Instagram; Splash NewsThere's a new trend sweeping Hollywood and let us just say: It's about damn time.
Now for the technicality: It's not actually a new trend. The rest of the world has been adopting this practice for ages, but it's finally gathering steam big time among A-list actors and musicians. We're talking about strength training. Hollywood is finally starting to realize that being strong is way better than just being skinny, and they're leaning into it big-time.
We started noticing it in the movies. Fans and industry insiders alike have been longing to see women in powerful leading roles, and over the last few years the big screen has answered that call. Chief among the trend was one Jennifer Lawrence, who not only joined the X-Men but lead the Hunger Games franchise with a special mix of girl power and sheer strength. Starring in a film that calls for one-on-one fighting, shooting arrows and scaling walls meant that she needed a workout regimen to match.
More recently, Emma Stone turned to Los Angeles gun factory Rise Movement to turn her into the spitting image of Billie Jean King—and she ended up doing dead lifts alongside the likes of Hillary Duff, Amy Adams and Emily Blunt. Strong looks good on celebrities, and the stars have finally given the rest of us goals we can feel good about.
One of the leaders of the movement has been Dalton Wong, founder of TwentyTwo Training and the expert responsible for getting Lawrence into Mystique's fighting shape. He's seen a marked shift in the demand for strength training and a strong physique overall. "Hollywood actors are now more conscious of sustainability and longevity in their careers," he explained to E! News. "They recognize the need to be strong and flexible, as well as to have a more rounded lifestyle."
Wong cites the need to be able to fulfill all the duties of movie roles as the main motivation behind the influx. "Ultimately, they want to be as productive as they can be on set," he said. "They want their body to be strong enough so they can perform stunts, or to look a certain way, if their role means they need to bulk up."
The same reasoning is pushing singers and performers to swap out their Pilates for dumbbells, and no one knows that better than Erin Oprea, who, among many things, is the woman behind Carrie Underwood's enviable leg workout.
"My artists that I work with, they want to be able to perform and not be tired," said Oprea. "We do weight training because it makes them feel strong, and it also makes you look good when you wear high heels. I always hear [from clients], 'Man, I was able to kill that performance last night and I wasn't tired at all.'"
She goes on to explain that the old Hollywood aesthetics just aren't desirable anymore: "The majority of clients coming to me don't want to be skinny; they want to be strong and look like they have muscle."
Of course, this doesn't mean that the women of Hollywood are going to slowly start looking more and more like bodybuilders; this movement is all about that ever-dreaded word moderation. Take it from one Kate Upton, she of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition fame, of course—the model decided to buck that old SI trend and embrace strength over all else, but she did it with a healthy dose of caution.
"I know that a lot of women are nervous that they'll bulk up from weight training, but if you do it the right way, it's so not true," she assured E! News. " I love it so much because I think that it makes me stronger, it gives me more energy to be able to work long days, or more energy to be able to work a long day and then come home to my puppies and get to play with them. I really enjoy being strong in my life. That's my favorite workout."
That begs the next question, of course: How do we, the non-Jennifer Lawrences, the non-Kate Uptons, the non-Emma Stones, jump on this bandwagon? First, we would all do well to remember that while this may be sweeping Tinseltown, it's already been going strong in the rest of the world. Many of Oprea's clients in her Tennessee headquarters have been signing up for her brand of weight training because, as she puts it, "You want to be able to play with your kids."
"When you're just skinny you don't necessarily feel your best," she said. "I think you feel better when you're stronger."
The trainer cautions that the most important aspect of a strength regimen is to start at the right level so you don't get hurt.
"Master your form and then up your weights slowly," Oprea explained to E! "At first it might even be no weight—you might be strictly using your own body weight."
Dalton Wong recommends folding strength training into something you already do (and love). "Most of my clients use strength training in combination with other forms of exercise," he said. "For example, those who do yoga and Pilates will find that strength training helps them have a better workout in other disciplines."
If you're following Kate Upton's strategy, then just know you have some pretty lofty achievements waiting on the other side. The model boasted to E! News that she can push "a little over 500 pounds" on the sled, and can hip thrust over 200 pounds. Something tells us that the Sports Illustrated models of five or ten years ago couldn't say the same thing.
Which brings us to the ever-important question: Is this a trend? Is embracing strength in fitness, and strength in appearance, simply a passing fad? Hollywood's trainers certainly hope not.
"I hope, for women, that this will stay in style," said Oprea. "It looks better and they get to feel better and they get to eat. I always say, if you're hungry, you're doing it wrong."
Wong feels a little bit more sure that this could be a permanent change. "Strength training has been around for a very long time and is certainly not going anywhere," he assured us. "It's also a key part of today's trendy workouts, like boxing or CrossFit. My clients sleep better, they feel better about themselves, they process food better, which allows them to enjoy themselves more."
Sign us up.