Ever envied Ryan Reynolds’ six-pack and Scarlett Johansson’s sexy silhouette? Fitness guru Bobby Strom is the body-blitzer Hollywood turns to when serious action is involved.
The transformation
“Consistency, balance and moderation are key triggers for change and jumping the gun will only lead to pain and injury,” Strom says. “Once you have synergized your exercise and nutrition habits, you will get optimum results.”
Having trained Scarlett Johansson for her role as the Black Widow in Iron Man 2 and currently whipping Blake Lively into shape for her role as villain Star Sapphire in Green Lantern, Strom knows that there’s more to it than aiming to get them to fit into Lyrca cat suits.
Toning but not bulking
“Women want to be trim, toned and lean, so we do exercises that use and manipulate their own body weight, so as not to create bulk or heavy muscle,” he says. “Knee pushups, rocking lunges and jumping squats, and moves on the Swiss ball, will all work on the core.”
Shape and sculpt
“With women, I focus on creating lean muscle in the legs, upper body and stomach areas,” Strom says. “Circuit training is a fantastic way of getting the heart rate up by doing 15-20 repetitions of the same moves using light weights and dumbbells, a method I used thoroughly on Scarlett.”
Surprisingly, it seems that men favor defined muscle tone over big and bulky, something Strom is currently doing with Ryan Reynolds in preparation for his role in Green Lantern. “Men want to be lean as well, and the focus is on the back and the shoulders. It’s not all about being buff.”
On the menu?
Metabolism
During exercise, your heart is pumping and your metabolism is working at a faster rate, but how can you keep this up after the work out? According to Strom, it’s all about how you eat.
“Think of the body like a race car — you want the car to be light so that it can get around the track as fast as possible — so only put enough fuel to finish the track,” he says. “Food is fuel and we should think of eating as re-fuelling. At the end of the day, fat is nothing but stored food, so if there is no food to store, there will be no fat.”
