Actresses who trained seriously to play their lead role. How it all started
A little over two decades ago, Robert De Niro was hard at work for a year. IN gym Robert didn't go to compete in a bodybuilding contest, but to play boxer Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull.
Now, in order to get this or that role, many Hollywood stars are forced to train to the point of exhaustion.
Ben Affleck, who won an Oscar in 1997 for writing Good Will Hunting, had to work hard to play pilot Rafe McCauley in Pearl Harbor. He needed to burn extra calories and build muscle torso. To do this, Ben worked out daily for two months with trainer Jorgen De Mey and sat on a low-calorie protein and alcohol-free diet for a long time.
The training consisted of exercises with weights for the muscles of the upper half of the body. Even in the two-minute breaks between classes on the simulators and with the barbell, Affleck did not rest, but energetically walked along the treadmill or pedaled the exercise bike diligently. The evening workout (lasting from 30 to 45 minutes) was completely devoted to the treadmill.
In addition, Ben Affleck, along with Josh Hartnett and other actors who starred in the film, completed a 4-day "young fighter" course at the US Army recruit camp in Schofield, Hawaii. Hollywood stars were not given any indulgence: they lived in ordinary barracks with soldiers, made grueling forced marches over rough terrain, were engaged in drill training and learned to salute.
Angelina Jolie put in a lot of effort to get the role of Lara Croft in the acclaimed film "Lara Croft - Tomb Raider." But her efforts were not in vain. After the premiere, both the audience and critics agreed that the seductive Jolie was simply created for the role of sexy Lara. However, few people know that before filming, the Oscar winner for Girl, Interrupted (1999) completed her 10-week "young fighter" course under the guidance of renowned London-based fitness trainer Josh Saltzman. The "warm up" on the treadmill was followed by punching, lunges, squats and resistance exercises. Daily hourly workouts were complemented by a protein diet with obligatory crabs. Every day, Angelina ate six times and drank four liters of water.
“Angelina has become a real athlete,” says her coach. “Not many women are able to pull up on the crossbar and push up from the floor as well.”
The excellent physical form allowed the young actress to do without injuries, despite the many dizzying stunts staged by her father Jon Voight. The only "injury" on the set was a slight burn, which she received when she inadvertently grabbed a burning candle.
Jolie pumped up such a figure that, according to the apt expression of one of the journalists, "at the sight of Lara in short shorts and a tight-fitting T-shirt, many eunuchs who had retired were breathless with excitement."
After the release of the film, Jolie became a longed-for dream for millions of men. Even the brightest NBA player Shaquille O'Neal, nicknamed Superman, fell in love with her today.
Denzel Washington also had to work hard before playing boxer Rubin Carter in The Hurricane in 1999. At the same time, he played Carter in his youth, for which the 183-centimeter actor had to lose 18 kilograms. Another obligatory requirement of the director was the relief muscles of the abdominal press.
The Oscar winner for Training Day worked hard for 16 months with former boxer Terry Claybon, a three-time Golden Gloves winner. According to the Los Angeles Daily News, Claybon and Washington practiced twice a day and watched videos of Carter's fights for hours. Their efforts were not in vain.
“When he takes off his robe at the very beginning of the film and exposes his muscles, the audience erupts into an exclamation of amazement,” director Norman Jewison shares his impressions.
“If instead of a movie, Denzel went to the ring,” Terry Claybon believes, “he would certainly have turned out to be a good boxer. fast hands and a terrific right hand."
Demi Moore worked hard to play Lieutenant Jordan O'Neal, the first woman in the elite US Navy SEAL unit, in the film Private Jane. Just a year after the sexy Striptease, Demi had to plunge into the world of real sports. With her Trained by Gregory Joujon-Roche, she worked twelve hours a day.In order to build muscle, she almost doubled her daily diet, bringing it to 3200 kilocalories.
The two weeks leading up to filming, spent by Demi Moore and colleagues at a field camp, were the hardest. The consultant of the picture, the former "cat" Harry Humphrey, despite the cold and inclement weather, woke up the actors at night and forced them to make forced marches. His favorite exercise was running with the boat raised above his head.
