Jennifer Lawrence hits the track to get in shape for Hunger Games

Jennifer Lawrence in The Hunger Games
Jennifer Lawrence in The Hunger Games

Jennifer Shrader Lawrence was born in Louisville, KY in August 1990. She is currently most famous for her role as Katniss Everdeen in the The Hunger Games. Her body was on full display when she played Raven Darkholme / Mystique in X-Men: First Class and she will be back in Days of Future Past.

If you have watched her in the X-Men films you will know already that she has an amazing body. She is 5 foot 9 tall and weighs about 130 pounds. In The Hunger Games she is an athletic and agile bow master and also often seen running a full pelt through woodland. She is fit and lean and knows it. But there is a little surprise in store – she says that she does not like to workout or diet! So, what does she do?

 “I want to punch people”

She told Glamour magazine that she does not diet. “I don’t diet. I do exercise! But I don’t diet. You can’t work when you’re hungry, you know?”


What’s more, while she does indeed exercise, she really does not seem to enjoy it much. So much so, that if she hears somebody say that they love to exercise, she feels the urge to punch them!

“I hate saying, ‘I like exercising.’ I want to punch people who say that in the face.” 

Maybe she should try some of our boxing workouts? Jennifer does admit that it is nice to be in shape for a movie though – she sounds like a typical person who wants to have a well toned, sexy body, but really does not relish the thought of working out – she is certainly no alone!

Jennifer Lawrence on the cover of Glamour magazine
Jennifer Lawrence on the cover of Glamour magazine

She explained to Glamour that getting in shape was easy because “they basically do it all for you.” One of the hardest things about getting in shape is knowing what to do, when to do and having the motivation to carry out the tasks every day.

It’s like, ‘Here’s your trainer. This is what you can eat.’ ~ Jennifer Lawrence

Prior to appearing in The Hunger Games she hired personal trainer Joe Horrigan to knock her into shape. He told Celebuzz how he got really her in shape.

But …… intensive workout program

Jennifer Lawrence running in Hunger Games
Jennifer Lawrence running in Hunger Games

In the run up to the start of shooting for the Hunger Games Joe has just six weeks to get Jennifer in shape for the role. Joe said that she was already in great shape, all he had to do was to get her leaner, to reduce some body fat and tone up her muscles a little more. As Jennifer’s character, Katniss Everdeen, is just 16 years old, she needed to be slim and lean, and not muscular. An athletic look was not wanted.


To accomplish this Joe created a very intensive workout program for her which included track drills with sprints, agility training, medicine ball workouts and long cardio sessions.

She exercises two to three times a week and perform one to two hours of exercise each time.

Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique
Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique

Her workouts with Joe generally started at 10am and involved a long minute warm-up on a treadmill or running outside, followed by a series of intensive routines on an athletics track. The workout would last around 90 minutes in total.  There would be sprint drills, plyometric training (jumping) and resistance training. Then a cool down would include stretching, both dynamic and static stretches.

Some days she would work with an archery coach instead and this was a workout on its own. Several hours of pulling on a long bow burns a lot of calories.

In the evenings Jennifer would then work with stunt trainers on agility work, with plenty of jumping and tumbling.

The final exercise of the day was a session on a stationary bike to help burn off more calories to reduce fat levels further.

Running

Jennifer  Lawrence sprinting in Santa Monica
Jennifer Lawrence sprinting in Santa Monica

Since her intensive training she has been spotted on many occasions out running. The NY Daily News spotted her running in Santa Monica in June 2012. She was not out on a leisurely jog, instead she was sprinting flat out in parts.

It looks like she was still uses some of the intensive track training lessons she had learned from Joe.

Diet and nutrition? Fewer calories

A certified clinical nutritionist examined Jennifer’s diet and concluded that there was not a lot that actually needed changing – she had developed her own healthy diet by herself. Well done Jennifer!

However, a new diet was created for her anyway to help achieve some of their fitness goals faster. The main change was a reduction in total calories and a reduction in saturated fats.

Unloading days

Some days would be set aside as “unloading days”, which Joe explains are simply low intensive exercise days. This is to allow the body to recover a little, but some gentle exercise is still performed. Joe suggested cycling, but Jennifer asked if you could do yoga instead.


Jennifer also enjoys yoga and rock climbing. These really could not be two more different activities, but both are excellent for fitness and strength.

What should you do?

Joe’s advice to Jennifer Lawrence’s fans is to combine resistance training (weight training) with some cardio, such as cycling. This combination provides a good balance of muscle development, fitness training and fat burning. It will get most people in shape.

This really is the best advice. There seems to be a new, positive trend in celebrity fitness at the moment. More people are living healthier lifestyles and staying in shape with regular workouts and a sensible diet. Both Taylor Swift and Claire Danes have also said that their fitness is down to these simple methods.

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