If you haven’t seen the movie SALT yet I highly recommend it.
Angeline Jolie (35), i.e. Evelyn Salt, does an amazing job with the characters level of fitness and combative skills.
The role was originally intended for Tom Cruise, but after Tom backed out of the project, the script was rewritten to fit Angelina Jolie. Brilliant choice. She totally nailed it.
“I’ve always been kind of slight, but I’ve always loved to run and jump around and be physical, so action roles are not a huge challenge for me," Jolie said at a recent press junket. "I enjoy them."
To become a relentless action star she trained within two-hour sessions, five days a week. Her trainers used strength and fight training to prepare for the physical demands of the stunts involving safety cables and wire rigs.
"I got really lucky early in my career that I got offered roles where I could train for fighting," she says.
I also wouldn't be surprised if her training involved plyometrics (quick ballistic bodyweight activities) as well as low rep weights and a mix of interval training.
I also discovered she ate a 70% carbohydrate rich diet pre-filming. Once filming ensued she lowered to a 60% carb intake and her training also cut back to four weekly sessions over lunch breaks and weekends.
'SALT IS FRAILER THAN HER RIVALS SO I MADE HER MEANER'
Her stunt trainer Simon Crane has disclosed “Our strategy was she has to have 70% carbohydrates and 30% protein diet with an anaerobic training regime as opposed to aerobic, so she can put muscle on without losing weight. Sticking to four or five meals a day routine as much as possible. Then when she reaches a good body level that we like, we change it to 60%/40% favoring carbs. No junk food, no empty calories, and alcohol only on weekends.
"The physicality had to change," she says. "I’m smaller than everybody, so how do I go up against a bunch of men without looking silly? How do I fight?"
Angelina added "We made her meaner than a guy, and dirty. She uses the walls, the fact that she’s lighter and can throw herself around. It’s the Chihuahua up against the big dogs.”
For a woman with 6 kids and a super fit husband she recently told OK! Magazine "I love martial arts. They are ideal for children because they teach them discipline and perseverance. My son [Maddox, 8] is already starting to go to class."
"The physicality had to change," she says. "I’m smaller than everybody, so how do I go up against a bunch of men without looking silly? How do I fight?"
Angelina added "We made her meaner than a guy, and dirty. She uses the walls, the fact that she’s lighter and can throw herself around. It’s the Chihuahua up against the big dogs.”
For a woman with 6 kids and a super fit husband she recently told OK! Magazine "I love martial arts. They are ideal for children because they teach them discipline and perseverance. My son [Maddox, 8] is already starting to go to class."
Angie learned a combination of Muay Thai and Krav Maga initially. Her team then picked the moves she was best at and combined those to create her amazing fighting sequences.
SIDE NOTE:
Marshfield fitness trainer Robert Belley of Robert Belley Fitness has recently been honored with a blog over at 93.7 MIKE FM, Boston radio. Look for his blog to begin this week.