Moore stoically endured all the hardships and bloody calluses on her feet the size of a dollar coin. After forced marches, sweat mixed with blood had to be squeezed out of her socks, and she often felt sick from overexertion.
The skinny Meg Ryan faced similar challenges when she played a helicopter pilot in Courage to Fight (1996). To build muscle, she increased her daily ration from 1400 to 1800 kilocalories and worked out with trainer Michael George for two months. As a result, Meg's body has acquired 2.5 kilograms of muscle.
Since the script required a close-up of Ryan's pumped up arms, the trainer "prescribed" exercises for the relief of the biceps, triceps and deltoid muscles of his ward.
In addition to her weekly five to six weight training sessions, Meg Ryan ran several 10-kilometer distances. By the way, this part of the training was the easiest for her, because she has been running and yoga for a long time.
"Courage to Fight" is not the first film for which Meg had to prepare so thoroughly. Before filming Insomnia in Seattle, which began just five weeks after the birth of her son Jack, she was forced to urgently lose weight gained after childbirth with the same running and diet.
Angela Bassett, despite her near-perfect figure, had to work hard to play Tina Turner in What to Do With Love (1993), dance and do numerous stunts herself.
On the advice of experienced trainer David Sinott, the actress went to the gym six times a week, where she worked with weights for three sets without a break, each time increasing the weight. Her efforts were not in vain - for the role of Tina, she was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe.
In the list of actresses preparing for filming in the gym, Linda Hamilton, well known for the films "Terminator", stands apart.
The slender Linda, whose height is 165 centimeters, did not have to prepare much for the filming of the first "Terminator" (1984) - according to the director's plan, Sarah Connor was as slender and graceful as the actress herself. But to participate in "Terminator 2" (1991), she had to swing for a long time.
Linda Hamilton's transformation into the envy of millions of American gym-going women began 13 weeks before filming, but didn't end there.
For three hours a day, six days a week, Linda, under the guidance of trainer Anthony Cortez, ran, cycled, swam, climbed stairs, worked out with weights and did stretching exercises. Classes in the hall were supplemented by a diet consisting mainly of oatmeal, chicken meat and dry salads.
In addition to this, the former Israeli intelligence officer taught Hamilton judo and martial arts.
Building muscle, although not easy, is still easier than maintaining a good physical shape after filming is over. Russell Crowe's calling card has always been a lean figure and pumped up muscles. Photos of his 15m trailer with exercise equipment, shower and massage room, which he often carries with him across America to shoot, have been published in many magazines.
For the role of the ancient Roman commander Maximus in "Gladiator", which brought him fame and "Oscar", Russell was successfully prepared by his compatriot Louren Bivart, a fitness trainer and martial arts specialist, who at one time participated in the program "Gladiator" on Australian television.
However, after the "Gladiator" Crowe relaxed - recovered as much as thirteen kilograms. And in order to get the role of Captain Jack Aubrey, the hero of the wars with Napoleon, in the film "The Far Side of the World", which began filming in mid-June in Mexico, he had to urgently lose weight.
The Australian actor lost weight with his usual combination of brisk walking and running and weight training. In addition to playing sports, he had to drastically limit his consumption of alcohol and give up fatty foods and starchy foods. A special low-calorie diet for Russell was developed by an experienced nutritionist.
Russell Crowe got tired of torturing himself on simulators - and he went into intellectual cinema.
In the age of action movies and superhero movies Hollywood actresses It is not enough to have only beauty and talent. Often they have to acquire a certain set of skills, and sometimes a solid muscle mass, in order to cope with their roles. After all, it is impossible to play such heroes as soldiers, spies and intergalactic assassins without proper training. Our review is dedicated to 16 outstanding performers who have made tremendous efforts to be in perfect shape by the start of filming and do their job with dignity.
