Performing stunts is serious work, and it takes a certain type of person to be comfortable taking on scenes that involve risky maneuvers and taxing choreography. But Joanne “JoJo” Batten, who’s been a stuntwoman for over a decade, wouldn’t trade her job for any other. At 38, she’s in incredible shape, and recently got a successful start in bodybuilding without the help of a coach or making too many tweaks to her training routine.
“This year I entered my first bodybuilding competition at the UKBFF Zack Khan Classic and won the masters bikini fitness category, which is for women over 35,”she told M&F. “I coached and prepped myself for the show, since I felt I had enough experience and the self-motivation to achieve the look I wanted. I kept my prep as simple and as healthy as possible. My day-to-day training didn’t change too much. The changes to my diet and cardio made the big difference. Six weeks out, I started doing fasted cardio each morning in the form of a low-intensity, steady-state (LISS) walk for 40 minutes and gradually tapered my calories and carbs down over the final few weeks.”
As far as training, her philosophy is to get it done, no matter how hectic your schedule gets.
“It’s all too easy to say you don’t have time to fit everything in. But in this game you have to master a lot of skills and work hard,” she says. “I’m always against the clock, but I still find time to train. My weekly training split is simple and time-efficient. (See below.) My on- and off-season training doesn’t really change at all. It’s the diet and cardio that alter.”
In the weekly split below, you’ll see active recovery show up on Fridays and Sundays. That’s when Batten finds time for her other fitness-centric pastimes.
“I like to take walks, either hiking in the countryside or exploring the city. I’m also still a keen dancer, and I take classes whenever I can. I’m a qualified yoga teacher, but I don’t always get to spend as much time on it as I would like, so weekends are a great chance to get in full recovery sessions. My body needs to be able to perform at its peak at all times, so I need to take care and maintain it with regular deep-tissue sports massage and physio.”
JoJo’s Weekly Training Split
Monday: Upper-body pull
Tuesday: Lower body (quad dominant)
Wednesday: Upper-body push
Thursday: Lower body (posterior chain)
Friday: Active recovery
Saturday: Total lower body
Sunday: Active recovery
Perform the workout below when you want to work your lower body’s posterior chain (including glutes and hamstrings).
