Ryan Reynolds is back as Deadpool, this time alongside joke frenemy Hugh Jackman, for “Deadpool & Wolverine.”
To prepare for the action-packed movie, Reynolds worked with Don Saladino, his personal trainer of 15 years.
Saladino told Business Insider he didn’t simply want Reynolds to be as muscular as possible for the role, but for his body to look functional, too.
This tied into a wider goal of boosting the 47-year-old actor’s longevity.
“Initially the goal is always to look a specific way for a role, but I think as we’ve been training for so many years, the goal really became more about resiliency,” Saladino, who has also trained Blake Lively, Emily Blunt, and Jackman, said.
It’s not just Hollywood stars who have longevity front of mind: with people living longer than ever, more and more of us are training with our future selves in mind, while popular “biohackers” are even claiming to have reduced their “biological ages.”
Saladino, who on Friday is launching a program on his website based on how he trained Reynolds for “Deadpool & Wolverine,” explained what it involved.
Strength training and intervals
Reynolds worked out roughly five or six days a week, but in a way that fit around the actor’s commitments, travel schedule, and how he felt on any given day.
Saladino changed the training program every few months or so but said they mostly followed the following split, after a “primer week” which introduced Reynolds to all the basic movement patterns.
- Monday: lower body
- Tuesday: upper body
- Wednesday: arms, abs, and intervals
- Thursday: lower body
- Friday: upper body
Four days a week, Reynolds would do full-body compound exercises such as front squats, bench presses, and trap bar deadlifts, Saladino said.
The Wednesday workout broke up the week because it didn’t include compound movements, which are more taxing on the body than other exercises.
“I found it’s much easier on you, not only physically but mentally, but still allows us to touch those areas that we need to pop and show,” Saladino said.
Reynolds also did various types of interval training (working at a high intensity for a short amount of time before easing up, then repeating) such as on an assault bike, Versaclimber, or treadmill.
Thursday and Friday featured similar exercises to Monday and Tuesday, but different sets and reps.
In these workouts, Reynolds would do 10 sets of 10 reps of each exercise using lighter weights, with minimal rest in between, compared to the Monday and Tuesday workouts which had fewer reps and sets with more rest: five sets of five reps, for example.
This allowed Reynolds to build strength and power while also increasing his work capacity, Saladino said. By following a progressively challenging program, Reynolds always made progress.
Reynolds also worked on his mobility and fully activating all his muscles to maintain good posture and build resilience. For example, many people, especially those with sedentary lifestyles, struggle to activate their glutes, and the muscles tend to weaken with age. So Reynolds and Saladino spent a lot of time firing them up with exercises including glute bridges, back extensions, and Romanian deadlifts with light weights.
Reynolds also walked a lot to keep his steps up, sometimes taking calls while on a treadmill, Saladino said.
Shooting a movie is physically demanding
Reynolds’ days filming “Deadpool & Wolverine” were long and he would often get up at 4 a.m. to work out.
“People have no idea that when you’re on set, how demanding it is,” Saladino said. “When they’re on set and there are a hundred other people relying on them, they’re renting out props and space or they have a deadline, you better get it done.
“I don’t care if you lose your voice or you feel like crap or your dog died at home, there is no personal day. And that can really add up on people.”
Reynolds’ ability to keep going and work hard is “inspiring,” Saladino said, describing the actor as “a machine.”
To avoid putting too much stress on Reynolds’ body, Saladino was mindful of how intense his training was.
Reynolds had to be disciplined about getting enough sleep, too, Saladino said.
Reynolds eats a nutrient-dense but varied diet
As the years have gone by, Reynolds has become more focused on the quality of his diet, Saladino said, prioritizing nutrient-dense food.
Every meal Reynolds should contain a protein source, a healthy carb, and vegetables for fiber, Saladino said.
But he challenged the actor to eat different meals with a variety of ingredients.
“If one meal was turkey meatballs with jasmine rice and broccoli, the next meal might be salmon with sweet potato and cauliflower,” Saladino said.
“If you were to line up all the meals that he had during the day, I wanted them to look different, to have different textures. And that is very important for longevity.”
Reynolds focuses on longevity
Saladino has always focused on resilience and longevity, and Reynolds has embraced that more over time, the trainer said.
“I think in time he’s become more understanding of the importance of it and I think as a team we definitely embrace it together a lot more,” Saladino said.
“I think it’s where early in his career you’d see him working on his abs. Now you walk down to the gym and you see him working on his mobility.”
Saladino added: “His abs still look phenomenal.”
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