Gal Gadot
Before Wonder Woman, the actress had already appeared in superhero films, but it was for the sake of this film that she had to work especially hard in the gym. It took Gal Gadot 9 months to turn her fragile model body into a mountain of muscles of the Amazon princess Diana. By the time the actress put on her costume and was in front of the camera, she had gained 8 kg. muscle mass and also learned to ride and wield a sword.
Alison Brie
Playing the role of the long-suffering Trudy in Mad Men, Alison Brie used only her acting talent. However, in the series "Shine" she invested much more. To transform into a girl wrestler, the actress trained like crazy, lifting various heavy objects in the gym with her colleagues. Sometimes Alison had to carry her own trainer weighing under 100 kg on her back. As he himself explained, the actress had to prepare well so as not to get injured on the set.
Scarlett Johansson
Portraying characters such as Black Widow from The Avengers and the cyborg from Ghost in the Shell, Scarlett Johansson has been in top physical shape since 2010. But for filming in the last tape, the actress also had to learn how to handle all sorts of deadly objects. “It took a lot of repetition and tactical training to be as effective as possible with weapons, which I did for the first time: cleaning the premises and so on,” Scarlett describes her preparation for the role. Of course, this workout was tough, but still more fun than the strict diet and weightlifting course before The Avengers.
Demmy Moor
For the role in the film "GI Jane" Demi Moore also thoroughly worked on herself. The actress was trained with the US Navy and at the end of the training even learned to do push-ups on one arm. During filming, Demi refused the services of understudies and performed all the most difficult stunts herself.
Rebecca Ferguson
To play Ilsa Faust in Mission: Impossible: Rogue Nation, Rebecca did a truly impossible task. Stuntman Wade Eastwood described her goal as follows: "Rebecca must be strong, like Tom Cruise, but at the same time slim and fit." The actress trained for over a month for 6 hours a day, 6 days a week to gain combat skills, learn how to jump from the roofs of buildings and handle weapons.
Natalie Portman
How intense Natalie Portman's training schedule was in preparation for the filming of Black Swan, she best describes herself: "At times I thought I was going to die." To play a ballerina on the brink of insanity in Darren Aronofsky's thriller, the actress spent a year learning ballet skills every day for 5 hours.
Hilary Swank
Few actresses have been as physically fit as Hilary Swank in Million Dollar Baby, and it's not hard to see why. The actress has completely changed her lifestyle. Everything, including workouts, meals, and even sleep, was scheduled to the minute.
Jennifer Lawrence
Katniss Everdeen from "The Hunger Games" made the actress not only use her acting talent, but also get in shape and learn survival skills. Lawrence's 6-week course included running, intense cardio and archery training. The actress also mentioned several unusual items: rock climbing, tree climbing, wrestling and jumping. Between all this, she had to still sleep, but it is not known how she managed to find time for this.
Emily Browning
This actress was not the only one who had to get her body in order before the filming of "Forbidden reception", however, due to her fragile physique, she had to work especially hard. Emily Browning practiced martial arts for 4.5 hours every morning and learned how to handle weapons. Then she was waiting for various exercises with her own weight. Despite the fears of colleagues that it would not be possible to make a fighter out of her, the goal was achieved, and, as Emily herself admitted, learning to fight before filming turned out to be an extremely exciting activity for her.
Daisy Ridley
Before starring in the 7th episode of Star Wars, the actress completed a really tough workout program. Ray's image required Daisy countless hours of air squats, bent over rows, box jumps, bench press, suspension training, not to mention 3 months of sword training.
Uma Thurman
To play Beatrix Kiddo in Tarantino's Kill Bill, Uma Thurman mastered three styles of kung fu, sword fighting, hand-to-hand and knife fighting, and knife throwing. She worked out 5 days a week for 3 months. During this time, Uma learned how to kill Bill in dozens of different ways and even in 2 languages.
