Last updated on March 10th, 2022 at 08:52 am

Lily James’ workout is one that is highly anticipated here at SHJ.

And now it’s time to use James’ workout and diet plan to replicate those results!

James showed off a stunning physique in back in 2012 when she starred as a professional sprinter in Fast Girls and she never looked back.

She’s been rockin’ the same incredible body since then in roles like Cinderella, Downton Abbey, Baby Driver, Mamma Mia and more!

So buckle up and get ready because we’re about to talk about how she does it.

Lily James Stats:

Height: 5’7

Weight: (approximate) 121 lbs.

Age: 30 years old

Lilly James is actually right above average height among female celebs.

By literally one inch.

Normally the average height we see for women is around 5’4-5’6 with ladies such as Jennifer Aniston, Margot Robbie, Olivia Munn, Alicia Vikander, Sophia Bush, Tatiana Maslany, Evangeline Lilly, and a ton of others.

But then there is also that taller range, and among the tallest (even taller than the 5’7-5’8), are ladies like Gwendoline Christie, Gal Gadot, and a few others – with Phoebe Tonkin, Gabrielle Union, Brie Larson, Nina Dobrev, Daisy Ridley, and so many more coming in around that 5’7-5’8 range.

And, let’s not forget the shorter ladies of SHJ like Ariana Grande, Scarlett Johansson, Mila Kunis, Emilia Clarke, Lucy Hale, Julianne Hough and a good handful of others.

But, either way, don’t worry.

I write these routines for anyone and everyone.

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Lily James Diet and Nutrition

Lily James has switched up her diet a bit throughout the years.

Which is similar to many celebrities we’ve seen on the site.

Hence why Adaptation is one of the Pillars of Success in my book, Superhuman Secrets.

In an interview with E! James admits that she was rarely able to eat anything at all, and ended up essentially on a liquid diet, which she explains like this:

“I think I may be trying to get sympathy a bit there. I’m being a bit over the top,” she quipped to E! News when asked about her corset-ready diet. “When [the corset] was on we would be on continuous days so we wouldn’t stop for lunch or a lovely tea like this—you’d be sort of eating on the move. In that case, I couldn’t untie the corset. So if you ate food it didn’t really digest properly and I’d be burping all afternoon in [Richard Madden]’s face, and it was just really sort of unpleasant. I’d have soup so that I could still eat but it wouldn’t get stuck.”

She continues with a great message for young girls as well:

“For girls growing up sometimes I think they get the wrong idea for what women should look like,” she said. “And I think it’s so important to be healthy and confident and natural. And not put too much stress on trying to be thin—I don’t get the thin, thin thing at all. I’m actually finding it really hard not to eat right now.” (That a girl’s girl sentiment if we’ve ever heard one!)

And Shape Mag also has a whole write-up on Lily James’ liquid diet, basically sharing why you should NOT do it.

But it’s okay, we have a ton of information from other sources on the various diets she used that were NOT liquid oriented.

Cosmopolitan even has an interview with James from her Fast Girls role.

James talks about all the things she had to give up in her diet to be in sprinter shape:

We couldn’t live without cake, what was the hardest thing you had to give up?
I had to give up everything I love. We couldn’t drink, eat chocolate, have sweets or deserts. But you know what, I became quite obsessed with it. It’s amazing to see how much better you feel and to see the change in your body,. But most of all, it’s how quick the change happens – it’s exciting!

She also continues with:

Do you have any food vices?
Chocolate – i’m obsessed with chocolate. On the last day of filming I ate a load of Ferrero Rocher, it was the best day of my life!

And we’ll see more from that interview when we get to James’ workout research, but for now we’re going to jump over to an interview with Daily UK and one of James’ trainers: James Farmer.

Here’s what Farmer has to share when it comes to diet and nutrition that I think is important for us to recognize:

Q. What is the best diet tip you can give people?

Forget about diets in the short term. Instead, find a nutritional approach you can lose weight with and is sustainable indefinitely. It’s the only way you will lose weight and keep it off.

In terms of direct dietary advice, include a protein source, a small amount of healthy fats with plenty of salad and/or green veg with every meal.

Q. Are there any foods you limit or eat more of?

I’m a big believer in having a reasonably high protein intake – so I include lots of poultry and fish in my diet, as well as a limited amount of red meat. I’ll always include a protein source with every meal.

