According to her personal trainer, Scarlett Johansson’s goal when preparing for her role in Avengers: Endgame was to come as close as humanly possible to mirroring the attributes possessed by her superhero character.
Eric Johnson, co-founder of elite New York fitness company Homage, tells Bazaar of her impressive strength and speed feats, and competitive commitment.
'Our inspiration for this iteration of Black Widow was Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2,' Johnson explains, 'without the cigarette smoking, pounding the pavement for miles, and sleeping more than four hours a night.'
So, how did they achieve it?
The training strategy
'We treated the process like an athlete preparing for competition,' Johnson reveals. 'By placing more emphasis on her performance, her physique just followed.'
The varied schedule focused on 'integrated foundational strength training'. He explains this combined 'movements from plyometrics, yoga, Olympic weight lifting, kettlebells and gymnastics to reach peak levels of performance.'
Each session began with mobility work 'specific to Scarlett’s limitations,' followed by a 'primer' circuit. These included lower body plyometrics (such as jumping), medicine ball throws, integrative core work, and dynamic mobility (such as bear crawls).
The trainer explains Johansson’s favourite moves included deadlifts, pull-ups, military presses, pistol squats and kettlebell swings.
'We worked to not only challenge her body to adapt, but also stimulate her mind,' Johnson added of the gruelling schedule.
Diet and nutrition
Johansson’s diet plan was similarly intense, and centred on the concept of carb cycling. 'She cycled through days of high carbohydrates and low fat consumption, versus low carbohydrates and higher fat while maintaining protein intake,' he tells us.
Her meals were also time restricted, with a minimum 12-hour fasting window every day.
'That was a general guideline,' Johnson reveals. 'At moments we pushed beyond that to 14-to-15 hours depending on the filming schedule.'
The actress followed this training and nutrition programme for 'a year or so,' during the entire shooting schedule of Infinity War and Endgame.
Clearly bringing a comic book character to life requires superhuman levels of discipline and commitment.
Bridget March is Bazaar's Digital Beauty Director overseeing all beauty content, including wellbeing. From news and interviews to tutorials and treatment reviews, she answers the beauty questions you’re searching for with expert advice and takes deep dives into the latest trends. Bridget has written for various brands within the Hearst digital portfolio and was formerly Digital Beauty Editor at Cosmopolitan. She lives with her husband and two sons in the Cotswolds.
Follow Bridget on Instagram @bridgetmarch.
