Lenny Kravitz explains why he works out in leather pants

Lenny Kravitz on the cover of Men's Health and performing
Lenny Kravitz, 62, covers Men’s Health Summer 2026 issue in his trademark wraparound sunglasses while shirtless in sweat pants. This isn’t his usual workout outfit. We’ve seen videos of Kravitz at the gym in leather pants and a mesh shirt. He has a good explanation for that, and for how he maintains his physique. Despite his aura of effortless nonchalance, he puts in an enormous amount of work to look like that. I got a lot out of this profile, which included quotes from Kravitz’s trainer of 30 years, Dodd Romero, also 62. Romero will take Kravitz’s calls at 2 a.m. He’s so in tune with him that he knows when Kravitz isn’t sticking to his strict diet. Here are some quotes from the piece, with more at the source:

His fitness philosophy
[His grandfather told him] “You must build on a strong foundation. If the foundation ain’t strong, the house is going to fall down. It all starts with the part you can’t see—the hard work, the patience, the discipline…’ “Fitness is the house; discipline is the foundation. It’s the work you do when no one is watching. It’s figuring out how you’re going to squeeze in a workout no matter what else you have going on that day or night.”

His trainer of 30 years is so attuned to him
“Dodd has a gift—the way I make music is the way he works on bodies. He can just look at you like a computer and see the slightest things that are off. Like, ‘You ate some chips last night, didn’t you?’ I hate to say it, but he’s always right.”

How he wants his body to look
“I’m not looking to be big or bulk. I want a very narrow silhouette, more like Spider-Man meets Bruce Lee, you know what I mean? Bruce Lee looked good in clothes. He’s bad—a thin, cool guy who obviously had muscle tone and who moved and flowed really gracefully.”

He’s not on anything performance-enhancing
“All this is natural: no peptides, no human growth hormone, no testosterone. There’s nothing wrong if people want to do those things. But there’s an alternative. You can do it naturally with exercise and food. Is it harder? Yes. Does it take more work? Yes. But that’s how I choose to do it, and it’s 100 percent attainable.”

Why he works out in leather pants
“I perform onstage in leather, denim, whatever, so those are the pants I wear to train. It also means I can fit in a workout anytime, anywhere. I can gauge everything by how I’m in my pants,” he says. “Like, if my pants are a little tight, I know I’m getting outta’ shape. My friend Denzel Washington gave me this phrase, ‘The pants don’t lie, the pants don’t lie.’”

He doesn’t eat until 3pm and it’s mostly raw vegan
“It’s not because I’m trying to intermittent fast; it’s just the way I am. I can’t get up and, like, eat. Typically, I’ll start with an egg white omelet with a lot of vegetables. Then a protein shake, and later I’ll have a salad.

His aging philosophy
“Age is a funny thing. I don’t look at it as a number, I look at age as time on earth. What you do with that time, what’s the result of how you choose to live? You can have a 1964 Mustang that looks like it came off the line yesterday. It’s gleaming, with an engine that purrs. You can also have one that’s rusted, dented, beat up, and doesn’t work. Same car, same year, but a very different outcome as a result of how you maintained it. It sounds silly the way I’m simplifying it, but that’s how it is to me.”

[From Men’s Health]

I love his quote about how your 1964 Mustang can still be shining and purring! There’s more in this piece I didn’t excerpt, particularly about how Kravitz whipped himself back into shape, with the help of his trainer, at about 50. Kravitz moved into Romero’s house and training facility in Miami for six months, where they did a “hardcore boot camp.” Romero said “Lenny was in better shape at 50 than he was at 40 or even 30. Now, at 62, he’s in better shape than he was at 50.” Goals!

Kravitz is touring this summer and that takes a level of fitness that would challenge most men half his age. He’s clearly up for it. He remains as cool and timeless as the 90s – with incredible music that can only be sampled and mimicked, never duplicated.

Lenny Kravitz attends Day Fifteen of the 2026 French Open on June 07, 2026 in Paris, France.

Lenny Kravitz 'Blue Electric Light' concert at Unipol Arena. 3-31-25

photos credit: Janet Mayer/INSTARimages.com, Michele Nucci/IPA/INSTARimages, Lionel Guericolas/Avalon, Backgrid

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20 Responses to “Lenny Kravitz explains why he works out in leather pants”

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  1. Ameerah M says:

    His eating habits sounds a bit like disordered eating. There’s no way that he is getting enough calories that counters how much he burns in his workouts.