Linda Hamilton
While some viewers marveled at the special effects of James Cameron's "Terminator 2: Judgment Day", others were impressed by the excellent condition of the body of its main character - Sarah Connor. Linda Hamilton trained tirelessly to look spectacular. The actress began preparing for filming 13 weeks before they began. Her regimen included cardio, strength training, weapons training, judo, and a strict low-fat diet.
Angelina Jolie
This actress does not just accept roles that require good physical fitness from her, she is looking for them herself. The director of the film "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider 2 - The Cradle of Life" once admitted that Jolie independently compiled a list of new fighting techniques and skills that she would like to master and apply in the film. As a result, the actress learned everything that was indicated in it, from horse riding to stick fighting.
Ann Hataway
The actress has never been afraid to change her body for the sake of the movie. So, for the role of a dying prostitute in Les Misérables, Anne Hathaway lost 11 kg of weight, and in order to fit into the image of Selina Kyle from the movie The Dark Knight Rises, she went for a real physical transformation. Ann's trainers used combat choreography and muscle memory to change the way she moved. The program also included martial arts and a strict vegetarian diet.
Zoe Saldana
While Zoe Saldana's real face and body don't appear in Avatar, for the sake of her character Neytiri, the actress kept an absolutely insane training regimen. Not only did Zoey master martial arts, archery and bareback riding, she also learned how to do it all in front of the camera in tight suits. In total, the preparation of Saldana took 18 months.
Sofia Boutella
After her time in Madonna's dance group, Sofia had no fear of hard work. However, she took it to a whole new level by starring in Kingsman: The Secret Service. The role of the assistant to the villain-killer Gazelle required a huge effort. Sophia practiced taekwondo daily for 3 months to participate in the fight scenes. The actress also worked for hours different types kicks to show how to use the deadly prosthetics that Gazelle had instead of shins as effectively as possible.
Selflessness at work exists!
IN Lately Hollywood is often associated with embellishment and all sorts of tricks, but there is nothing fake about the effort these actresses have put into working on themselves to perform roles that require really serious physical preparation. So the next time you decide to watch the next superhero film, think about it and appreciate the work of the performers, which began long before the cameras turned on the set.
When the sisters were five years old, their father died in an accident, and their mother married a second time - to the chief of police of Salisbury. However, the death of her father did not bring Linda as much suffering as her own sister did by the very fact of her existence. FROM early childhood Linda was very worried about looking like Leslie, and by the age of 16 this led to a serious crisis: she did everything she could to be different from her sister - she cut off her hair, eyelashes, grew fat up to 75 kg (this is at 16 years old!), in the opposite of energetic and groovy, Leslie became a bored intellectual.
Perhaps from this crisis the disease began, from which Linda Hamilton suffers all her life - manic-depressive syndrome (). At first she refused any treatment, but by the age of 30 she was still forced to resort to antidepressants. But the differences between the sisters with age passed, and Linda forced Cameron to give Leslie a small role in the second "Terminator" - in the final episode at the steel mill.
Linda never dreamed of becoming an actress, although she started playing at school - at first she was going to become an archaeologist or a firefighter. She learned to play the piano for a couple of years, and one summer she even worked as a caretaker at the local zoo. She participated in school productions with her sister only because it seemed funny to everyone when two completely identical people play in one performance. The troupe was called "Kent Players" and staged plays by Henry Fielding, Agatha Christie, Arthur Miller, and later Shakespeare.
In 1976, having moved from Chestertown, where she studied for 2 years at Washington College, to New York, Linda began attending Lee Strasberg's acting workshop. In 1979, after graduating from the studio, Linda moved to California.
The first success came to her after filming in "Terminator", the second - after the role of Katherine in the television series "Beauty and the Beast". For these roles, she received a bunch of awards - "Emmy", Golden Globe, audience award, "Saturn" and "Romi". By the way, with Ron Perlman, her partner in the TV show, Linda is still friendly.
