Just putting on the Cirque du Soleil show is obviously a workout, so we’ll have to keep this in mind right off the bat.

Aside from their actual performance training these acrobats also have their own Cirque du Soleil workout that we’ll be taking a deep dive into as well.

If you haven’t already noticed, we’ve been on a bit of a calisthenics and bodyweight training kick.

We even launched our Ultimate Calisthenics Workout & Guide article as a compilation of all our calisthenics resources, workouts and progression (into one awesome workout).

On top of that we’ve been strictly hosting home workouts and calisthenics training styles; even having a handful based around gymnasts already.

But now it’s time for a different style of acrobatic superstar.

For this one we’ll use a bit of a different layout in that we’ll be taking a look into multiple different Cirque du Soleil acrobat training regimes and lifestyles.

In that sense we’ll be taking a look at two Cirque du Soleil acrobats: Haley Viloria (acrobat with Cirque du Soleil Amaluna) and Vitor Silva Dos Santos (acrobat with Cirque du Soleil KA).

I’ll also be including extra information here and there depending on what I can find on other acrobats, but for the most part we have a full routine and daily life from Haley and a full body workout from Vitor!

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Cirque du Soleil Diet and Nutrition: Haley Viloria

In an interview with Women’s Health we’re lucky enough to get a full breakdown of Haley’s nutrition and daily regime.

She tells us a bit about her breakfast and go to regime for sleep and waking up:

I tend to get about eight hours sleep, even on days off. That’s what works for me.

I’ll start my day at either seven or eight in the morning depending on when I finished up the night before.

My favorite breakfast – that I have every day – is a cup of coffee with Greek yogurt, a banana, nuts and a handful granola.

From there she’s already training, but we’ll save the information for when we talk a bit more about our Cirque du Soleil workout routine research!

Haley then shares that at around 2pm (on a typical day) she’ll have her lunch.

She explains like this:

Lunch is a kale salad with protein. We have a salad bar on site where there’s an amazing selection of cold cuts: chicken, ham, salami, and eggs.

So, depending on how I feel that day, I’ll take my protein, put it in my salad, add some seeds and put some extra veggies on the side.

I’ll just throw it all together and I make my own dressing and that’s my lunch.

For the next 6-8 hours she’s getting ready and performing on stage!

Then, even after putting on a performance she’s back to training (more on that in a bit).

Post that last training session she’s finally getting dinner in around 11:30pm and off to bed to rinse and repeat.

She wraps up her day by explaining her diet and more about how she likes to eat:

After the show, I’ll usually go home and have a toastie or another yogurt or something.

My diet is a lot of protein, I really like meat, nuts, but I love vegetables, I love salad. The only thing that is a little more specific is at night I try not to eat a lot of sugars or carbohydrates, because having that sit in your body isn’t that good for you anyway.

So it will make me feel uncomfortable physically the next day.

We see a lot of celebs opt for a sustainable approach like this as well.

That’s why our Academy Nutrition Classes (Monks, Minimalists, SuperHumans, Vikings, Spartans, Hunter Gatherers, Greek Gods, Samurais, & Eat Fat, Lose Fat) revolve around helping you find the specific diet that is right FOR YOU.

Of course, there are a lot of reasons to HAVE the strict guidelines.

We’ve seen a lot of celebs opt for specific restrictions. 

For example: Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart incorporate 80/20 dieting with big weekly cheat meals, Hugh Jackman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hopper, and Terry Crews utilize intermittent fasting(something I use daily as well), Mustafa Shakir and Madelaine Petsch are vegans, Brandon Routh and Frank Grillo opt for paleo, and tons of others utilize their own variations as well.

And, that’s just to name a few celebs from each, by the way.

You can check out our Nutrition Pillars for more information and articles on all of the above and more.

Curious what the Top Diets Among Celebrities actually are?  Check it out.

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Cirque du Soleil Workout Routine Research: Haley Viloria and Vitor Silva Dos Santos

As for our workout routine research portion of this article, we’ll actually be taking a look at BOTH our acrobats.

Vitor Silva Dos Santos actually did a video with Cirque du Soleil on their YouTube Channel that gives a full workout routine, so that is what I’ll be sharing within our full workout routine below.

That being said: I did do some extra research on them both.

Interestingly enough, Dos Santos actually even competed in a Men’s Physique competition in 2019 at the NPC Jay Cutler Desert Classic!

So for any of you out there who are wondering if their physiques are up to par with a Bodybuilders; well there’s your answer!

You know, if seeing it wasn’t enough.

And while, of course, this is not a traditional way of training for a Men’s Physique Competition, the fact that Dos Santos is able to do incredible stunts and perform the way he does while still obtaining a physique that puts him into the category that can be competitive among those who are strictly training for physique and physique along, is awesome.

In our article we talked about earlier from Women’s Health about Haley Viloria’s day in the life I made reference to a couple of training sessions throughout the day.

Jumping back to that, I mentioned that she starts her first training session (on an average day) around 9am.

