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Scarlett Johansson began her role as Black Widow back in 2009 and we’ve been huge fans ever since.
And, while the plotlines have had us hooked from the get-go, we can’t help also being impressed by the strong, lean physiques all of our favourite Avengers possess.
But believe it or not, before stepping into the Black Widow costume for the first time Scarlett, 34, revealed to The Hollywood Reporter, that she’d never stepped foot in a gym, which not only makes us even more impressed, but shows that it’s never too late to get inspired and active.
“The gift of fitness has been one of the best parts about working for Marvel,” she told the publication.
“I am stronger and more capable now than I was 10 years ago, which is so awesome to be able to say.”
Since 2009, when she starred in her first Marvel film Iron Man 2, Scarlett has been working with personal trainer Eric Johnson, who is the co-founder of Homage, a fitness company based in New York.
With a busy schedule and also the mother of four-year-old Rose, Eric reveals Scarlett trains four to five times a week, starting at 6am before Rose is awake.
“It’s hard to fit everything in when you try to balance motherhood, training and work,” Scarlett says.
“That balance is a myth!”
The actress’ sessions generally last between 45 minutes to an hour and focuse on integrated foundational strength training, Eric tells Bazaar.
This involves a whole set of combined “movements from plyometrics, yoga, Olympic weight lifting, kettlebells and gymnastics to reach peak level of performance.”
Eric worked Scarlett through three phases:
Phase one: This phase could take up to six weeks and focused on improving movement and sharpening the reflexes and agility Scarlett would need when performing stunts.
Phase two: This phase was all about strength training. Scarlett wanted to try and be as close to the comic book hero as possible for a ‘normal’ person, Eric reveals.
Phase three: This phase worked to prepare Scarlett for shooting by getting her to her peak physical condition accompanied by a few dietary changes, like cutting carbs to emphasis her lean muscle.
Scarlett at the premiere of Avengers: Endgame. (Image: Getty)
Eric says Scarlett’s favourite moves include deadlifts, pull-ups, military presses, pistol squats and kettlebell swings.
“We treated the process like an athlete preparing for competition,” Eric reveals.
“By placing more emphasis on her performance, her physique just followed.”
Scarlett’s diet was another significant part of helping her stay in shape for her role, sticking to a “carb cycling” diet, which switches between a high carbohydrate and low fat consumption, versus a low carbohydrate and higher fat consumption, while maintaining protein intake.
Intermittent fasting has been very popular of late, and it seems Scarlett is also a fan, maintaining a minimum fasting window of 12-hours every day.
Eric adds Scarlett’s competitive spirit has definitely proven to be powerful motivation for the star.
“If I show her something I can do easily, she wants to do it,” Eric laughs.
“We finish a lot of sessions with sprints, me versus her, and if I offer a five-yard head start, she gets pissed off that I would even dare.”
Eric says weight loss and body fat percentage weren’t a concern for Scarlett, who preferred to focus on whether she’d be able to properly perform her stunts and whether her costume fit her comfortably, and we are absolutely on-board this idea to ditch the scales just focusing on being strong, fit and healthy.