    • mel says:

      Please please please people understand this is 100% disordered eating. We’re not used to seeing it in men but it absolutely is. You do NOT need abs at 62 to prove your fitness. This is about looks and ego.

  2. Jais says:

    The pants make sense. And that is a man who does not want to gain any weight whatsoever.

  3. NotMika says:

    Makes me very uncomfortable that he’s aiming to have a body like Bruce Lee, who was very ill and died when he was filming Enter the Dragon, and whose iconic six pack was the result of severe dehydration, at best.

  4. Meredith says:

    Disordered eating and exercise framed as health… ugh.

  5. Mightymolly says:

    I’m 10 years younger than he is and while
    I think it’s always good to call out disordered eating, let’s be honest that we’re all on the GLP-1s now, eating much less and working out to maintain muscle. This is society now. We are all gonna be thinner and stronger than our middle aged predecessors. I’d worry a lot more if a 30 year old with two young kids was behaving this way, but a dude in his 60s? I mean, have at it.

    • Meredith says:

      We are NOT all on GLP-1s. Some of us have hard-earned body acceptance despite all the forces that want us to hate our bodies because that makes us better consumers.

    • dawnchild says:

      agree with @Meredith.
      Not all of us are on GLP-1s, nor do I wish to be, unless there is a actual therapeutic call for disease treatment reasons.
      I agree we should try to take care of our body, and yes, we can reverse-engineer feel-good hormones from a workout to influence our mood; but kindness, empathy, critical thinking, balanced self-discipline, emotional wellness etc is what makes us role models, not a 10-pack. Appearance only goes so far…maybe required in his job, I guess.

  6. Lady Rae says:

    Working out in leather pants just doesn’t make sense even if he performs in them, it’s still just gross. It also doesn’t make sense it sounds like he’s not eating much but that can’t be accurate otherwise heave you much slimmer, right? Maybe his protein shakes have a lot of calories in them to compensate for the lack of food intake. His poor trainer at his beck and call even at 2 am, so unreasonable. These people are never told no.

    • NotSoSocialB says:

      Working out-SWEATING- in leather pants– and he probs wears no undies– gross. Sweaty, farty, sticky old man-balls. What an aphrodisiac. 😒

    • QuiteContrary says:

      It’s really gross.

  7. Sherry says:

    He still makes music?

  8. Irving says:

    If you have to explain a joke, it’s not funny. If you have to justify every unusual aspect of your health regimen to the nth degree, it’s not a health regimen.

  9. Ann says:

    I’m impressed with his lifting! Wow! He works hard to look good. The food seems good and healthy to me. Nothing wrong with fasting.

    • Meredith says:

      Hiring a body/exercise “expert” who pretends he can see that you ate some chips and calls you out on it? There is nothing healthy about EITHER of their attitudes towards food. My grandparents lived to very old age on the “everything in moderation” motto (plus a lot of walking because they were car-free city dwellers).

  10. SarahCS says:

    It’s fascinating hearing a man talk about his obsession with his body and diet. None of this sounds healthy.

  11. Bunbun says:

    I dunno, I feel like there might be more to his description of his diet.

    Could be a giant omelette.

    Could be a monster protein drink.

    Could be a salad that’s basically a load of food that happens to be on top of lettuce. Proteins, cheeses, nuts, fats, etc.

    It seems like it would be practically impossible to have that much muscle on a bunny rabbit’s diet.

    Also, I immediately had the “well sheesh, we’d all be in killer shape if we lived with a trainer and could devote loads of time to working out” thing.

    The comment from NOTSOSOCIALB cracked me up.

    The leather thing sounds like a weird, gross idiosyncrasy. I kind of wonder if it’s even true when the camera is not on, because of some “I’m such a badass I even wear leather to the gym” nonsense.

    PS. That lifting looks intense, wow!

  12. Jferber says:

    I will be the first one to say I love him. He looks hot and always has. 62? I have never seen a 62 year old man look like he does, that’s for sure. Forever sex symbol.

  13. Sanja says:

    Now that Angelina may leave L.A. these two should make it happen, please!