Patriot Health Digest
No Time To Die is Daniel Craig’s fifth and last movie as the British spy James Bond. Ever since we saw him as a 38-year-old breaking through a construction site in the move Casino Royale, it was proof that his action in the Bond franchise was far different than his predecessors. Physical, brutish and without gadgets, Craig’s take about 007 was not only refreshing, but also very believable.
To train for Casino Royale, Craig partnered with with trainer Simon Waterson — the guy responsible for the transformation of Chris Evans for Captain America — who was told to create a more lethal and functional Bond.
To begin with, Waterson used powerlifting and compound exercises to increase Craig’s heart rate while also packing on functional muscle that was meant for a purpose. Needless to say this plan worked and, 15 years after, they were still working together for Craig’s last outing as Bond in No Time To Die.
However, this time, Craig’s age played a role in preparing for the movie. He went into his fifties during production and, by the time filming had stopped, he was fifteen years older than the person chasing a bomb maker through the Casino Royale site.
“You must be aware that your body is not necessarily capable of doing what you did in your thirties,” Waterson continues. “That does not mean you cannot be just as fit, or look as amazing. Normally, it is very natural to change the way you exercise to suit your age,” says Waterson.
As you might imagine, the sessions Craig worked on at the Pinewood Studios gym were not your normal bodybuilding sessions. Far from it — Waterson used different agility work, stabilising exercises, bodyweight staples along with conditioning blocks to help put Craig through the fitness gauntlet one last time.
“We used resistance bands a lot. We used them for stretching, cones, and hurdles for agility-based exercises. Like weaving, jumping over some hurdles and onto a plyo box then on a Bosu for better stability. It’s the repetition of doing this and sprinting. He is trying to get better agility,” says Waterson. “It is ensuring we activate and strengthen all your muscle groups and then get the capability to suddenly sprint.”
Author: Steven Sinclaire
