The May debut of Thunderbolts marks actor Florence Pugh’s third turn as spy-assassin Yelena Belova. But for this latest film, she had a new secret weapon at her disposal: trainer Brendan Johnston. A former U.S. Marine and head U.S. personal trainer for Marvel Studios, Johnston has been whipping superheroes (or, should we say, their actor alter-egos) into shape for the past decade. His client roster includes Scarlett Johansson, Elizabeth Olsen, and Tessa Thompson, but this was his first time working with Florence.
“It was a great experience,” Johnston says of training the 29-year-old. “Her super-strong mind wants to do it all.” Here, Johnston walks Women’s Health through his goals for Florence’s training, and how this dynamic duo got it done.
Measuring Her Strength Base
Florence arrived to the Thunderbolts set about two weeks before filming began, and she and Johnston hit the ground running with a full-body assessment to gauge her strength and endurance levels.
“It was five stars across the board,” Johnston says, crediting Florence’s impressive physicality to her background dancing and the work she was already doing with her London-based personal trainer, James Shields.
Without any strength imbalances to correct, Johnston’s No. 1 goal for Florence’s regimen was to keep her safe during the physically demanding shoot—one during which Florence requested to perform as many of her own stunts as production (and the production’s insurance) would allow.
“If an actor is hurt and they can’t do something or they need time [off], it’s a wasted day on a set,” Johnston explains.
His second goal for Florence was to continue building up her endurance, so she’d have stamina for the movie’s grueling 14-hour shoot days. And, third, he wanted to make sure Florence had the proper “base of aesthetics” (i.e. she would not only be able to throw a baddie around but would look like she could throw a baddie around).
Putting the Plan Into Action
With those three goals in mind, Johnston devised a regimen for Florence with plenty of flexibility built in to accommodate her filming schedule and how she was feeling on any given day. For each training session, Johnston would draft at least two different plans: one suitable for a heavy lift and one suitable for a light lift.
A heavy workout would begin with a warm-up on the treadmill followed by band work to mobilize hips, glutes, and shoulders. With the body warm, Florence would then perform a circuit of exercises that flowed one into the next:
Dumbbell squat
Dumbbell shoulder press
Dumbbell shoulder fly
Biceps curl
Triceps exercises
Core work
Ball slams
Florence would cycle through the circuit six times with a one-minute rest period in between. Sometimes the number of reps would be fixed, other times Johnston would have Florence do 30-second, Tabata-style rounds.
“I would change the rep scheme if the form was starting to break,” Johnston says. “I’d rather she keep heavier weight in her hand and we just [reduce] the reps as she gets more tired.”
Florence is also a fan of boxing, so Johnston would put on the mitts and let her get in her punches. “I wear a pad too so [the actors] can always throw body shots,” he says. “If the conditioning piece was too hard, the next day they can really take it back out on me.”
For a lighter workout day, Johnston would have Florence start on the rowing machine and notch a thousand meters at whatever pace worked for her that day. They’d then shift focus to conditioning and balance work, perhaps incorporating a BOSU ball into exercises like back rows and triceps extensions. Bands would again come into play for mobility work, especially to open the hips.
“The idea is to feel the work, but not run out of gas,” Johnston says. He’s a big proponent of recovery, as well, and for Florence, that usually meant a sports massage or acupuncture electrical stimulation, which uses currents to deepen the therapy.
Because even a Black Widow gets sore every now and then.
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