In 1989, Linda Hamilton buys a house in Arles (France), but does not have time to live there for her own pleasure - after the first miscarriage, she becomes pregnant again and in the fall safely gives birth to her son Dalton (in the photo, it was he who later played little John Connor in the second "Terminator" - see Sarah's dream). True, in December she is already divorcing Dalton's father, Bruce Abbott. This unfortunate fact does not upset her very much, and she buys a house in Hawaii, where she lives in between filming. At the same time, he does not part with his home in Hollywood, where he returns for the period of filming. In addition, feeling in herself energy that has not yet been wasted, she gathers her own theater troupe from her friends.
In May 1990, Linda receives an invitation to the film "Terminator 2", and begins to work hard on her body and military skills. As a result, the new Sarah Connor brought her another "Saturn" and an award from MTV "for the best female image". After the release of "T2", Linda moves in with James Cameron, and after two more miscarriages, their daughter Josephine appears in February 1993.
They got married only in the summer of 1997, but couples do not exist in Hollywood for a long time, and in December next year Linda files for divorce and division of property. Now Linda Hamilton lives in Malibu with her children, still works a lot, and in her moments of rest she watches football, eats ice cream and smokes a lot. In addition, she loves horses and traveling around Europe. He also travels regularly to Alaska... to fish!
BESIDES.
Interview where Linda Hamilton talks about her mental health issues
James Cameron still will not let the T-800 retire after five films about him and will shoot the sixth part of the Terminator with the golden cast of the saga - the elderly Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger. According to the director, this will allow for the first time in the history of Hollywood to show a real feminist action film, and according to the fans of the series, Cameron has gone a little wrong - if he is not stopped, he will shoot "Terminators" until the real war of mankind begins with cars.
Three films later, each of which received not the most flattering reviews from critics, and 26 years after the release of Terminator 2, Linda Hamilton will return to the role of Sarah Connor in the new, sixth part of the saga about the war between mankind and machines. This was stated by the creator of the "Terminator" James Cameron at a closed meeting dedicated to the celebration of the anniversary of the franchise, writes Vanity Fair. This refutes previously received information that after the failed fifth part.
Cameron plans to make 60-year-old Hamilton the main character of the action movie, and this film will not be the final part of the saga. As conceived by the director, in the film, the old guard will pass on their knowledge and skills to a new generation of fighters with machines. Separately, Cameron notes the feminist aspect of the future part - he focuses on the fact that the sixth "Terminator" will be the first Hollywood film with an elderly heroine.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is already 70 years old, will also take part in the film. The premiere is scheduled for 2019.
The publication notes that the statement about the filming of the sixth "Terminator" explains the harsh criticism that the director subjected to "Wonder Woman" in late August. Cameron stated that this film does not help the ideals of feminism, as many of his fans believe, but rather objectifies women, since his heroine, despite all the assurances of the filmmakers, remains the image that men expect to see in films about beautiful women.
Despite the fact that the objectification clause confirms, in response to Cameron's remarks, some Hollywood and pro-feminist media have written rude notes that go over him. At the same time, a journalist from Verge lowered the merits of the director who made the films "Aliens" and "Terminator" with strong female characters, calling his comments "stupid" and considering that he is only known thanks to the film "A Dance with Wolves". She added edits to the text only after a lot of ridicule.
Patty Jenkins, who understandably loves her film, its characters and even the Wonder Woman cosplayer, also entered into the discussion, but she considered the fact that he is a man as her main argument against Cameron. In her opinion, because of this, James cannot understand the importance of her film.
But no matter how much feminism is in the new Terminator, perhaps the director should still stop filming new parts of the cult franchise, fans say. Because otherwise he will do this until the machines declare war on humanity already in the real world.
"If the next movie is a direct sequel to Terminator 2, that means they're STILL AGAIN restarting the franchise."
In the three decades since Kenneth Cooper published his first book on the subject, people have assumed that aerobic training is the only and best way to improve fitness, and that activities characterized by a high number of repetitions in cyclic activities - for example , jogging, cycling and dance moves are best method improving physical fitness. But it's not. Aerobic exercise is just one element of a broader concept - general fitness - which consists of several components, including skeletal muscle strength, bone density, flexibility, endurance, maintenance of lean body mass, and, finally, a positive self-image.
