12 pounds of muscle to play Lara Croft: Alicia Vikander insane workout plan

The upcoming Tomb Raider has set an unusual goal for Alicia Vikander in order to portray Lara Croft – she had to gain more muscles.

#AliciaVikander

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As you know, it is hard to even for men to gain natural muscles. However, they could use heavy weights and their testosterone, unlike the pretty part of our society – women.

“On this job, it was the first time I was expected to do as much muscle and weight training as I’ve done. I’ve really felt it very empowering, and I still feel like I have a physique,” the Oscar winner told Entertainment Tonight. “I already wanted her to be a strong, physical girl. This film is about her becoming the action hero we know her to be.”

Alicia photographed by @therealpeterlindbergh. #AliciaVikander

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But our actress with the help of Swede Magnus Lygdback. Coach is famous for his “Magnus Method”. Magnus’ long list of clients includes Avicii, Max Martin, Alexander Skarsgård, Swedish House Mafia, Britney Spears, Mike Posner, Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Katy Perry, Lukas Graham, Harry Styles and Alicia Vikander to name a few.

According to his site, this method is “a training philosophy that embraces the “ethos of an athlete” – approaching life fitness with the same specific intensity and structure that an athlete would, whilst also maintaining a balanced and healthy life.”

For Vikander, Lygdback developed a four-month plan: two months of “building up” muscle with a high-protein diet, followed by two months of cutting weight for definition, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Throughout, Vikander was in the gym seven days a week, incorporating mixed martial arts, rock-climbing, and archery into the mix.

“We got some pretty freakish results,” Lygdback told THR. And that’s true. Twelve pounds of lean muscles in four months for such tiny woman is not a joke.

Behind the scenes #AliciaVikander

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Celebrity fitness coach ends the interview with a fun feature about the actress: “Alicia is an amazingly hard worker,” Lygdback said. “The hardest part for her was when I would force her to take a day off to recover.”

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