fortitude is equally crucial. Kardashian views exercise as “therapy” and a way to stay grounded. While she admits to sometimes checking her phone during workouts, a habit she calls “annoying” and likely frustrating for her trainer, her overall dedication remains steadfast. She also motivates herself with music, often listening to Justin Bieber Radio during her sessions.
Kim Kardashian’s detailed weekly workout routine underscores her dedication to fitness, combining heavy weightlifting, strategic cardio, and mindful nutrition to maintain her strong and sculpted physique. Her consistent effort highlights that achieving significant fitness goals requires discipline, patience, and a comprehensive approach.
