I worked out like Beyoncé and Jennifer Lopez, and preferred the more intense routine

Day one: My booty was burning.

I tried Beyoncé's workout first, which started with leg day.

According to the singer-songwriter's 2018 Netflix documentary "Homecoming," she does "two-a-days" when preparing for a tour, which means she doubles up on workouts.

I was already in the midst of completing a Tone It Up workout program when starting this experiment, so I added those 40-minute workouts on top of the exercises Beyoncé does.

In a 2015 interview with Elle, Beyoncé's trainer Marco Borges shared a great thigh routine that is short and sweet. After already completing a lengthy leg workout, I was excited to try something challenging but quick.

This involved jumping lunges, plié-squat jumps, pelvic lifts, and reverse-squat kicks. It was a powerful leg workout that also snuck in some cardio.

I actually enjoyed these moves and do them somewhat regularly already, so there weren't any surprises. Combined, though, this was definitely a burn.

Day two: My lower body was on fire.

I woke up on the second day and could really feel the burn. It hurt to walk, sit, or do anything at all — but this means yesterday's workout was effective. Beyoncé doesn't shy away from cardio, so today involved boxing plus interval sprints for the two-a-day.

I started with a workout from an app. The hardest move, which was definitely Beyoncé-worthy, involved simultaneously doing jumps and toe-taps on a box in front of me and punching as hard as I could. It left me out of breath, but I felt strong.

Then, it was time for interval sprints. "Sprints are ideal for building stamina and explosiveness, which B needs to move across the stage," Borges told Glamour in 2016.

Although my sprints were likely not as fast as Beyoncé's, I gave it my all. I ran for one minute, then walked for two minutes for a total of 25 minutes. Beyoncé sprints for one minute, rests for two minutes, and cycles for 30 minutes.

I love strength training, but I am only in the mood for cardio once or twice a week, tops. I was drenched in sweat and red in the face after sprinting but I was running on a huge endorphin high.

Day three: I was left second-guessing myself.

My core isn't as strong as my lower body, so I struggled during this workout. It was a tough body-image day, too, so trying to complete Beyoncé's ab moves left me feeling subpar.

I tried my best to pull some Queen Bey confidence, but it just didn't happen.

I still pushed through the workout and completed a Tone It Up ab workout, plus a few circuits of some core moves Beyoncé posted to her Instagram account in 2015.

Day four: I decided to revisit the core moves with a more positive attitude.

After sorting through some challenging emotions from the day before, I had a better mental space to tackle my routine today.

I did the same core workouts from yesterday, plus bicep curls to the length of the song "Savage" by Megan Thee Stallion featuring Beyoncé with two 12-pound dumbbells. The singer enjoys listening to music to squeeze in movement.

In fact, according to a 2010 Self article, Beyoncé once said, "I do a lot of things with little weights—like, I'll put on a song that I really like and I'll do [bicep curls with] 5-pound weights for the duration of the song and just try to burn out."

I ended this with a longer stretching session because I knew my arms and core would be feeling some pain the next day.

According to Glamour, Beyoncé's trainer makes sure the star gives her muscles a break at the end of every session, but I've been slacking a bit on that end.

Day five and six: I had a rest day then jumped into sprints.

For day five, I decided to rest. 

It helped tremendously, and on the sixth day, I decided to tackle sprints again. They were much easier this time. I endured the full 30 minutes, and I ran faster at each interval.

Then, I did plenty of squats and another long stretching session.

Day seven: I ended with a final round of kickboxing.

According to Borges' interview with Glamour, Beyoncé builds endurance through boxing and weighted ropes. I don't have this equipment, so I opted for more kickboxing.

I love doing this exercise to build strength and get in some cardio at the same time. By the end of this session, I could feel the heat in my arms, core, and legs, and it just felt empowering.

Week two, day one: It was time to test Lopez's workout.

It's no surprise to find that Lopez's workouts are heavily focused on booty, back, biceps, and core.

