Ralph Fiennes workout for Coriolanus

Ralph is one of the most hardworking celebrities I have ever worked with, I soon realized that one of my jobs as his trainer was going to be to hold him back, he came to me with a host of injuries such as, tennis elbow, bicep tendinitis and over-active pec minor on the right side. These had to be managed while making sure he made the gains he needed for his role as Coriolanus. Ralph’s days were busy and his evenings more so! On stage all night playing oedipus, which I watched and I can tell you it was a high-octane, energy sapping performance and this was done every night as well as two matinees per week, add this to the stress of waking up early to do everything he could to get his film, Coriolanus, made; funding, script editing, locations, insurance, crews, budgets, casting. He was none stop, but not only did he make time for his training but he would still be pushing himself more than any other client I had trained at that point. My main aim with him was to make the workout as effective as possible without burning him out! Ralph is so strong willed and ambitious I don’t think I could of ever burnt out his mind, but the body is another story, hence all his little injuries. So below is the workout I put together for him. Please note this template is from the second month of training and I would do a body analyses check before every workout and change it if needed.

Monday

Warm up

Consisting of mobilization preparation and trigger point therapy on his pec minor, elbow and bicep tendon.

Circuit one

These 4 exercises as a circuit no rest in-between sets but each exercise is not rushed, this is not against the clock, 4 sets of each exercise in total, reps to failure and failure needs to be between 8-12 reps.

Weighted dislocates

Time under tension dumbbell press

Pull ups

Table top

Circuit two

Pull Over

Overhead Squat

Close grip pull

One arm dumbbell push on s/b

Circuit three

Z bar curl with bands and chains

Z bar French press

Bicep tendon stretches

Tuesday

Warm up

consisting of mobilization preparation and trigger point therapy on his pec minor, elbow and bicep tendon.

Dead lift once warmed up 5x5x5 that’s 125kg x5 reps, 5 minutes rest, 5 sets in total.

Then either:

Weighted Walking luges 20 steps with 20kg in each hand. 3 min rest, repeat for 4 sets.

Or

Kettle bell swings 43kg 20 reps 2 minute rest, repeat for 4 sets.

Ab circuit and anterior chain release 8 rounds

We would then have Wednesday off and repeat these on Thursday and Friday. We would always be working within his recovery rates and constantly tweaking each workout, and the weight of each exercise continually went up, however the general template remained the same. If you take a look at his lifestyle and his age at the time 47, this workout was truly exceptional, not many could complete it and still want to do more. Truly an inspiration! It is very Important to know your own bodies limits, which can be so hard as they are in a constant flux.

Any questions on any of this article please don't hesitate to get in touch.