close
Friday March 07, 2025
Today's Paper
Prayer Timing
Epaper
Entertainment

Kumail Nanjiani’s personal trainer reveals what went behind the big buff up

Kumail Nanjiani has become the talk of town ever since he wooed the world away with his major transformation

By Web Desk
December 19, 2019
Kumail Nanjiani’s personal trainer reveals what went behind the big buff up

Pakistani-American actor Kumail Nanjiani has become the talk of town ever since he wooed the world away with his major, jaw-dropping physical transformation for his upcoming Marvel film The Eternals.

And all those who were feeling motivated by the Academy Award-nominated actor have some good news as Kumail’s personal trainer, Grant Roberts has come forth revealing how the actor managed to buff up.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Roberts revealed the entire process and the hard work that went behind Kumail’s transformation.

“Kumail walked through my doors in January, and he was pretty green to the idea of training. He had a concept in his mind, but we introduced him to something more dramatic and even traumatic,” he said.

Kumail Nanjiani’s personal trainer reveals what went behind the big buff up

“There’s no one dimension to success. You’re constantly shocking the system, and that’s how growth and change occurs. The time in the gym is very intense, even if you’re training an hour or an hour and 15 minutes per day. The rest of the time outside the gym is just as important,” he added.

He revealed that Kumail trained for an average of four to five days every week: “We had a significant time period, close to a year,” he said adding that the aim was to get him in shape before he flies off to London for the filming of The Eternals.

“We sent him away in peak physical condition, but he’s had to maintain that. I give him kudos for being able to do that, especially when he was working,” he said.

View this post on Instagram

I never thought I’d be one of those people who would post a thirsty shirtless, but I’ve worked way too hard for way too long so here we are. You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain. I found out a year ago I was going to be in Marvel’s Eternals and decided I wanted to transform how I looked. I would not have been able to do this if I didn’t have a full year with the best trainers and nutritionists paid for by the biggest studio in the world. I’m glad I look like this, but I also understand why I never did before. It would have been impossible without these resources and time. So big thanks to @grantrobertsfit who started working with me at the beginning of the year and made me understand true physical pain for months and months. Then, once we started shooting, a massive thanks to @davidhigginslondon and his team (@ellispartridge, @thebeardypt, @tomcheesemanfitness) for training me almost every day and making me strong, limber and injury free. I can almost touch my toes now. (And thank you for forcing me to do cheat meals David.) Matthews Street Catering for their delicious and healthy meals. And finally, the biggest thanks goes to @emilyvgordon for putting up with me complaining and talking about only working out and dieting for the last year. I promise I’ll be interesting again some day. #thirstyshirtless (Photo by @markupson.) (edit: I left off one very important person: @lancecallahan who trained me for 6 years and helped me build the foundation I could use to do this. Thank you!)

A post shared by @ kumailn on

“I’m so impressed by him. I can only do so much. He’s the one who has to push through, and it’s definitely painful and there are sacrifices. Kumail drank the Kool-Aid and was all in. I'm very proud of him,” he added.