From “Thor” to “X-Men: First Class”, “Green Lantern”, and “Captain America: The First Avenger”, the summer has been filled with stories of superheroes saving the day. Behind the scenes, these superheroes are just people with the resources and dedication to get in their peak physical condition. Most of us won’t go and hire a personal trainer who can make us look like these superhero actors, however we can use what we hear to push ourselves harder and get the results we want.
Dedication is one factor celebrities always talk about. To get into shape for a role, actors will go to the gym for hours, five to seven days a week! As mentioned in an earlier article, Ryan Reynolds hit the gym 90 minutes a day, everyday, for months before “Green Lantern” filming started. Anne Hathaway has a five-day program each week consisting of stunt training, cardio and strength training, and an hour and half of dance classes in preparation for her role as Catwoman in “The Dark Knight Rises.” These actors don’t have a superhuman ability to wake up every morning happy and ready to hit the gym, they’re just dedicated to being and looking their best. Chris Evans sums it up for all of us when he said his workouts for his role as Captain America were like, “pulling teeth,” but he still pushed through.
Push Harder: Chris Evans is getting a lot of recognition for his transformation into Captain America. He really pushed himself to get into top shape for the role and according to him it wasn’t easy. He told PopSugar, “This was different. I’d walk out (of the gym) and I’d be like, ‘I need to vomit. I hate this trainer. I hate this movie. I want to go to sleep for a week’. It was just relentless.”
Obviously, now, he’s enjoying the results of his training. For those of us, myself definitely included, who want to change the appearance of our bodies, in addition to living healthy, we should learn this type of motivation. Push until you can’t do it anymore. Run five more minutes, do five more reps, whatever it takes to get the results you want. Hate the work, but love the results!
Change your routine: When it came time to prepare for “Iron Man 2” Robert Downey Junior was at his limits. In a WebMD feature, he states “If I have to get underneath a bench press or [do] a squat, I’m going to shoot myself. I just don’t have the motivation.” So what did his training consist of? According to his trainer, he used tires, fire hoses filled with sand and water, sledgehammers, football sleds, bands, and even bamboo sticks with weights on the ends to workout. He worked all of the same muscles but didn’t have to go to the gym. If you’re like most, you don’t have tires and fire hoses laying around the house, but you can get creative. Weighted boxing gloves, a weight vest, resistance bands, and even a weighted jump rope will mix up your routine. And as for cardio, Brad Bose, Robert’s trainer gives this advice, “One of the weak points people make in their cardio training is limiting it to one piece of equipment, like a treadmill or an elliptical that they might have at their home. You need to challenge your heart with different levels, and you want to switch to something different.”
Circuit Training involves doing multiple exercises back-to-back, taking a short break and repeating the exercises, or “circuit”, again. The benefit to this type of exercise is that it keeps your heart rate elevated without completely wearing out one muscle group in a short period of time. Over the course of 3-5 circuits, your muscles will be plenty exercised and you will have completed a good amount of cardio. Actors such as Jennifer Garner, Zoe Kravitz has used this technique to prepare for their superhuman roles, Elektra and Angel Salvadore (X-Men), respectively.
The last but probably most important factor to getting your ideal body is dieting to meet your needs. Every time a celebrity talks about their body the question is brought up, “What is your diet like?” It doesn’t really matter what the answer is because chances are you’ve already heard of it. Low carbs, no fat, low sugar, etc. The real truth behind cutting fat is that you must choose to eat wisely and stick to it. Ensure you’re getting the proper nutrients to support your workout habits and to achieve your fitness goals. Don’t put yourself in Jennifer Lawrence’s shoes when she said, “It was awful, I was hungry for five months.” Just make good choices and don’t get bored by eating the same meal over and over. When asked about his diet for Captain America, Chris Evans said, “You get to a point where you just can’t even look at another piece of chicken.” Keep the food part fun, if not, you are more likely to sway from great eating habits to bad.
Ryan Reynolds is Green Lantern
The point I’m trying to make is that you don’t have to play a superhero to look like one. You have to have a goal in mind, a training/eating plan and the dedication to stick to it until you reach that goal. At times, you will get down and feel like you won’t make it, but just think of the results and what it’ll feel like to look back and see what you’ve accomplished. After all, think of your favorite superheroes, where would the “world” be if they gave up when it times got rough?
Information comprised from:
http://fitblog.wordpress.com/2007/01/24/jennifer-garner-workout-plan/
http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/features/iron-man-workout?page=3
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/19/chris-evans-talks-captain-america-workout_n_903919.html
2 Comments