This article was published by Men's Fitness UK in January 2010. It was reformatted in 2022 to make it easier to read.
“For The Twilight Saga: New Moon we wanted the vampires to look like supermodels and the werewolves to look brawny and rugged,” says Nathan Mellalieu, the Canadian personal trainer who got Robert Pattinson (possibly the world's most lusted after actor), burly newcomer Taylor Lautner, and most of the other actors ready to play their supernatural roles in the film. Anyone who’s seen New Moon will know Mellalieu certainly achieved that goal, but how did he do it?
“When they came to Vancouver – where New Moon was filmed – some of the actors were fitter than others,” says Mellalieu. “Kellan Lutz, who plays one of the most ripped vampires in the film, was already in good shape, but a few needed more attention. Everyone had a tailored routine that would keep them motivated and develop the parts of their body that needed work.
“My team only had a few weeks to get the cast ready before shooting began so we put them through three to four intense workouts per week. We tried to stick to this during the shoot so that each actor's look would be consistent throughout the film, but it was tricky because everyone had different shooting schedules.
“With Robert Pattinson we did lots of boxing drills, which helped created the lean, muscled look he has in New Moon. He has great hand speed and footwork and seemed to really enjoy the sessions. We also had all the actors doing functional exercises using little or no weight so they weren’t bogged down with too much bulk and could move athletically when filming a stunt.”
If you want to get the ripped look of one of the vampires from the film, try these two quick workouts Mellalieu regularly did with those playing the undead. Do Workout A one day, Workout B the next, rest the following day, then repeat. That's one week of New Moon training. One session should comprise three rounds of each workout. Perform each round as quickly as possible, with a two-minute break between each one. Click each exercise for an easy-to-follow form guide.
Workout A
- 100 barbell jump squats (25% of your one-rep max)
- 100 barbell overhead presses (25% of your one-rep max)
- 100 crunches
Workout B
- 20 burpees
- 30 reverse crunches
- 40 jumping lunges
- 50 squats
Werewolf Circuit
Here's one of the circuits Mellalieu did with the actors who played the werewolves. If you want to get the Taylor Lautner look, do a Werewolf circuit session once a week in place of one of your normal weightlifting sessions. Do as many circuits as you can in 20 minutes. The most circuits managed by any of the New Moon cast was 17. See if you can beat that.
- 5 pull-ups
- 10 press-ups
- 15 air squats
