Full disclaimer, I haven’t seen The Batman, but when Zoe Kravitz walked the red carpet wearing that custom Oscar de la Renta gown, featuring a corset and two cat-shaped panels, I wanted to know more about her workout routine. There’s no ifs or buts about it — she looks sensational — but what exactly did she do to prepare to play the famous feline?
If working as a fitness editor has taught me anything, it’s that I’d never want to be an actor. From Robert Pattinson’s Batman workouts to Lily James’ transformation for Pam and Tommy, and Alan Ritchson’s methods to gain 30 pounds of muscle to play Reacher, celebrity workouts are no joke.
Plus, it sounds like Kravtiz’s experience was no different. In an interview with Elle, Kravitz explained, "Obviously, you want to look good in a catsuit, but I wanted it to be realistic that I’m able to do anything in this film. So I had to be strong." Kravitz revealed she trained for three hours a day — after spending eight hours filming. "I got stronger than I’ve ever been. That felt good, to see what I was capable of. I felt confident—and I could kick some ass."
But how? When Anne Hathaway trained to play Catwoman in Christopher Nolan’s 2012 third Dark Knight trilogy, her workouts consisted of dance, martial arts, and yoga, as well as lifting weights.
While Kravitz hasn’t gone into too much detail about the type of training she did for Catwoman, in an interview with Vanity Fair in April 2020, she spoke about staying in shape while filming for The Batman was on pause due to the Coronavirus pandemic. "I’ve been working out virtually with my trainer David Higgins five days a week. And it’s actually been really great because it’s been giving me some kind of structure because I do it at the same time and it also makes the weekends feel like a weekend because I don’t workout on the weekends and it gives me just, oh, it’s a different kind of a day."
Personal trainer to the stars, David Higgins has trained the likes of Margot Robbie, Samuel L. Jackson, and Claudia Schiffer. His method focuses on Pilates, strength training, and stretching.
How to get abs like Catwoman
Fancy getting abs like Catwoman? You’re in luck. While we can’t find Kravtiz’s exact workout, Higgins has released a three-week intensive core routine on YouTube, which you can follow for free. Here are some of the exercises to expect on day one of the plan:
Planks: In order to correctly get into the plank position, start in a press-up position, with your arms slightly wider than your shoulders and your body weight resting on your hands flat or your forearms flat on the floor, depending on which variation you opt for. Think about creating a straight line from your heels to the crown of your head, engaging your core. Here’s how long you need to hold a plank to see results.
Heel-taps: To do heel taps, start by lying on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat against the floor. Crunch your head and torso up, as if you’re doing a crunch, with your arms outstretched towards your feet. Reach your right hand to your right heel, tap it, then reach your left hand to your left heel. Keep repeating this side to side.
Side-planks: To do a side plank, lie on your side with your knees bent and stacked on top of one another. Your bodyweight should be on your elbow. Raise your hips off the floor and hold. To progress this movement, lift your top leg off your bottom, and straighten it, or straighten your legs, stacking them on top of one another and lift your hips off the floor.
Superman holds: It seems apt there would be Superman holds in the superhero ab workout. To do a Superman hold, lie on your belly on your exercise mat, stretching both arms and legs out from your body. Engage your glutes and raise both arms and legs off the floor, aiming for about six inches. You should feel a stretch in your lower back. Hold the pose for a couple of seconds before lowering back to your starting position.
Looking for more Pilates-inspired workouts? Here's 8 of the best Pilates exercises that target your core for the ultimate burn, a 15-minute Pilates workout that will blast your core, plus, find out what happened when I swapped strength training for Pilates for a month.
