Professional dancer and choreographer Jenna Johnson has been a staple on Dancing With the Stars since her Season 18 debut as a troupe member. She was promoted to a pro two years later, in 2016, and over the last near decade, has taken home the coveted Mirrorball Trophy twice. First, in Season 26 with partner Adam Rippon, and again last year, when she and Joey Graziadei won first place in the competition.
The 31-year-old Los Angeles native, who has been dancing since she was 3 years old, says growing up in front of a mirror made her very critical of her body from a young age, as she was so focused on the lines and shapes she was hitting in her craft. While this negative energy caused Johnson to not appreciate her body for a long period of time, she says she’s really learned to love it over the last eight to 10 years.
Though Johnson has a much better relationship with her body now than she did in her adolescence, it hasn’t always been an upward trajectory. She and her husband, professional dancer and fellow DWTS pro Val Chmerkovskiy, tragically suffered a miscarriage in 2021, which completely rocked her.
“I just remember loathing my body because I felt like it failed me … but once I got pregnant with my son in Rome [whom she and Chmerkovskiy welcomed in January 2023], I had never been so grateful and happy with the body that I was in,” she reflects. “It just felt like magic.”
Jenna Johnson and Val Chmerkovskiy / Greg Doherty/Getty Images
Prioritizing both her mental and physical health have been key for Johnson’s happiness in recent years. She focuses on strength over being skinny and regularly goes to therapy, loves a walk and will occasionally turn off her phone for a few hours to remain present with her family.
“I love now that I have this appreciation for [my body] and that’s why I want to be very vocal about it because I think as women, as girls, we grow up comparing ourselves constantly, having people say things about how we look, and it really is just such a personal journey,” Johnson tells SI Lifestyle. “ … It’s really important for me to help women in general love themselves, love their bodies.”
Her fitness routine is one of the habits that helps Johnson to feel good in her body, and she hits the gym on a daily basis for both her physical and mental health.
“ I am just a creature of routine, and so for me, waking up and going to the gym first thing in the morning is non-negotiable,” she says. “And even if I’m tired, I just know that I’m going to feel so much better [after] spending 30 minutes at the gym. I don’t do crazy workouts, it’s really just about consistency for me.”
Jenna Johnson / Eric McCandless/Getty Images
Johnson’s favorite form of cardio is a popular treadmill workout that first went viral on TikTok in 2020, courtesy of fitness content creator Lauren Giraldo. Every morning, she completes the 12-3-30 workout, which involves walking on the treadmill for 30 minutes at a 12% incline at a speed of 3 mph.
“I just love walking and it really helps just calm my brain, get those endorphins going,” she says of her routine.
In addition to her treadmill workout, Johnson regularly takes Pilates classes in Los Angeles. She particularly enjoys mat classes and hot Pilates.
“I feel like mat Pilates has changed my life in so many ways because I always felt like I needed to do these crazy HIIT workouts and lift a ton of weights, and really your own body is so capable of resistance and opposition, and you can get such an incredible workout just by using yourself,” she says.
Jenna Johnson / Stewart Cook/Getty Images
Johnson admits that after having a baby, she found a new appreciation for her body, particularly her lower abdominal muscles. She credits Pilates for sculpting her enviable abs.
“ I went through pregnancy and I feel like postpartum, I had to reintroduce my abs and I never understood the importance of your pelvic floor or your lower abdominals,” she says. “Getting into Pilates, really a lot of their structure is all about that pelvic floor and your lower abdominals, and so the movements felt like they were targeting areas of my abs that I’d never worked before. And when I started to focus on that, I feel like just everything started to sculpt in ways that I’d never had before.”
A few of Johnson’s favorite moves for strengthening her core include V-ups and planks, and she says the key to getting a ripped midsection is to train your lower abdominals in particular.
“You’re going to be shocked, and if you can like strengthen [those lower abdominals] and really engage [them], your top abs are just going to come in an instant,” she adds.
Whether you’re struggling with your mental health or don’t like what you see when you look in the mirror, Johnson wants you to know that you’re not alone. She urges women to not fall into the comparison trap that so often happens in the digital age, and says her DMs are always open, should you need a friend or a listening ear.
“ I see you. I feel you. I have been there, and it is such a personal journey,” Johnson states. “Please don’t compare yourself to anybody else because their journey is completely different. I think that that’s what I did for so long was constantly compare and put myself down in regards to other people’s success or looks or whatever it was, and until I started to devote time to myself and start loving myself from the inside out is when I really started to outwardly show that. Find whatever makes you happy.”
