How Did Ken Get Those Rock-Hard Abs? How About a 9-Minute Daily Routine?
How did Ken get those rock-hard abs? Well, not Ken, rather Ryan Gosling. The filmmakers behind Barbie hooked him up with celebrity personal trainer David Higgins, who came up with Ken's rigorous daily abs workout.
But Higgins worked not only with Gosling, but the other actors playing Ken as well, including Simu Liu and Ncuti Gatwa, and he spoke to GQ about the routines he devised.
"There was no specific studio brief when it came to whipping the guy-dolls into shape," GQ writes. "Instead, the Kens worked together on full-body programmes, incorporating weights, Pilates and, outside of Higgins' sessions, hours of dance training a day (because obviously 'Barbie' has choreographed dance sequences)."
"It created a 'we're all in it together' kind of feeling, which helped with motivation," Higgins says of the group gym sessions. "If one person was struggling, another might come around and say, 'Come on, let's do this.' I really loved this group of guys; they're so positive and up for up for it."
Their daily routines focused on abs, upper and lower body. Because of the choreography, classic bodybuilding techniques were out. But the two-hour dance training a day took care of the cardio aspect of their training. But Higgins did throw in some competitive games, such as ping-pong, to keep the team spirit.
"Everyone was just having a good time," he says. "No one was miserable. It wasn't about training for a single shirtless scene, it was a broad brush — which isn't to say they didn't give it their all."
Higgins did note that the actors did compete, as evidenced by the number of push-up and plank challenges they had amongst themselves. Higgins says Gosling liked the competitions and the Pilates, while "Simu and Ncuti were more into the push ups and specific abdominal crunches we were doing. Everyone got very competitive."
As for diet, there were no process foods and some intermittent fasting in place (depending on the actors' schedules). Health smoothies were also part of the routine.
Okay. Now comes the hard part: the nine-minute routine Higgins came up to build Ken's abs. It goes nine minutes with each routine lasting one minute. They consist of Roll Back, Leg Lift, Two-step Crunch, Crossbody Crunch, Rope Climb, Windscreen Wiper, and the Static Dead Bug. For detailed descriptions, visit GQ.