Swedish actress Alicia Vikander surprised many when she was named the next Lara Croft – after all, the role seemed far removed from the accolades already accumulating on her CV: from the delicate yet determined 19th-century artist she played in The Danish Girl to her roles in The Light Between Oceans and Anna Karenina, Vikander has established herself as a period drama princess.
But then the world was introduced to Alicia Vikander’s abs. All six of them:
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Now, her personal trainer Magnus Lygdbäck has revealed to SELF magazine how Vikander got so ripped. Seven months before Tomb Raider started filming, she began his ‘Magnus Method, a grueling program designed for professional athletes.
According to Lygdbäck, the workout involves weight-lifting, boxing, MMA, climbing, HIIT and gym sessions. “I also sent her video workouts consisting of mostly weight lifting to build muscle and movement training to help build her into the Lara Croft character,” he tells SELF.
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As for her diet? Vikander, who has opened up before of her love of cooking from scratch, was put on a Lygdbäck-devised eating plan for the lead-up to filming.
Vikander has a history of spending entire afternoons in foreign supermarkets (marie claire US reports she once got lost in a New York Whole Foods for two and a half hours) and cooks eggplant parmesan or “Stews or moussaka or chilli” when catering for a crowd.