We see a lot of celebs opt for a sustainable approach like this.

That’s why our Academy Nutrition Classes (Monks, Minimalists, SuperHumans, Vikings, Spartans, Hunter Gatherers, Greek Gods, Samurais) revolve around helping you find the specific diet that is right FOR YOU.

Of course, there are a lot of reasons to HAVE the strict guidelines.

We’ve seen a lot of celebs opt for specific restrictions. 

For example: Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart incorporate 80/20 dieting with big weekly cheat meals, Hugh Jackman, Benedict Cumberbatch and Terry Crews utilize intermittent fasting(something I use daily as well), Mustafa Shakir and Madelaine Petsch are vegans, Brandon Routh and Frank Grillo opt for paleo, and tons of others utilize their own variations as well.

And, that’s just to name a few celebs from each, by the way.

You can check out our Nutrition Pillars for more information and articles on all of the above and more.

Curious where over a hundred celebs fall in their dietary choices ranging from High Protein and Keto to Vegetarian, Vegan and Intermittent Fasting? Want exclusive celeb meal plans? Check this out.

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Lily James Workout Routine Research

Lily James workout has also varied, similar to her diet.

Luckily for us, we have a ton of details about the variation.

We’ll start with her training for her role in Fast Girls, which is when she seemed to be at her most lean.

Here’s what she has to tell Cosmo:

So we’ve watched the film, and we loved it! You looked so fit and toned, how on earth did you prepare for the role?
It was very intense – we had about six weeks of training before the film even started. I trained with Olympics Athlete Jeanette Kwakye – who is amazing! And Shani Anderson who is an excellent Olympic runner. We trained five times a week; running, circuits, weights, working out in the gym, and on the track. It was an insane time. On top of the fitness and the health, we also had a diet plan we had to follow which involved eating between five and six meals a day that were really high in protein, so that meant lots of protein shakes, fish, chicken and no cheating.

And, yes, I do realize that we also get a bunch of extra nutrition information in there as well.

You’re welcome! 😛

James’ also continues with some more fitness tips:

We’re desperate to know, what are your top tips?
I think it’s probably best to work out in the morning to get it out of the way. My ultimate top tip is to drag yourself, even if you have to roll yourself out of your bed and in to a sit-up – it’s really not that bad once you start.

And how about music, do you think that helps?
Because I was being trained, I had Jeanette in my ear constantly, she would say words of encouragement or make a joke. Plus, we trained at a stadium that had all the male Olympic athletes training there so that was distraction enough – me and Lenora (her fellow co-star) enjoyed that – a lot!

And don’t worry, she wasn’t in crazy shape before this training started.  She tells us about that here:

So what were you like before? Please say you were tired just from running a bath?
Oh my god, I so wasn’t fit before the training. I was doing a play beforehand, and before that I was in Wrath of the Titans where I had a personal trainer so I was fitter then, but no, when I first had to lift weights, do squats and run for ten minutes I was knackered and wanted to be sick.

Was there anything that you hated about training?
Interval training – like being on the bike – I hated that! I find cardio hard, But I like to do weights and I don’t mind running now.

But before we jump right into her routine, I also want to share some information from Farmer (the trainer we heard from in James’ nutrition section).

Here’s what he tells Daily Mail about his training style:

Q. What is your most reliable go-to type of exercise for all round fitness?

Hands down, it has to be boxing. You’ll burn off a huge amount of calories, improve your cardiovascular fitness, all whilst learning a skill that will improve your movement and coordination. But most of all, it’s fun.

Q. What is your favourite fat- busting exercise and why?

Has to be the burpee! It’s hated for a reason. It’s hard, works the whole body, requires no equipment, and can be thrown into any circuit to induce that cardiovascular hit and metabolic kick.

Q. What ratio of cardio-weights do you advise?

It largely depends on the person. Typically, women tend to shy away from lifting weights in fear of ‘bulking up’. The result is that they overdo their cardio, underdo their weight training, and fail to get the results they want.

The first thing to do is to try and adjust this ratio.

As a minimum and starting goal, aim for 50/50 split between weights and cardio and look to increase the percent of weight training over a period of time.

Once you see the improvements in results, this won’t be a problem.