If you've been training on a fitness program consisting solely of aerobic exercise in the form of countless leg exercises with a huge number of repetitions, involving only a few muscles, then you simply wasted time. Aerobic exercise in no way contributes to increasing muscle strength. In fact, aerobic exercise that overworks a few muscles to the exclusion of others creates some pretty dangerous imbalances in the musculoskeletal system that increase the likelihood of injury. What's more, Seattle's Greg Anderson writes in his brochure, "which contributes to damage to the knees, hips, and back. And dance aerobics is probably even worse. And those types of exercise that are considered low-impact - for example, exercising on a stationary bike - are not always characterized by low intensity.
Aerobic exercise does not improve flexibility, anaerobic endurance, or increase lean muscle mass. In addition, by leading to general overtraining, it can contribute to the loss of lean muscle mass - this is called muscle overuse atrophy - and thus the loss of muscle tone. This is what causes the change in body shape and, as a result, the flabby physique that is characteristic of many of the proponents of this type of training.
You may be interested to know that aerobic exercise activates so few muscle fibers that it burns quite a few calories, and is thus a rather dubious way to get rid of body fat. And it is true, dear readers. Despite what you hear everywhere, cycling activities such as jogging, cycling, and dance aerobics burn very few calories. In reality, 0.5 kg of fat is enough to provide energy for about 10 hours of aerobic exercise. Some experts have suggested that aerobic exercise is important because it increases resting metabolic rate. Since aerobic training burns so few calories during the actual workout, how much can it increase the rate of calorie burn outside of the workout?
It has never been a dogma that you should limit your exercise to leg cycling in order to improve your cardiovascular and respiratory systems and overall fitness. The main principle of improving the work of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems is to maintain an elevated heart rate for 12 minutes or more (how elevated depends on age). A number of studies have shown that the best way to achieve this goal is a program that engages not only the legs but all the major skeletal muscles through high-intensity resistance training that limits rest between sets so that the heart rate remains elevated throughout the session.
Many of the well-known proponents of aerobic training eventually agreed that the very concept of aerobic training was wrong. Former cardiac surgeon Irving Dardik, for example, proclaimed a few years ago, "The very basic concept behind aerobic training is wrong!" Dr. Dardik also concluded that in the best possible way training will be short periods of high-intensity work, followed by short pauses of rest, then again a high-intensity segment of work. Covert Bailey, author of Fit or Fat, and a true guru of so-called "moderate aerobic exercise," recommends upwind sprints for those looking to maximize their fitness. However, upwind sprints, although a high-intensity workout, are quite a dangerous load that will inevitably lead to rupture of the hamstrings, Achilles tendon and damage to the knee joints. On the other hand, a properly executed high-intensity resistance training program, where all muscles work relatively slowly through the entire range of motion of 10-15 repetitions to muscle failure, and the effort is low to moderate, is an ideal way of training, while the risk of injury is almost comes down to zero!
This is how my colleagues and I train clients who want to improve their fitness. To help them make their lives more productive, healthier and happier, optimize their time in the gym and achieve general improvement physical fitness, we carefully assist them in carrying out resistance training in high-intensity short-term exercises. At the same time, training sessions are held twice a week and last an average of 20-30 minutes.
A major problem in the field of bodybuilding and fitness is the almost universal misconception that more is better. As children, we learned the rule: “the more candies, the better,” and then blindly began to apply this rule in various areas of life. But this is not applicable everywhere. But even if you go back to that original moment, you will understand that the original concept was false, because over time, sweets lead to various kinds of diseases, make a person fat and cause dental problems.
A similar situation develops with physical activity. The right amount of physical activity leads to a positive result, and excessive - to a negative one. As it turns out, the optimal dose of exercise required to achieve optimal results won't necessarily be as high as you've been led to believe. Thus, the lack of optimal progression is a thing of the past.
