Amell’s free run for superhero body and strength
Superheroes are aplenty not only on the big screen but also on television. Nowadays, actors who play hero roles are not only handsome and ripped, they should also be strong, agile, and graceful to captivate us, their audience.
Two Amells, cousins in real life, fit the role of superheroes and prepare their bodies the same way. They do a lot of bodyweight workouts, combined with free running at the Tempest Academy in Chatsworth, California. The older Amell, 34-year-old Stephen Adam, plays Oliver Queen or Green Arrow in the television series Arrow while 27-year-old cousin Robbie is Firestorm in The Flash.
Both are shown on The CW in the United States and air via satellite on Jack TV here in the Philippines. The Flash airs on Wednesdays at 3 p.m. on both Jack TV and ETC. Arrow airs on Jack TV Thursdays at 3:30 pm.
Muscle & Fitness asked JT Hiltibran, a free running coach at Tempest, to differentiate his sport from parkour, which originated from the French military training using obstacle courses. “Parkour is about moving from Point A to Point B in the most efficient way possible. Free running is more about style and expressing yourself through movement,” he said.
Free runners hone their acrobatic tricks and showmanship in this athletic discipline founded by Sebastien Foucan in France. Foucan, who wrote a book on the subject, coined the name in 2003. Though not yet an Olympic sport, it is currently being discussed. Meanwhile, popular competitions pick winners according to movement efficiency and difficulty of tricks.
Stephen likes to blend free running into his bodyweight workouts. He adds cardio and stunts to workouts he believes Oliver Queen would do. He does all his stunts so he really needs to train hard and regularly not only to maintain his good looks but also to perfect those hero power moves. He regularly posts his workout on Facebook or YouTube. Stephen will also play Casey Jones in the upcoming sequel to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Speaking of Ninja training, search for salmon ladder and Stephen Amell’s name will be one of the first 10 entries to come up. Why? From the start of Arrow, he was shown doing the Salmon Ladder shirtless, showcasing his great physique and upper body strength. He has videos showing how to do it. He even ended the video by saying, “Stop asking if I can do it for real.”
Imagine an exercise cage with several pairs of notches where you rest the barbell for squats. This time around, the notches are a lot higher because they are meant for pull-ups. Stephen grabs a bar resting on two notches and pulls himself up to the bar. He then uses his momentum and upper body strength to raise the bar or “climb” notch by notch. Aside from great upper body strength, explosiveness and technique are also important.
Back to free running, it was Stephen who introduced Robbie to Tempest Academy. Muscle & Fitness covered how the agile actor vaulted over boxes, ran up walls, swung from bar to bar, and jumped off ledges that were 50 feet high.
“Free running has helped me get in shape for roles,” Robbie told M&F. The 5’11” and 165-pound Toronto-born actor credited his three years of free running for allowing him to perform complicated stunts himself. “On The Flash, I had to jump off a roof and kick a guy in the head. I wouldn’t have been able to pull that off before. My cousin got me into this,” he added. “It’s the hardest workout we’ve ever done.”
The greatest obstacle to the sport is actually the fear of falling. Robbie said. “It’s mental. You’re going to be afraid to take a flying jump until you do it, and then you see it’s not that big a deal. So, in that sense, it’s really a good training for life.” Prior to any jump, he took a lot of hour-long classes for basic techniques.
Once a person gets comfortable doing all the “stunts” under the supervision of a coach, the sport can be taken outdoors for the real challenge using walls, rails, and ledges.
While only a few of us might be able to develop the strength and agility to do super hero acrobatics, it is inspiring, indeed, to know that the heroes we admire on screen really soar with intense physical preparation!
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Post me a note at mylene@goldsgym.com.ph or mylenedayrit@gmail.com.