And while boxing might seem fun, I do apologize that we also just learned we’ll be throwing in some burpees as well.

Get ready!

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Lily James Workout Routine

Training Volume:

5 days per week

Explanation:

Both James and Farmer talk about enjoying weights and building up to a split of more weights than cardio, so we’re going to have 3 days of weight training and 2 days of cardio, with some light cardio built into our weight training days as well.

Want To Upgrade This Workout?

The Superhero Academy now comes with an Upgrade Your Workout Tool that allows Academy members to turn any SHJ workout into a 4-8 week fully planned regime detailing exact weights to lift and including reverse & tradition pyramid training, straight sets, super sets, progressive overload and more.

Lily James Workout: Sample Workout Schedule

Monday: Upper Body Weights and Light Cardio

Tuesday: Boxing, Run or Varied Cardio

Wednesday: Lower Body Weights and Light Cardio

Thursday: Boxing, Run or Varied Cardio

Friday: Upper/Lower Body Weights and Light Cardio

Saturday: Long Distance [Extra] Cardio or Rest

Sunday: Rest Day

Lily James Workout: Upper Body Weights and Light Cardio

**You can do your light cardio work before or after your weight training.  Base it around your personal preference.**

Weights:

Incline Dumbbell Chest Press

3×10

Seated [Light] Arnold Press

3×10

Tricep Kickback (Cable or DB)

3×10 each arm

Cable Shoulder Front Raises

3×10

Assisted Dips

3×10

Quick Circuit:

3 Rounds for Time

20 Jumping Lunges

15 Plank to Push Ups

10 Burpees

Cardio Options:

• Jog 1 Mile
• 20 Minute Incline Walk
• 20 High Paced Elliptical

Lily James Workout: Boxing, Run or Varied Cardio

We have some mixed martial arts style workout routines you can utilize, but there are also a ton of other ways you can get your cardio on!

I’ll share some sources and then you can decide how you’re going to train for your cardio days.

Mixed Martial Arts Training:

• Deathstroke
• Daredevil
• Moon Knight
• Sagat
• Anna Diop
• Frank Grillo
• Ryan Potter

Other Cardio Day Options:

• Swimming
• Pilates
• Spin Class
• Yoga
• Hiking
• Sports

Running Options:

• Beginner: 1-3 mile run
• Intermediate: 3-5 mile run
• Advanced: 5+ mile run

Lily James Workout: Lower Body Weights and Light Cardio

**You can do your light cardio work before or after your weight training.  Base it around your personal preference.**

Weights:

Back Squats

3×10

Glute Bridges

3×10

Hamstring Kickbacks

3×10 each leg

Quad/Leg Extensions

3×10

Cable Pullthroughs

3×10

Quick Circuit:

3 Rounds for Time

20 Knee Push Ups

15 Lying Leg Raises

10 Russian Twists

Cardio Options:

• Jog 1 Mile
• 20 Minute Incline Walk
• 20 High Paced Elliptical

Lily James Workout: Boxing, Run or Varied Cardio

We have some mixed martial arts style workout routines you can utilize, but there are also a ton of other ways you can get your cardio on!

I’ll share some sources and then you can decide how you’re going to train for your cardio days.

Mixed Martial Arts Training:

• Deathstroke
• Daredevil
• Moon Knight
• Sagat
• Anna Diop
• Frank Grillo
• Ryan Potter

Other Cardio Day Options:

• Swimming
• Pilates
• Spin Class
• Yoga
• Hiking
• Sports

Running Options:

• Beginner: 1-3 mile run
• Intermediate: 3-5 mile run
• Advanced: 5+ mile run

Lily James Workout: Upper/Lower Body Weights and Light Cardio

**You can do your light cardio work before or after your weight training.  Base it around your personal preference.**

Weights:

Romanian Deadlift w/ DBs

3×10

Close Grip Cable Rows

3×10

Wide Grip Lateral Pulldowns

3×10

Straight Leg Deadlifts with Kettlebell

3×10

Assisted Chin Ups

3×10

Quick Circuit:

3 Rounds for Time

20 Hanging Knee Raises w. Twist

15 Cable Crunches

10 Single Arm Snatches (DB, 5 each arm)

Cardio Options:

• Jog 1 Mile
• 20 Minute Incline Walk
• 20 High Paced Elliptical

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