Rita Ora’s “Body Slam” Workout May Look Silly, but Boy, Is It Effective

Image Source: Getty / Arnold Jerocki

We’ve gotta hand it to Rita Ora: her workout routine is one of a kind. The singer shared a peek at her regimen on Instagram on Feb. 22, spotlighting three exercises she crushed this past weekend. The first gallery slide, seen below, shows her kneeling on a bench and falling directly onto an exercise ball with her ankles restrained by leg rollers. Our initial reaction was . . . Ouch? Ora can hardly contain her laughter as she executes the silly-looking move and repeatedly insists, “I can’t do it!” When someone off camera encourages her by yelling, “Two more!” she dutifully obliges.

Though the newly married star aptly calls the exercise “body slams” in her caption, they’re technically referred to as Nordic curls. The move targets the hamstrings by only using your bodyweight, and stopping yourself with a ball ensures that you’re focusing on the downward motion. During that “eccentric” phase, your hamstrings lengthen and activate under tension, which ultimately helps build muscle. You can curl back upward to your starting position if you’d like, but Ora opts out of this. She seemed to acknowledge how funny the move looks on Instagram Stories, writing, “Don’t judge me at least I showed up for myself today Haahaha I have my own work outs ok! Lol.”

That’s not the only exercise she does to achieve strong legs. Next up, Ora secures herself into a piece of Keiser workout equipment called the A300 Runner, which looks like a backwards elliptical of sorts. According to the brand’s website, the machine “places you in a position that simulates the acceleration phase of a sprint.” You can easily change the resistance throughout your workout with thumb buttons, and it’s designed to be easy on the joints. Seeing Ora power through a sprint on the equipment makes us curious to give it a try.

Last but certainly not least on Ora’s workout checklist: some pull-ups. In a still photo, the songwriter is seen either at the top of a pull-up or doing a pull-up hold, which is a great way to work your way up to doing pull-ups. She has a neutral grip, meaning her palms are facing each other, rather than forward or backward toward her chin. This variation builds forearm strength and helps avoid shoulder and wrist problems because it’s a more natural positioning for the joints.

This isn’t the first time Ora has clued fans in on how she stays fit. Just last week, she posted her leg and booty workout on TikTok, featuring glute bridges, lunge variations, and weighted squat pulses. She also used to work with fitness trainer Jono Castano, who shared a glimpse at her upper body and ab workout back in May 2021. Her recent leg- and ab-baring outfits are proof of the hard work she’s been putting in.