Luckily, her trainer, David Kirsch, hosted a 30-minute PopSugar workout on YouTube in 2018 that focuses on the entire body with compound moves. This was the easiest way to start following the celebrity's impressive workout routine, so I did this on the first day.

I did the workout with one set of 10-pound weights, but throughout the video, I wished I had both heavier and lighter dumbbells for different moves.

These moves still got my heart pumping and left me out of breath. Surprisingly, I enjoyed the Spider-Man push-ups, which involved balancing my hands on a Bosu ball — an inflated rubber hemisphere — while also lifting one leg.

I could feel my form slipping, so I couldn't do many. I'm now determined to complete this move with perfect form.

Day two: I really enjoyed the ab workout.

In 2021, Kirsch told Hello! magazine that the "Hustlers" star does circuit workouts that target inner thighs, glutes, and abs. 

I had to swap out some of her go-to moves because my apartment gym didn't have all of the equipment I needed. I did crunches, sit-ups, rope crunches, and V-ups (a sit-up with outstretched arms) with a weighted ball.

I had never tried rope crunches before, but I really enjoyed them. It took a few tries to get the form right, but I could really feel the burn in my upper abs.

Another trainer who's worked with Lopez, Dodd Romero, told Oprah Daily in 2019 that Lopez does three sets of 50 reps of ab moves the first time, followed by 35, and then 21 reps, so I did the same.

Day three: Today was cardio day.

I woke up with slightly sore abs, but they didn't feel as bad as I expected.

Lopez is a huge fan of dancing — and has even judged competition shows like "World of Dance" — so I wanted to incorporate that into my week. 

I found a dance cardio/HIIT (high-intensity interval training) workout that I could do from my living room.

I broke a sweat and already had some movement in for the day before 7 a.m.

I wanted to sleep in, but I kept going because Lopez reportedly works out three or four times a week.

Day four: Leg day was cut short thanks to a lack of air conditioning.

According to Oprah Daily, Lopez has an intense leg-day workout.

Lower-body moves are my favorite, so I headed down to the weight room of my apartment building to get started.

I didn't mind the moves much, but I had to cut today's workout short since the weight room has no air conditioning. I felt sick trying to do strength moves in that unbearable heat, so I stopped for the day. 

Day five: I woke up with a very sore lower body.

I only lasted about 10 to 15 minutes doing the leg-day moves, but I woke up the next morning with soreness in my quads and glutes.

I decided to get up early and do the PopSugar video with Kirsch again, and I was able to level up on some of the exercises.

I definitely felt stronger this time around, and I plan to add this video into my rotation of favorite home-workouts. It's quick and effective thanks to the compound moves that work multiple muscles at once.

Day six: It was time to revisit leg day.

I decided to wake up early and get the leg moves done before the weight room became too hot.

I especially loved the weighted hip-thrusts, which I did with my back on a bench to get a greater range of motion. This was different from one of my favorite glute moves, the bridge, which I do on the floor.

I plan to add more of these weighted exercises into future workouts as well.

Day seven: I ended with ab workouts.

Lopez's abs are impressive, so I decided to give her core circuit another go. It felt harder this time around but in a good, challenging way.

I did the same set of moves as the second day, but I decided to try her hanging ab-raises.

How she does 50, 35, and then 21 of these, I have no idea. I was able to do a few before falling off the bar. My new goal is to complete at least 10 and work up to 50 from there.

Both workouts from Beyoncé and Lopez were challenging and effective.

It's hard to say which workout is better. Both are incredibly demanding, with a lot of focus on abs, legs, and glutes.

Beyoncé's routine snuck in more cardio than strength exercises. I prefer lifting weights to running, so I'll probably incorporate more of Lopez's workouts into my own regimen in the future.

I was shocked that I actually enjoyed the interval sprints from Beyoncé's training, and I hope to add more of those into my schedule.

Click to read more celebrity workouts that we've put head-to-head.