Issue 081
November 2011
Go from couch slouch to hulking hero in no time like the stars of forthcoming MMA flick Warrior
In two months Hollywood actors Joel Edgerton and Tom Hardy stacked on 20lb of muscle for their roles as fraternal MMA fighters in soon-to-be-released fight movie Warrior. The picture’s story centers around the feuding brothers as they train for and compete in Sparta, a winner-takes-all tournament. To get fighting fit in time for filming, both Edgerton and Hardy had to undertake a hellish workout regime, which meant using MMA drills right alongside movie-standard sizing practices like lifting to look authentic and fight as realistically as possible.
Try some of their fat-scorching, muscle-building workouts as outlined here and you too could go from sedentary to shredded like the stars of Warrior.
Free of fancy gimmicks and supplements, the Warrior workout camp Edgerton (37) and Hardy (33) had to endure prior to filming was based around simple and time-proven fitness techniques. Aside from their daily tuition in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai and wrestling, the pair were put through MMA-based and body-weight-centric drills to help get them get in fight-night shape, reduce their body-fat percentage and build explosive muscle.
The regimen took place five or six days a week for eight weeks and was outlined and managed by those steering the film’s action, all of whom had fighting or training experience. Stunt co-ordinator JJ Perry, actor Fernando Funan Chien and the doubles for the two leads all ran the training, explains Joel Edgerton, who plays teacher-turned-fighter Brendan Conlon, the brother of Tom Hardy’s Tommy Conlon role.
“We would arrive at seven in the morning at the Pittsburgh Fight Club and we would fight various skills,” he says. “After warming up it’d be kickboxing and jiu-jitsu until about midday. In breaks we’d be slugging down protein shakes and whatever. Then we’d eat a massive meal together as a team.”
In the afternoons the two leads used a lifting regime to help build power and muscle and sculpt themselves for the screen – although this was dialed back for Edgerton to reflect his character’s inclination toward jiu-jitsu and technique over power, the latter of which is favored by Hardy’s part as an ex-military man.
Although the training mirrored a normal fighter’s six-day-a-week fight camp, Edgerton admits that on his day off he often sneaked in a solo workout. “I don’t know whether I was addicted to doing it or I was scared of not getting into the shape I needed to be in,” he reveals.
On gym days, aside from their lifting and technique training, Tom and Joel used exercises like push-ups, rapid Thai knees and static exercises like wrestler’s bridges. Joel adds that the other content of these conditioning sessions ranged anywhere from ground ‘n’ pound for rounds to kimura drills. Try our ‘Warrior Workout Circuit’ (right) to get an idea of Joel and Tom’s typical daily regime.
Edgerton describes the experience as “a complete physical and dietary shift,” which included eating a standard fighter’s meal plan too. Aside from regular intake of basic protein shakes during training, the Australian actor was also given an eating program of six meals a day that relied heavily on steamed chicken (good for protein) and steamed broccoli (replaces weight-troubling carbs well, improves fat metabolism, provides a wealth of vitamins).
“I realized what it was like to be carb depleted… for a sustained period of time,
because we were trying to keep that physique over a period of four or five weeks at a time,” recalls Joel.
In fact, so effective were the two leading men’s workouts and nutrition overhaul that they encountered some problems during the two three to four-week blocks filming the movie’s fight scenes. Joel explains: “When we were in actual filming it was important for us to gas out leading up to takes. We’d employ all sorts of techniques. We’d hit the pads for a couple of minutes before a take, or get down and do 50 push-ups, or run up and down the bleachers. There were all sorts of things we tried. Ironically we just got so fit that I’d run up and down the bleachers a couple of times and then within a minute my heart rate was back to normal.”
Impressive results from such a simple training camp. Joel states that although the program was the hardest he’d ever worked in his life, the goal was both exciting and satisfying to attain. “It’s amazing to feel that strong and that powerful.”
