Would you like to find THE workout plan that all actors follow? Unfortunately, it doesn’t exist, because that depends on your specific goals. So what should your actor workout be?
Consider your goals. If you want to be agile mentally and physically, you can try yoga or Pilates. For a two-for-one, try sports that will add to your special skills like parkour, dance, or martial arts. If you want to look a certain way, then consider strength, hypertrophy, or endurance workouts.
Read on to discover which fitness practices suit your goals the best, as well as examples of actors and actresses who have adopted them into their lifestyle.
If you want a mind-body fitness routine
Acting asks us to be fully present in the moment, to be aware of our scene partners and to be grounded and connected to our bodies. Yoga and Pilates are both practices that center around the breath and that focus on the control and purpose of each movement. As such they can help actors develop mindfulness techniques to better stay present and aware of their surroundings as well as of their own bodies. You can see Willem Dafoe talking about this kind of connection in the video below.
Yoga
Yoga invites you to quiet your mind and to focus on your execution of each movement and flow. It helps you to connect to the whole body and to the breath in a mindful manner. Yoga is great for developing stamina, strength, and flexibility, all of which can be useful for actors spending long days performing physical jobs. It is also an excellent tool to de-stress, and who among us doesn’t need that?
Jennifer Aniston incorporates yoga into her practice multiple times per week, “Yoga strengthens my muscles and gives me a great sense of peace and calm. It also improves my breathing and centers me.” (Source) If you want to get out of the house, there are tons of yoga studios out there that offer classes for all levels. If you prefer staying in, there are endless YouTube videos out there that will keep you moving. Adriene (from Yoga with Adriene) even made a “Yoga for Actors” practice.
Pilates
Pilates is a low-impact fitness practice that focuses specifically on core strength and spinal integrity. Whereas yoga builds strength by holding a position for long periods of time, Pilates builds strength and stamina with high repetitions done with the arms and legs which typically also challenge the core. Pilates asks of you to execute each movement with intention and purpose while constantly checking your posture and alignment, truly connecting the body with the mind..
Joseph Pilates (who invented Pilates) based the fitness practice on principles of control, concentration, centering, breathing, flow, and precision. It is as challenging for the mind as the body, and requires full body awareness… Sounds like actors could have a use for this, right? Julianne Hough is a Pilates enthusiast, she was even featured on Blogilates’ YouTube channel for a “Dancer’s Body” Pilates workout.
And, yes, Pilates can be very physically demanding as well. Here’s what Sylvester Stallone had to say after he tried it: “For anyone who’s never tried Pilates – the name sounds cute, but it ain’t cute.”
If you want to add to your special skills repertoire
If you want to kill two birds with one stone, why not get fit with a discipline that will add to your resume? There are plenty of special skills that can make you a more attractive pick for certain roles, especially those that require more experience in the discipline. Of course, you can’t fully rely on your special skills to book you gigs, but they can give you an edge for sure. The worst case scenario? Your special skill doesn’t get you parts, but at least you exercised and had fun!
Stage Combat/Stunt Training/Parkour
Many action movie stars do their own stunts like Tom Cruise, Charlize Theron, Jason Statham, and Harrison Ford. If you are interested in acting in action-packed movies, or in anything that requires more intense physicality, consider taking classes such as stage combat, stunt training, parkour, or gymnastics.
Dance
Natalie Portman’s background in ballet certainly played a role in getting her the iconic part of Nina Sayers in Black Swan. If you’ve always wanted to dip your toes in the dance world, signing up for weekly dance classes might be the perfect way for you to get your exercise in. Plenty of studios offer ballet, jazz, contemporary, hip hop, and/or Latin dance classes for adults. Coordination, confidence, better memory, and stage presence, are all side effects which will undoubtedly come in handy for actors. Tom Holland is another example of an actor who got his start in dance and, from the video below, you can see how dance can be done both for fun and fitness.
Martial arts
Bruce Lee. Jackie Chan. Jean-Claude Van Damme. All of these actors were martial artists before they became movie stars. Their extensive martial arts knowledge and skills made them an easy choice for any director casting a movie with extensive fight sequences. Of course, you cannot expect to rise to movie superstar status just because you can do karate, but it might land you some fun opportunities! It can also help you deliver more credible performances when you do get those opportunities. In the video below, you can see how Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s wrestling skills and Jason Statham’s martial arts training helped them build a better action scene.
Other sports and physical activities
There are also many other options for sports and recreational physical activities you can do to work out while building skills. For example, Jason Momoa likes rock climbing, as shown in the video below. Other actors play basketball, do fencing, swim, run, and more. Also as you can see in the video below, these activities may not necessarily replace other forms of training but they can complement it quite well.
If you want to enhance your “type”
We all have a type as actors. Maybe yours is the jock, the femme fatale, the vilain, the nerd, the girl next door… You get it! If you want to play to your strengths, consider choosing a fitness regimen that will highlight your natural physique.
If your type is Action Hero/Gentle Giant/Jock
All these types generally imply chiseled abs and big guns. If you’re interested in these roles and believe you fit the type, consider investing some time at the gym. You can find tons of hypertrophy and strength workout programs online which you can follow, or – if you have the budget for it – you can work with a personal trainer (PT) to get you started. Innumerable actors follow these types of workouts including: The Rock, Jason Momoa, Kevin Hart, Jason Statham… The list goes on and on.
Bootcamp and crossfit classes can be a great in-between since these types of group fitness classes focus on building strength and are supervised by a coach who will ensure you maintain proper form. They are generally cheaper than PTs, but a little more expensive than a regular gym membership.
If your type is Femme Fatale/Warrior/Mean Girl
If you want to get toned, lean muscles for these types of roles, then endurance training is for you. There are plenty of workout techniques out there that target strength and stamina. If you don’t want to commit to dance classes, but would like to build the same strength as dancers, barre classes might be the way to go. These classes combine elements of ballet, pilates, and yoga for a low-impact workout that builds strength, mobility, and flexibility. Pilates and yoga are also good bets (more on those at the top of the article).
If you want to combine cardio and muscle toning, look no further than HIIT workouts. These high intensity interval training workouts have you perform moves at a high intensity for a short period of time, followed by a short break. Actress Jessica Alba posted an example of this kind of workout on her YouTube channel:
In the video below, you can also take a look at Scarlett Johansson’s workout plan for her role as Black Widow, described by her personal trainer. The video also includes descriptions of how the various phases of her training plan were important to her in her acting.
Conclusion
Here you have it! I hope that these seven fitness practices have given you some inspiration as to how to get in shape as an actor! If you are still unsure of where to start… It’s time to get experimenting! Start with one of these practices, give it a try for a week, and if it doesn’t click… Try another form of exercise! There are tons of free YouTube workout videos to get you started. The video below is an example, where a stuntman shows exercises he likes not just for physically readiness for stunts but also to help him get the physical appearance necessary to double for actors such as Chris Evans in Captain America.
The most important thing here is to find something that you can enjoy, because this is the best predictor of how consistent you will be in your fitness journey! If HIIT looks too intimidating right now, try Pilates! If you want your workout not to feel like a workout, try dance fitness! There is no magic recipe, so find what works for you!
