Scarlett Johansson never worked out before ‘Iron Man 2.’ Now these workouts keep her ‘sane’

If you’ve seen Scarlett Johansson play Black Widow in any of the Marvel movies, you know she’s in fighting shape. But it turns out the actor had “never been to a gym” before she signed on for “Iron Man 2.”

“I was 24. It changed my life in a lot of ways, but it changed my whole outlook on exercise,” the 39-year-old said during an episode of the The Skinny Confidential podcast in 2023.

While reflecting on her Marvel journey with The Hollywood Reporter, the star called “the gift of fitness” “one of the best parts” of her experience working on the films.

“I am stronger and more capable now than I was 10 years ago, which is so awesome to be able to say,” she noted.

Johansson’s personal trainer, Eric Johnson, previously told The Hollywood Reporter that his client’s competitive spirit also helps her crush her workouts.

“If I show her something I can do easily, she wants to do it,” he said. “We finish a lot of sessions with sprints, me versus her, and if I offer a 5-yard head start, she gets p—– off that I would even dare.”

How did Johansson train to get in superhero shape and how does she maintain her physique? We’re outlining some of her fitness tips and tricks below.

Her trainer says she’s ‘very consistent’

When she’s training for certain roles, Johansson certainly steps up her workout game. But Johnson previously told People his client is “very consistent” with her fitness routine on a regular basis.

“We go anywhere from two to three days a week when we’re maintaining and up to five, six days a week,” he said in 2019.

The fitness maven went so far as to say that he’s never worked with a client as dedicated as Johansson.

“Her work ethic is unmatched. She really shows up all the time. She’s not afraid to get strong,” he said.

She’s not a fan of traditional cardio

Per Johnson, Johansson “hates traditional cardio.” To work around this, the trainer told The Hollywood Reporter he has his client do sprints and a mix of battle ropes and kettlebells. The latter piece of equipment, he said, “teaches her to be powerful and strong while making (the exercise) look elegant and pretty.”

She likes full-body workouts

When it comes to her workout routine, Johansson is down to try anything, but she prefers to get her whole body moving.

“I like to work up a sweat. I’ve tried Pilates and yoga and all that, and I like to dabble in different things, but I always come back to a good old-fashioned athletic, full-body workout,” she told Vogue in 2014.

The star described herself as someone who enjoys working out. But like all of us, she has days when she’s not feeling motivated.

“Those are the days when you should go because then you stick to it. Once I get into a routine of going to the gym every day when I’m working, it’s easy for me to just keep going. It makes me feel good. But once I start to slack, it’s so hard to go back. Especially when you lose your muscle tone,” she said.

She’s mastered the art of strength training

Black Widow is known for kicking butt, so it should come as no surprise that Johnson prioritized strength training while preparing to play the Marvel character.

“We treated the process like an athlete preparing for competition,” Johnson previously told Harper’s Bazaar UK. “By placing more emphasis on her performance, her physique just followed.”

To help Johansson achieve her goals, Johnson led her through an “integrated foundational strength training” routine that featured a mix of “movements from plyometrics, yoga, Olympic weight lifting, kettlebells and gymnastics.”

After kicking things off with mobility work, Johansson performed a “primer” circuit that included integrative core work, medicine ball throws, dynamic mobility moves like bear crawls and lower body plyometrics moves like jumping.

According to Johnson, some of the actor’s go-to exercises included pistol squats, military presses, pull-ups and deadlifts.

“We are making sure that she’s strong enough that everything else is easy when it comes to her skill acquisition and stunt training or if she wants to go and learn a new sport, like tennis,” Johnson previously told People. “What’s amazing with Scarlett is that she really loves the process. She’s extremely strong.”

She’s tried carb cycling and time restricted eating

To prep Johansson for her role in “Avengers: Endgame,” Johnson had her practice time-restricted eating, meaning she would fast for at least 12 hours a day. For instance, if she ate dinner at 8 p.m. at night, she wouldn’t eat breakfast until 8 a.m. the following morning.

“That was a general guideline,” Johnson told Harper’s’ Bazaar UK. “At moments we pushed beyond that to 14-to-15 hours depending on the filming schedule.”

Carb cycling was another diet technique Johnson used with Johansson during this time.

“She cycled through days of high carbohydrates and low fat consumption, versus low carbohydrates and higher fat while maintaining protein intake,” he said.

She sets performance goals