Riz Ahmed. “Bowie, Prince, Brexit, the American presidential election, Iraq…” Frankly, I’d expected the 34-year-old actor and rapper to instead list the many blessings and last December’s ) a critically admired album (“Englistan”, about the complexities of being a British Muslim), and a smash-hit HBO series, . But not that he doesn’t appreciate how transformational last year — particularly — has been, both for his career and for his body. To grow from a scrawny, naive Queens kid into a Rikers-hardened badass over the course of the eight-episode season, Ahmed worked with trainer Ben Glassman of The Lab in New York, USA. “I switched from metabolic conditioning workouts — with a ketogenic diet to burn fat and get really trim — into big compound lifts and almost no cardio”, says Ahmed. He also relied on yoga and Pilates to maintain good posture and avoid injury while training six days a week, often after a full day’s shoot. As for mental fitness? “The Headspace [meditation] app that Andy Puddicombe developed”, says Ahmed. “It’s a really effective tool not just for relaxation but also focus.” To tune out everything that’s going on in his life — and in the world.
