Alicia Vikander gained 12 pounds of lean muscle to play Lara Croft in the upcoming 'Tomb Raider' film. / Instagram / Magnus Lygdback
Alicia Vikander boasts a pretty enviable natural physique, but the star still had to gain an incredible 5.5kg of muscle in order to take on the role of Lara Croft in her latest movie.
According to personal trainer Magnus Lygdback, the 29-year-old Swedish actress showed a huge amount of dedication when it came to looking the part ahead of filming for the recently-released reboot — so much so that she hit the gym up to seven days a week to sculpt her body.
Alicia Vikander had training as a ballet dancer before she took on the role of Lara Croft. Photo / AP
Magnus, who has also worked with Gal Gadot and Katy Perry, told PopSugar exactly what Alicia did to get those Lara Croft abs — and it wasn't easy.
Even those who haven't yet seen the movie, which came out last weekend, can see from previews that Alicia got jacket for the role.
"I like to switch it up, so we did everything from squatting heavy and doing deadlifts to pull-ups, push-ups, training with machines, training with bodyweight, plyometrics, explosive training."
They also incorporated MMA HIIT — or Mixed Martial Arts High Intensity Interval Training — which is just as hardcore as it sounds.
Though Alicia has a background in ballet, that's about keeping the body long and toned. For Tomb Raider, she wasn't to build up visible muscles, too.
So she and Magnus hit the gym together five to seven days a week for nearly seven months leading up to the start of filming.
Alicia Vikander hit the gym up to seven days a week to build her Lara Croft body. Photo / Instagram, Magnus Lygdback
However, Magnus said, they weren't wiling away there all day, and would limit workouts to an hour at a time. He explained: "What doesn't happen in the first hour won't happen in the second hour."
Alicia's abs, in particular, have already become a source of envy for fans, and Magnus said they devoted time three days a week to sculpting them.
Her core work was spaced out over three days to tackle different aspects of ab-sculpting, and each day entailed a different approach.
On day one, they took a "dynamic, static, or isometric" approach, with exercises like planks and leg raises.
On day two, they did "rotational stuff",' like obliques exercises and the wood-chop move with dumbells.
Finally, on day three, they'd do strength exercises for the a, including weighted moves designed to ad bulk to those muscles.
Those core exercises were combined with moves to work the rest of her body, too. According to Self, in the first months of training Alicia did heavy lifting five to six days a week, climbing two to three times a week, and boxing and MMA four times a week. She also did stunt rehearsals.
Later on, the workouts changed, and she'd do 30 minutes of HIIT in the morning,and 45 minutes in the gym in the afternoon.
According to Vikander's personal trainer, Magnus Lygdback, the 29-year-old actress showed a huge amount of dedication when it came to looking the part for Tomb Raider. Photo / Getty Images
Of course, gym work can only go so far in transforming a body, and Alicia had to switch up her diet, too. She stuck to the keto diet for the two months leading up to filming, which allowed her to control her macros.
It was a high-fat, no-carb diet, said Magnus, stressing that it was no-carb and not low-carb. She ate lots of fish and vegetables, as well as MCT oil, avocado, and coconut oil.
'It's always tricky the first couple of days, but [Alicia's] willpower is just unbelievable, and she didn't complain, even though I could see she was struggling a little bit. She kept on bringing it every day,' he told PopSugar.
Though it was certainly strict, her routine and diet left a little bit of room for indulgence. Alicia told Glamour this month that one day a week, she treated herself to something special.
'[We were training] five to six days a week, and Sundays were pizza days. I think the first thing I said when I woke up on Sundays was 'It's pizza day!''' she said.
She also talked about her workout, telling the magazine: "I worked with my trainer for four months leading up to it, then every day before I started to film I was in the gym.
"I'd done a lot more yoga and Pilates and cardio [before the role] and now I've started to do a lot more muscle training. It was something I really enjoyed. I felt very much in my body and I loved having another strength."
Speaking to Shape, Magnus also shared how impressed he was with how far Alicia came.
"She went from doing zero push-ups and pull-ups to doing a bunch of them, which showed she not only looked strong, she was strong," he said.
"Alicia had an incredible work ethic, which comes from her past as a ballerina," he added to Men's Journal. "She was already strong going into this process, but she wasn't Lara Croft strong.
"I've never been able to lift my own weight, and the day when you have that capacity, it's pretty empowering," Alicia told Elle.
Anyone looking for a more detailed breakdown of Alicia's workouts is in luck: Magnus has also recorded several videos of the training he did with her, which he has shared on his Instagram page.
