Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Kraven the Hunter Nutrition

To eat like the world’s greatest hunter, Schmit built Taylor-Johnson’s diet around real food and stripped away the extras, like sugar. “The idea was, we have this monumental task of eating this much food—how can we do it, and keep you functional?” Schmit says. That meant getting protein from real sources in any way possible, from bone broth and gelatin gummies and marshmallows to steaks. Then, they added carbs for plenty of fuel to burn.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Kraven the Hunter Upper Body Workout

After the diet had run for three months, it was time to kick the training into gear. Taylor-Johnson began working with Kingsbury to refine the accumulated mass into the svelte, slightly-scary Kraven shred to drop body fat. “From my perspective, it was the perfect starting point because this person’s already got muscle mass,” the trainer says. “Building quality muscle takes months and years. Dropping body fat takes weeks.”

The workouts were generally organized by upper-lower body splits, with four to five training sessions per week. Kingsbury challenged Taylor-Johnson to take on each exercise for 2 to 3 sets of 6 to 10 reps, pushing to failure with one rep left in reserve. Each session, Taylor-Johnson’s focus was to do one more rep than he did last time to drive muscle growth.

Bench Press

2 to 3 sets of 6 to 10 reps

Lat Pulldown

2 to 3 sets of 6 to 10 reps

Seated Row

2 to 3 sets of 6 to 10 reps

Cable Preacher Biceps Curl

2 to 3 sets of 6 to 10 reps

Single-Arm Triceps Cable Pushdown

2 to 3 sets of 6 to 10 reps

Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press

2 to 3 sets of 6 to 10 reps

Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Kraven the Hunter Stunt Prep

The weight room was only part of Taylor-Johnson’s physical prep to portray the animalistic Kraven. He needed to be able to move convincingly as an apex predator onscreen, too. “I was doing a lot of parkour movements and quadruped movements—meaning I run on my hands and feet,” the actor says.

That meant Kingsbury had to add some movement-specific exercises to the workouts. The trainer also had to make sure that Taylor-Johnson kept up with his preparation outside the gym too; whenever there was a physically-demanding maneuver during the shoot, there was an extensive warmup before every take.

The extra work paid off. Taylor-Johnson’s physique communicates the character’s lethality, all lean muscle without the bulk that would slow lesser anti-heroes down. All accomplished, according to the actor, with no major issues. “We got through an entire shoot with a ton of action with not one injury,” he says. “I thought that was amazing.”

‘The aforementioned study recommends daily workouts lasting 30-45 minutes, but as you’re already unwell, start with 15 minutes of mild to moderate exercise and see how you feel the following day. Try a light jog or a short outdoor speed walk to avoid infecting others, if your illness is contagious.’

How can exercise boost my immune system?

‘Other research has shown that your body temperature increases and remains elevated for a short time after a workout. This rise in body temperature can prevent bacteria from growing, while helping your body to fight off infection, since it stimulates your immune system and bacteria and viruses can’t survive in higher temperatures.

‘Another big bonus of exercise is its ability to supercharge sleep quality, and research shows that sleep can weaken your immune system and make you more susceptible to the common cold and cardiovascular and metabolic disorders, since sleep is when your body produces antibodies – proteins in your cells that bind to unwanted substances and get rid of them.

‘Naturally, you’re probably feeling more stressed than usual if you’re already unwell. Moderate exercise has also been proven to slow down the release of stress hormones, while separate research has shown that stress can impact your immune system by impairing the function of natural killer cells (or NK cells), which protect you from infection and disease. The more consistent you are with moderate exercise, the stronger your NK cells.’

How often should I exercise to boost my immune system?

‘Remember that exercise is more effective in staving off illness than it is in curing it. As research proves, stick to 30-45 minutes of daily moderate exercise, like brisk walking, tennis, Pilates, yoga or riding a bike and, I’d wager that the number of sick days you’ll take will reduce. If you do happen to be someone that’s already feeling unwell, rest up until your symptoms move above the neck, and ease off if you start to go downhill. Patience is a virtue.’

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Bridie is Fitness Director at Women’s Health UK. She spends her days sweating over new workouts, fitness launches and the best home gym kit so you have all that you need to get fit done. Her work has been published in Stylist, Glamour, Cosmopolitan and more. She’s also a part-time yoga teacher with a habit of nodding off mid savasana (not when she’s teaching, promise).