How a Personal Trainer Helped Bulk Up Batman
We all need role models to aspire to and learn from when it comes to fitness and physique, and we don’t always find them in our local gym.
Instead, we might take our lead from the actors we see on television or in films, such as Jason Statham in Death Race. He was a commonwealth swimmer before becoming a star, according to GQ, so he has always been a great body shape role model and someone who spends a lot of time in the gym clearly!
You might take advice from a personal trainer in your gym or a natural fitness coach, such as Biofit’s certified coach Sveto Dekovic to help sculpt your physique and maintain fitness both in and out of the gym, the same goes for any of the other Biofit natural fitness coaches around the world.
Alternatively, you might turn to a superhero… Whilst most superheroes are blessed with a power that makes them something more than human, Batman is not. He is just a regular guy, albeit a wealthy one, who trains himself to become a hero. The character of Batman has been popular since the sixties and remains so to this day.
Even when the Marvel Universe took over our screens, Batman remained relevant through digital media, as well as tying in with other superheroes and fighters.
Indeed, Batman could be found going up against the characters of Mortal Kombat in the 2008 game Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. He can also be found in the Gala Casino title Batman vs. Superman Dawn of Justice, an online slot playing on the popular imagery.
The most recent mobile game, Batman: The Enemy Within, also got a console release, and such wide-ranging digital media titles ensure Batman is a visible and well-known character from pop culture.
Michael Keaton and Christian Bale are perhaps the most notable for playing Batman. Bale’s story-arc showed a young Bruce Wayne training to be Batman, adding substance to his great physical shape.
One Batman actor who isn’t mentioned much is Ben Affleck, but his story is the one many of you might focus on. Affleck isn’t known as a particularly shaped actor, but he had to work incredibly hard to fill Batman’s leather boots.
He did employ a personal trainer in the gym, something you might consider should you wish to reach a certain level or body shape by spending more time in the gym training.
“Getting ready for this role meant working hard, day in and day out with Walter,” Affleck told Men’s Journal. “But it was the kind of work where I felt gains in not only my size, but also my physical health.”
That will doubtless have been helped by his tailored diet, inspired by LA-based nutritionist Rehan Jalali, but the diet was only one part of Affleck’s gym training routine. The other involved gym personal trainer Walter Norton.
The relationship between a gym trainer and client is an important one, and bulking up for his role in Zack Snyder’s Batman vs. Superman meant learning important rules that we can all do well to adhere to.
“Like any relationship, it’s all about communication and honesty,” said Norton. “I can tell him a little something that he doesn’t want to hear, and that’s fine. We’re not tiptoeing around issues.”
One of the issues was the inclusion of workout scenes in the Bat Cave during the film, which showed Affleck ripped and toned, something Adam West and Michael Keaton didn’t have to do. For that, Norton needed a different approach from the other times he’d worked with Affleck.
“We wanted him to look like a thick MMA heavyweight puncher,” Norton added. “This is a Bruce Wayne who’s been lifting for 20 years, hitting that heavyweight bag, and working out every day in the manor. I’ll just say that if you lined up all the Batmans before Ben and stood them next to each other, they’re not 6’4”, and they don’t weigh 225 pounds. He’s in a whole other class.”
Whilst Affleck’s program was created for him, and any gym trainer you use will do the same for you, Norton added there was always a core exercise they kept going back over to build that shape coherently and consistently. “If I had to say there were any critical exercises that we always went back to, it was pull-ups and chin-ups,” finished Norton.
There you have it. If you want to have a physique just like Batman, you need a good personal trainer in your gym who will tell you exactly what you need to hear, not what you want to hear and a penchant for pull-ups. Once you have that and a Bat Cave decked out with all the latest gadgets, you might even be able to fight crime too!