By, Samantha C. ’19

As I searched for a new celebrity workout for this issue of Panel, something felt a little off. Each workout I encountered seemed to have one of the following objectives: lose weight or tone your body (to look more attractive, of course!). Following this disconcerting experience, I was pleasantly surprised to discover Alicia Vikander’s workout; its sole purpose was simply to help you get stronger. In fact, Vikander followed this workout to gain muscle mass for her role in the movie Tomb Raider. Although I had never heard of her, a quick Google search told me that the internet was already buzzing about her “seriously ripped physique.” If you want to see what happened when I tried her workout, keep reading!

Vikander’s workout takes place over four consecutive days, each targeting a specific area. Because I’m a busy Winsor student, I only had time to try out “Day 4: Biceps and Triceps” (the others were Day 1: Legs, Day 2: Chest and Shoulders, and Day 3: Back and Shoulders). Here are my thoughts on each of the exercises:

Alternating Biceps Curls (4 sets of 16 reps): To my surprise, this first exercise wasn’t super difficult, especially because I got to alternate arms. I used 12 lb dumbbells for this and every subsequent exercise requiring them, but any weights can be used depending on the intended difficulty of your workout. I recommend this exercise to anyone looking for a simple, easily replicable exercise!

Tricep French Press (4 sets of 12 reps): This was the most difficult exercise by far! Lying down, I lifted a heavy (35 lb) bar from behind my head to over my head. It sounds simple, but let’s just say I almost dropped the weight on my face… more than once.

Biceps Curl – with bar (4 sets of 12 reps): Similar to the alternating biceps curls, this one was easy to replicate. However, it was harder because I used both arms at once and lifted the same heavy bar from the previous exercise.

Superset Bicep Curls (4 sets of 12 reps): This exercise is essentially the biceps curl without any rest between the four sets (thus why it’s called a “superset”). It was tiring, but definitely worth getting in a great strengthening workout.

Tricep Pushdown (4 sets of 12 reps): For this exercise, I repeatedly pushed down the handle of the tricep pushdown machine (on the 30 lb setting) from above my head to the lowest point my arms could extend. It was my favorite workout; something about using a machine always feels more exciting than just lifting weights!

Although these exercises weren’t insanely difficult in the moment, my arms felt extremely sore the next day. I think this is a great workout for anyone who wants to target specific muscle groups using easy-to-follow instructions. Given Vikander’s eight-pack, one would expect her fitness regime to be difficult to impossible. However, the fact that her workout is a collection of simple exercises indicates that, with dedication, anyone has the potential to obtain a seriously ripped physique. If you have any suggestions for future celebrity workouts, please email me at schin@winsor.edu or contact mchen@winsor.edu!

Link: https://www.harpersbazaar.com.au/beauty/alicia-vikander-tomb-raider-workout-abs-13704