Top Gun workout for Hollywood film star
HOLLYWOOD and Manchester meet yet again - this time in the form of a local CEO and a big screen actor starring in blockbuster reboot Top Gun: Maverick.
American actor Glen Powell appears in the film as Lt. Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin, having previous starred in comedy-horror series Scream Queens and the films Hidden Figures and Set It Up.
Shooting for Top Gun: Maverick began in 2018 and Glen, 33, had just seven weeks to get into incredible shape for a sequence in which he is seen with his shirt off playing American football - in homage to the iconic volleyball scene in the original Tom Cruise blockbuster.
So Glen teamed up with Ultimate Performance, who train Greater Manchester soap stars including Gemma Atkinson, Cath Tyldesley,
Shayne Ward, Brooke Vincent and Katie McGlynn.
Despite being retired from personal training, the firm’s CEO, Nick Mitchell, returned to a hands on role for the film star.
The actor wanted to reduce his body fat, build broad shoulders, a muscular chest and sport a chiselled six-pack for the sequence and so turned to Nick.
Nick founded U.P. in 2009, expanding to the point where it has 20 gyms operating in nine countries on four continents.
“The brief was to get Glen to look as good and as lean as possible in a very short space of time,” Nick said.
“We couldn’t build massive muscles in just seven weeks.
“But, what we could do is make Glen look leaner, sharper, crisper and give him a look of strength and power.
“We didn’t do any kind of body building-style leg training. Instead, we focused on strongman-type exercises, such as pushing a sled, pushing a Prowler and Farmer’s Walk to ramp up his metabolism and burn calories.
“You will always get people saying: ‘It’s easy for a pampered celebrity to get in shape.’ Don’t be stupid. Glen was part of an ensemble cast in one the biggest Hollywood films in decades, starring alongside Tom Cruise, the biggest movie star in the world. His life wasn’t his own.”
He added: “It was down to Glen to get up at 5am and lift weights. He didn’t have a personal chef, so it was down to Glen to prepare and eat the right foods. It was down to Glen to fit his training around a manic schedule of filming late into the night.”