As a supplement to the training, Edgerton and Frank Grillo, who plays Joel’s cornerman in the film, even traveled down to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to train with famed coach Greg Jackson. While out of the reach of many average part-time MMA gym flies, elements can be applied to the everyman’s workout.
Aside from taking Jackson-directed MMA workouts they ran Greg’s grueling ‘Hill of Tears’ in the New Mexico desert along with UFC lightweight veteran Joe ‘Daddy’ Stevenson. Ever the bastion of mixed martial arts, Greg even visited the Warrior set in Pennsylvania, and advised during shooting to help with the film’s realism: from cornerman dialogue to fight scenes.
“Greg sat and watched a lot of the choreography the stunt guys had come up with,” says Edgerton. “Gavin [O’Connor], the director, wanted a really true sense of authenticity.”
Warrior’s dedication to realism also successfully transformed two actors into physical specimens fit to tackle even the UFC Octagon. And if Joel and Tom’s workouts managed to make them fight-ready, the theories of regular medium-intensity Muay Thai and grappling, mixed with exhausting MMA-themed conditioning drills,
will easily do the same for you.
“I’d say Tom and I experienced a large percentage of what it would be to be a fighter,” says Joel, “except for the part where you step into the cage and really fear that someone is going to knock the s**t out of you.”
DID YOU KNOW
The training and fight scenes for lead actors Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton were so intense that Hardy tore a ligament, broke his foot and cracked a rib, while Edgerton suffered a tear in the MCL of his right knee.
THE WARRIOR WORKOUT CIRCUIT
Try this set of exercises, as used by the cast of MMA movie Warrior, to help get you into fighting shape and fast. Use these as a high-intensity warm-up or finisher around your standard workout with no rest between exercises, or just perform three times as a stand-alone daily fat-burning top-up.
GROUND ‘N’ POUND |
Perform for two One-minute rounds
A draining cardio and upper-body workout that simulates the most intense position in a fight.
1. Mount a heavy bag, grappling dummy or similar and unload full-force punches and elbows.
2. Switch to side control, knee ride or north-south as desired remembering to use position-appropriate strikes at all times.
KIMURA DRILLS | 20 reps each side
Essentially modified sit-ups, kimura drills will work your core while honing your ability to pull off the fight-ending shoulder lock. Can be performed solo.
1. Start on your back with your partner in your guard and their hands placed on the mat. 2. Grab their right wrist with your left hand, sit up while reaching your right arm over and under their right shoulder and grab your left wrist.
3. Return to your back and repeat on the alternate arm with opposite hands.
PUSH-UPS | 30 reps
The old classic. Good for the upper body and conditions you to lifting your own body weight, essential for grappling.
1. Lie face down, feet together, palms by your chest (can use supports).
2. Push up, leaving only your toes and hands on the floor, to the full extension of your arms
3. Lower until your elbows are at right angles.
WRESTLER’S BRIDGES | 10 reps
Must be developed gradually (use your hands for support for as many sets as it takes before you’re comfortable placing your full weight on your head) but is a great technique to improving neck strength and core and spine flexibility.
1. Lie on your back ensuring a mat or soft, non-slip object will cushion your head. Place your hands beside your head with palms pointing down and wrists facing away from your body.
2. Lift your hips up and roll from your shoulders onto the top of your head.
3. Push your hips to the ceiling, shuffle your feet a little towards your head so you’re on your toes. Hold for a count of three.
THAI KNEES | Perform for 30 seconds
Unequivocally grueling, blasting your pad man or a heavy bag with full-intensity rapid-fire knees while leave your calves, quads and core burning.
1. Lock your fingers behind the neck of your pad man, who should have both Thai pads pulled into his chest.
2. Bounce on your toes and drive in alternate knees to the pads.
3. Don’t forget to use your arms as well to pull the pads into your knees.
4. Find a rhythm and build up from 30-second rounds to a full minute.
