Black Widow first appeared on our screens in 2009.
That means for ELEVEN years, we've watched Scarlett Johansson kick, flip, and punch bad guys into oblivion.
But no Marvel movie so far has exhibited Scarlett's strength like her newest solo film, Black Widow.
I know it's a movie, and stunt doubles exist, but it definitely does take a certain amount of stamina to be able to film such intense action sequences repeatedly for a two-plus-hour film.
As it turns out, Scarlett does have a pretty intense workout routine to get into character for Black Widow.
According to her personal trainer, Eric Johnson, who spoke to Insider, Scarlett wasn't worried about how she looked in the scenes, but was more concerned about having enough endurance to film heavy fighting sequences that may take a few shots.
It took her a year to achieve all of her fitness goals. Her trainer said that to do this, they worked in three phases. Phase I was reconditioning her body to be able to handle all of the strenuous movements.
For example, Black Widow's signature move: the leg-lock around-the-neck-flip, often combined with a high kick, meant that Scarlett would need to spend time in the gym doing hip swivels and rotational slams (where you lift a giant ball in a wide circle and then drop it).
Phase II was all about strength. They worked on pull-ups, push-ups, and pistol squats (where you squat with one leg extended).
And uh, I guess it worked, because Scarlett can now dead-lift 245 pounds.
And finally, Phase III was all about cardio and helping Scarlett get "lean for shooting."
The goal is to have scenes where she’s sprinting or fighting look effortless.
But most importantly, I'd like to point out that apparently, until beginning training for her first Black Widow role, Scarlett had never set foot in a gym.
