Stars of Brit athletics flick reveal pain and injuries endured while training

London, June 10 (ANI): The five young actresses who appear in the fictional Olympic movie 'Fast Girls', have opened up about their gruelling training regime.

When they signed up to appear in Fast Girls, they had no idea of the pain, sacrifice and 600 daily sit-ups that go into being an Olympic athlete.

Into their sixth week of training for the film billed as athletics' answer to 'Bend It Like Beckham', they are put through their paces by former Olympic sprinter Shani Anderson.

The sweat pours down like rain as the five women crunch, press, squat, press and curl furiously.

The film centres on the intense rivalry of the five girls competing for four places on the fictional GB World Championships relay team.

Lenora Crichlow, 27, the most experienced female actor in the film, who plays Shania Andrews, was diagnosed with stress fractures in her ankles on the first day of filming the athletics scenes.

"When I got my injury it felt like the hand of God was striking the film down. I'd experienced some niggling pain in my foot but nobody could work out why I was in pain. So I just carried on," the Daily Mail quoted her as saying.The problem was that I was using athletics spikes and hadn't properly learnt how to run on them. The pain became unbearable and then I got the dreaded diagnosis. But we had to carry on.

"In the short term we used body doubles and camera trickery to get around the fact that I was unable to run. When the film wrapped in December, I spent most of my time with my feet in an ice machine.

"Then, in February, I returned for re-shoots when they put down special flooring and I had a physio on hand at all times.

"I'm told I'll make a complete recovery, though I doubt I'll ever run in spikes again," she said.

For Lorraine Burroughs, the biggest challenge during filming was adapting to a rigid diet.

"I would dream about cheese at night. The physical training was tougher than I ever imagined it being, but the carefully calibrated diet was more challenging.

"We had to adhere to a nutrition plan, which involved eating small amounts every two hours to keep our metabolism going - mostly raw vegetables, chicken, fish, protein shakes, nuts, seeds and creatine," she said.ith coach Anderson taking a hardline approach, there was no opportunity for any shirking.

For Lashana Lynch, the biggest shock during the filming of Fast Girls was waking up one morning and realising that the intense training regime had given her "man's arms."

"As soon as we signed up for the film, it was made clear that we would be expected to train like professionals. If the film was to look authentic, we would have to look like proper athletes.

"I did athletics at school and I've always kept pretty fit, so I wasn't remotely daunted at the prospect. But I was in for a surprise and it proved to be a real baptism of fire," she added.

Advised and coached by Olympic sprinters Jeanette Kwakye and Anderson during the ten weeks of preparation and filming, the five girls trained for four hours a day, five times a week, and were also expected to perform workouts during time off.

"Our training was pretty much the same as an Olympic athlete's, only more condensed.

"The biggest challenge for me was the 600 sit-ups a day. Every morning I'd stand in front of the mirror and I could barely recognise myself. Because the fat was being replaced by muscle, my weight stayed the same. But my body shape changed radically.

"I have a new-found respect for those people who put themselves through hell over an entire career. Their idea of taking a break is to do 100 sit-ups. They should be an inspiration to us all," she said. (ANI)