The simple workout Ryan Gosling did for ‘Barbie’ abs

Ryan Gosling had to make sure his abs were perfectly buff for his role as Ken, whose job is simply “beach.”

Gosling, 42, and the other Kens in the “Barbie” movie — including Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben-Adir and Ncuti Gatwa — used a nine-minute core workout to strengthen their muscles and stay chiseled.

Celebrity personal trainer David Higgins — who has been working with Barbie herself, Margot Robbie, for years — was in charge of getting all the Kens into doll-mode.

The actors exerted all their “Kenergy” into group full-body workouts that involved weight-liftings and pilates, and apart from Higgins’ sessions, hours of dance training every day for the remarkable choreographed dance scenes in the movie.

“It created a ‘we’re all in it together’ kind of feeling, which helped with motivation,” Higgins told GQ. “If one person was struggling, another might come around and say ‘Come on, let’s do this.’ I really loved this group of guys; they’re so positive and up for it.”

Part of their group mentality involved letting their competitive side come out with pull-ups, push-ups and plank challenges. They even let loose with basketball and ping-pong for team spirit and bonding.

“Ryan loved the plank challenge and the pull-up challenge,” Higgins shared. “Simu and Ncuti were more into the push-ups and specific abdominal crunches we were doing. Everyone got very competitive.”

“Everyone was just having a good time,” he added. “No one was miserable. It wasn’t about training for a single shirtless scene, it was a broad brush — which isn’t to say they didn’t give it their all.”

When it came to the Kens’ diets, there was no cutting carbs or any specific restrictions.

The main rule was no processed foods — “nothing that comes wrapped in plastic” — and intermittent fasting windows based on the actor’s personal day.

If you want to know how Gosling got his Ken-like abs, Higgins’ nine-minute workout is the answer. Each exercise is performed for one minute with no breaks in between.

Rollback

Sit on a mat upright with your knees bent and tucked to your chest, and your hands on your shins. Keeping your knees tucked in, roll back so your upper back is on the mat. Return to the upright position before repeating.

Leg lifts

Lay on your back and cross your left leg over your right. Lift your feet and legs straight up as high as you can without bending them. Slowly twist to the left then the right, then slowly lower back to the ground. Continue this for one minute, then repeat with the right leg on top for the following minute.

Two-step crunch

Perform a crunch as normal, lying on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Draw your core/belly button in while you lift your upper body into a crunch motion. But as you do the crunch, pause halfway up before continuing on, then pause one more time at the top to increase tension time.

Crossbody crunch

Crunch up with your hands rested behind your hands, crossing your elbow into your opposite knee before returning to the start position. Do one minute per side.

Rope climb

Lie on your back with your legs raised and feet in the air. Imagine that there’s a rope in between your feet and crunch your body upward as if you’re reaching to grab the rope, pulling yourself up one arm after the other — with a left, right, left, right pull at the height of each crunch.

Windscreen wiper

Sit with your feet flat on the floor and your knees bent. Lean back until you feel the tension in your stomach, engaging your core and tilting the pelvis forward. Pause in that position, lift your ankles and swing your feet left to right, swaying as far as you can. If you want to up the difficulty level, try adding a knee-to-chest raise in the middle.

Static dead bug

Lie on your back with knees bent and outstretched arms, feet flat on the floor. Crunch your knees up one at a time, bringing the opposite hand up to meet it. Hold this position for 30 seconds before switching sides for the final second. If you need a breather in between, Higgins says a small two-second breather is Ken-approved.