She starts by telling Women’s Health about her warm up, which I will provide more detail of in our workout routine, but then continues into some of the

She tells us a bit about that here:

For my gym routine, I try not to divide it up into a leg day or an arm day or an ab day. For me, all of my conditioning is very specific to my specialties.

She continues into a bit more detail and then explains:

However, most of the time I work with only my bodyweight so that I’m conditioned to lift it on stage. That’s why I try not to put too much extra weight on my body, because with what I do, I have to lift myself.

I do a lot of pull-ups and push-ups, rather than exercises that use just one muscle group. I’ll also work on isolations with a resistance band.

From there she has her rehearsals, lunch, and a bunch of prep to get ready for show time at 8pm.

She says, about her actual performance:

I use the show as my cardio, cardio and conditioning.

But she’s not done there…!

After she’s done with her performance, her and other acrobats his some circuits at around 11:30pm.

She explains it as such:

A group of us will come up to the training area on the top gallery and we’ll do circuits.

By the time costumes are off, props are away it’s approaching 10:30. We’ll come up and work out some more. Just for fun.

Of course if someone’s not feeling well, no one’s going to say, “no you have to do the workout”.

Thing is, we’re very hyper by the end of the show, because we’ve just done the finalé and the audience are so appreciative. We feel good.

I know if I went home with that feeling, I’d just sit and think about the show. I need to expend some energy.

Now that’s some intense training volume!

But she has a point and I know the feeling of needing to expend some energy.

I will be sharing more information from Haley in the workout routine below (which will incorporate both athletes training styles), but first let’s talk about where we’ll be pulling Dos Santos workout a bit more.

Alongside Mat Miller, who is the Cirque du Soleil Performance Conditioning Specialist, Victor Silva Dos Santos takes us from his warm up all the way through an entire typical workout routine for him.

They share this, as I’ve said, right on the Cirque du Soleil YouTube Channel, so we’ll be pairing it together with more information from Haley; but of course each individual routine is going to be different.

This will hopefully give you some insight into their training enough to get you going for your own practice and regime!

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Cirque du Soleil Workout Routine

Training Volume:

3-5+ days per week

Volume Explanation:

Both athletes seem to be working with an extreme amount of training and conditioning volume to their regime, but as a base recommendation it would be smart to train around 3-5 days a week and rest 2-4 in order to allow your muscles to recover properly; especially if this level of training is new to you.

Training Explanation:

I’ll be giving a breakdown of Vitor Silva Dos Santos full routine that he and his coach shared, and also a rundown of Haley’s typical training with sources to help you build off what she shares.

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Cirque du Soleil Workout Routine: Vitor Silva Dos Santos Workout

Warm Up:

High Knees x 20

Butt Kicks x 20

Jumping Jacks x 20

Air Squats x 20

Twisting Heel Touch (Wide Leg/Arms Wide for Twist) x 10 each side

Giant Lunge w/ Opposite Arm Straight Up x 15 second hold

Giant Lunge w/ Both Arms Planted In Front x 15 second hold

Hamstring Stretch x 15 second

Workout:

One Arm KB Deadlift into Reverse Lunge

3×6

KB Goblet Squat

3×12

Foam Roll Plank (Foam Roller under Legs, Roll In and Out During Plank)

3×20

Conditioning and Stamina:

Each Session Starts at a 5 Minute Increment (5, 10, 15):

Session One:

Squat Press with Dumbbells x 15 reps

DB Deadlift into Bent Over Rows x 10 reps

Complete 3 Sets Total within 5 Minutes

Session Two:

Kettlebell Swings x 15

Burpees x 10

Complete 3 Sets Total within 5 Minutes

Session Three:

Accumulate 2 Minutes of an L-Sit Hold within your 5 Minutes

You can sub with a Hollow Hold (Reverse Superman Hold)

Cirque du Soleil Workout Routine: Haley Viloria Typical Training Day

We talked a bit about Viloria’s training regime within the article itself, and even paired it with her diet, but now I’ll break it down a bit more here and give you guys some resources if you’d like to step it up a notch.

Here’s what she tells us about her Warm Up:

WARM UPS

I begin my sessions with some stretching, splits, bridges, and a gymnastics-style warm up. Then I’ll start my handstand routine. This can last from an hour to an hour and a half, depending on whether I’m trying to progress or work on maintenance and alignment.

I also shared that most of her training is bodyweight and that she doesn’t like to divide it up into a leg, arm or ab day specifically.

She mentions:

So, for handstands I’ll practice the hold with weights on my legs or weights around my waist.

If you want to do more training with calisthenics and bodyweight training I suggest checking out our article titled: The Ultimate Calisthenics Workout & Guide.

There’s tons of different routines that cover this, and we’ve even seem some gymnast training regimes plugged into character workouts like Puck and Black Canary.

On top of this training Haley also mentions circuit training at the end of her performance (which would be what I would consider conditioning and endurance training as she also mentions).

For this you can utilize tons of different circuit workouts we’ve seen within our Workout Database, and I even share a good handful within that Ultimate Guide I mentioned above.

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