As I noted earlier, assuming more is better, why only train 2-3 hours a day? Why not take a vacation from work and train all 18 hours? Then success would be guaranteed? (By the way, all these stories about Linda Hamilton and Demi Moore working out 5 hours a day to get in shape for certain films are sheer nonsense. No one, with the exception of slaves who are whipped, will be able to save constant motivation to train so hard day after day.Women in particular, having naturally lower testosterone levels, simply won't be able to handle the amount of high-intensity work that some claim to do.And if I were wrong, if Linda Hamilton really had enough motivation to work out five hours a day, what then? She would look nowhere near as good on screen.
As a coaching lecturer, I have visited many gyms in many parts of the world. To summarize, you can find that most people train at least three times a week for one hour. Why? It so happened in our culture that the number "three" has some kind of traditionally magical meaning. Three bears, the Holy Trinity and the mystical concept that bad things happen three times. Thus, it will be justified both logically and scientifically if we train three times a week. Most of us lose a huge amount of time and energy by exercising three times a week for an hour.
There is some kind of crazy element in bodybuilding that has turned bodybuilding into something like a religion. People spend hours every day mindlessly, with fanatical devotion, pulling iron, stretching, running, and so on. These people are not engaged in order to achieve one, albeit important, goal among a whole hierarchy of various life-affirming goals. For them, a visit to the gym is nothing more and nothing less than just a social ritual that helps them manage their way of thinking, which, as a result, leads to the fact that they are no longer able to think and judge as a normal adult should. .
While at a certain level of fitness it would be commendable to go to the gym 4-6 times a week and train for two hours, but for athletes of a lower level, this will be completely unacceptable. The idea is not to go to the gym to prove your commitment to your bodybuilding passion, but to go there consciously prepared to do what nature requires of you in terms of training load - and in the right amounts.
Whether your goals are more modest (increase strength and muscle mass, reduce body fat and improve overall fitness) or grandiose (increase strength and muscle mass for high-level athletes in various types sports or to participate in bodybuilding competitions) - remember that overtraining is not just wasted effort, it is counterproductive.
Without a doubt, good physical shape is absolutely essential for a normal, happy life. However, there is no need (and even undesirable) to spend 1-2 hours a day to achieve this. This is not necessary, since the optimal results - i.e. good physical shape - can be perfectly achieved by devoting two hours a week to weight training. This is undesirable, because by devoting more time to training, you will spend more time achieving a certain benefit than normal life requires.
Recently, even Kenneth Cooper - who made aerobics so popular - admitted that he's been wrong all these years, and more exercise isn't always better. Some time ago, Dr. Cooper and his colleagues at the Cooper Aerobics Center were alarmed by the increased incidence of serious medical problems - heart disease and cancer - among those people who jog 6 times a week, and, in addition, lift weights 3 times . These were people leading a completely puritanical lifestyle, who were engaged in physical education, did not smoke, did not drink alcohol and avoided a large number fats. Cooper was initially confused, but after doing some research, he discovered that overtraining was the cause.
If you are skeptical about this issue, and there are serious doubts that overtraining can cause delayed health problems, always remember that exercise stress represents stress. And if someone considers muscles, like sunburn, just a means to improve appearance, then, by the way, their main function is not this at all. Sun tanning and big muscles are the protective barriers that the body puts up to protect against the effects of stress, but even this can sometimes be excessive. Anyone who constantly exposes himself to the hot August rays will not live long, because the sun's rays will literally dry out his skin and the tissues underlying it. For the same reason, it is quite understandable that overtraining can have an extremely detrimental effect on the functioning of all body systems, which as a result may well lead to the breakdown of any tissues, such as the excretory system. Cooper went so far as to link the occurrence of a tumor of the lymphatic system (or lymphogranulomatosis) in the great hockey player Mario Lemieux and long-distance runner Marty Liquori with chronic overtraining.
