John got Mike in!

While filming for Goal , a perfectionist John Abraham felt the need to get into shape and boost his stamina.

He was also equally concerned about his ‘weighty’ co-stars including Arshad Warsi. That’s when he suggested that Hollywood’s strength coach and personal trainer Mike Ryan, who has trained Russel Crowe during the making of Gladiator , be roped in.

John says, “Mike was instrumental in getting us into shape as football players and training us extensively in building our core strength and stamina to play the game. He was with us in London for the entire schedule.”

When the cast and crew landed in England to film subsequent portions, Mike Ryan was flown down. He would train all the actors every morning before they started shooting for the day.

The buzz doing the rounds is that John was down and out after having fielded Sallu’s unceremonious comments about his not-so-fab abs last year. He had hit the gym with a vengeance to prove his ‘senior’ wrong.

Sanidapan Dalal, TNN