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Derulos hard work also paid off beyond the track fields. After high school, he began writing songs for the worlds biggest hip-hop artistsLil Wayne, Pitbull, and Diddy. Derulos own music, alongside his dancing and performance abilities, then granted him his own limelight. Hes since sold over 50 million singles, recorded 11 platinum songs, and reached over 2 billion views on Youtube. (He only just turned 30 this week.) Later this year, Derulos due to release an EP.
Hell also star in the critically-anticipated Cats (that's right, a movie adaptation of the timeless musical) come December, which will find the pop star as the feline human hybrid Rum Tum Tugger. (Trust us, its way more badass than it sounds.)
Mens Health caught up with Derulo at his LA home to learn a bit more about his mental toughnessand how hes deployed this toughness in the service of attaining a pop star physique. Despite his athletic youth, however, Derulo tells us the latter accomplishment is actually more recent. The real change came after Derulo broke a vertebrae in his neck in 2012. He was sitting on his hands for seven months, unable to be active or go to the gym. While recovering, Derulo realized how much he needed activity. After he recovered, he took fitness to the next level, cleaning up his diet and refining his workout regimen.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jason Derulo (@jasonderulo) on Aug 30, 2019 at 6:03am PDT
Im a real foodie, so I eat a ton, says Derulo, who stands at six foot and about 190 pounds. And because I eat so much, I have to make sure that my diet is strict. I stock my fridge in a way that I cant really mess up too much. That means plenty of top shelf proteinliterallyand a disciplined meal plan.
Derulo skips breakfast as part of his intermittent fast, but hell carry breakfast foods over to late morning, especially omelettes. Ladies, if you want me to cook you an omelette, I can make you the bombest omelette you've ever had, he says, grinning. Derulo himself eats anywhere from 4-8 eggs a day, and he requires so much protein that his fridge is about twice the size of your standard unit, requiring him to throw it open like a pair of Beverly Hills double doors.
My show is very vigorous. From the first song, its balls to the wall. Its got to be amazing from the start.
On the fitness front, Derulo has added reason not to fall behind. My show is very vigorous, he explains. Derulo will be dancing and performing for hours on endnot a small cardio workout. He says he does light cardio and weights before he takes the stage. From the first song, its balls to the wall. Its got to be amazing from the start.
Derulos challenge now that hes sculpted and fit is adding variability to his workouts, especially when hes on the road. Variety comes in the forms of boxing, jump rope, swimming, snow-boarding, and even car-pullinganything to keep him from getting bored. The five months he spent shooting Cats also gave Derulo some unconventional moves. Five months of full cat vibes. I was engulfed in the cat world. I went to cat school to learn how to be that cat human hybrid. It was a lot of all four movements, he says. Cat movements meant doing the sort of burpees and crawls typical in dynamic workouts.
Derulo fights boredom, because he knows his physique isnt something he can retain without effort. Hes never too far from loading up on food and having to take a jog around the block. Since hes come so far, he knows what it takes, and he sympathizes with the struggle.
For all of you who feel like you dont have the genetics on your sideyou feel like you gotta work harder than everybody else; you gotta eat cleaner than everybody elseIm the same way," he says. "Just because your friend can eat pizza and still have abs, that dont mean that you gotta do the same thing. If you know that you gotta eat cleaner, thats what you gotta do. But just know that youre not alone. Shit, I want some pizza too.