A widely held myth among fitness proponents is that there is one way to train to build muscle and strength and another way to improve cardiovascular function, i.e. you have to lift weights to improve strength and jogging to improve aerobic endurance. Arthur Jones said: “Half of this statement is correct, since jogging does not increase strength and muscle mass. And if it is abused, as is very often done, it can, on the contrary, lead to some loss of strength and muscle mass. But it would be wrong to say that with weights it does not improve endurance. How did Jones come to this conclusion?
In 1975, NAUTILUS funded one of the most important studies in sports science. The general physical fitness experiment was conducted at the United States Military Academy at West Point under the supervision of Colonel James Anderson. The purpose of this experiment was to teach the cadets of the academy correct use equipment NAUTILUS, and then determine the physiological effect of short-term . Scientists set themselves the goal of answering the following questions: 1) What increase in skeletal muscle strength can be achieved with short, intense workouts? 2) How does strength training affect endurance, flexibility and overall body composition?
The experiment involved 18 football players who trained all major muscle groups with 10 exercises 3 times a week for 8 weeks. The workouts were short, but very. Each exercise was performed in one set until complete failure. After two weeks of training, as well as at the very end of the experiment, its participants underwent a huge number of various tests and measurements. As stated in the report, "Testing was conducted no earlier than two weeks from the start of the experiment in order to minimize the impact of the so-called learning effect on the performance of each individual."
What about the results? Already after 6 weeks of training, all 18 participants in the experiment increased the resistance used in all 10 exercises by an average of 58.54%. And what's more, despite this huge increase in strength - and thus the increase in the overall physiological stress they were under - their training duration decreased by 9 minutes.
To investigate the functional impact of short, intense strength training, subjects and a control group (who either did not train at all or trained randomly) were tested on three outcomes: a 2-mile (3.5 km) run, a 40-yard run ( 36.7 m) and high jump. In the 3.5 km race, the performance of the participants in the experiment was 4-32 times higher than that of the control group. In the 40-yard run, she was 4.57 times higher, and in the high jump, she was about twice as high.
What about endurance? Although there is some improvement in endurance as a result of strength training, especially when trainees include rest pauses between sets - which does not allow them to maintain a constantly elevated heart rate - at the end of the experiment, all participants showed an improvement in cardiovascular function compared to the control group in terms of all 60 indicators.
Those who led this experiment were well aware of the importance of flexibility in performance in sports, and they measured it using four parameters: trunk flexion, trunk extension, shoulder flexion, and shoulder extension. Those participants in the experiment who exercised achieved a much greater improvement than the control group - an average of 11% versus 0.85%.
The fear that mankind has experienced for several decades - that weight training contributes to the development of excessive muscle stiffness and a significant loss of flexibility - in fact, has no basis. In fact, at the right methods workouts where muscles are worked through the entire range of motion, giving an equal share of work to agonist and antagonist muscles, trainees will maintain (and in many cases improve) flexibility
Finally, in terms of body composition, participants who performed 10 exercises, exercising 3 times a week for at least 30 minutes, lost more fat than the control group.
For those who doubt the correctness of this experiment, although NAUTILUS / SPORTS MEDICAL INDUSTRIES funded this project - and the cost of it exceeded $ 1 million - doctors from the Cooper Aerobics Center were allowed to conduct cardiovascular testing, while strength testing was performed by doctors from West Point.
I have argued in the past that the field of sports science is in such turmoil that many of the much-lauded studies have never actually been done. But the experiment that I told about was actually carried out, that's for sure. In addition, the entire experiment was recorded on film. Since the frame rate is 24 frames per second, we have an accurate record of the time and speed of the movements in each exercise and a fixation of how much time was spent.
In the history of sports science, there has never been a study characterized by such rigorous objectivity and accuracy, or by such a huge amount of time and money invested. Since this experiment was conducted in 1975, several million more dollars have been spent on developing the most accurate testing devices, more than 60 large-scale studies have been conducted, and they have all proved the same: a huge superiority of short, high-intensity resistance training for improving overall fitness. . But despite the fact that all these studies were published in scientific journals, their results are still ignored by some people, such as Kenneth Cooper, because they go against the ideas they have been preaching for decades.
