Training Like Celebrity Super Hero

 I was really into comic books and now still like the idea of my teenage heroes making their debut on the screen. Seems like each movie has a few shots of the actor showing how heroic his body is. Movies like 300 the entire movie is based on ripped figures spilling blood.

 There are lots of articles in magazines and on the web illustrating the diet and training needed to get the actors to super hero physique status. Pretty interesting to read some of them. Most articles will of course exaggerate the actual results. My favorite warped result is Ryan Reynolds losing 33% of his total body fat. It is actually a play on words to make it sound like he lost 33% body fat. In reality it was probably something like going from 14% BF to 11% BF. Still it is a success. Then I really like the genetically empowered celebrities out there, like Christian Bale and Brad Pitt. Writers giving "hardcore" articles of  infamous Fight Club workout and Batman workout. This is where I visualize an magazine editor or website writer looking at a picture of these guys and just making up some crap that may or may not have been part of their regimen. A little research and a person can read about the actors eating and drinking more of what they pleased. Yet they still come out on the screen with very low body fat and cool phrases before they beat the living crap out of someone.

 The truth is there still isn't a perfect workout or diet. However most of the times the workouts and diets of celebrity superheroes are more or less the same stuff:

 Get Lean without losing muscle workout:

 - Use the primary big lifts (bench, squat, dead, chin, and dips) and incorporate a few power dominant movements if you want. Screw with the tempo if you like too. Deadlifting was a highly used exercise for the 300 Spartan cast.
- Get your aerobics in. Seems most superstars like to run. Will Smith is said to run 5 miles a day, hope he has plenty of ice for those knees. Hugh Jackman was about intervals.
- Recovery is very important. Spiderman Toby did yoga stuff. Hugh Jackman is said to have done Tai Chi. I would imagine everyone slept at least eight hours or so.

 The above goes the same for getting big. I have not read much of a difference in training. The main difference seems to be the play on volume and load. Even that wasn't really anything dramatic. Drop a few reps, add a set and 10-20lb of weight.


Dieting to get lean and ready for spandex suit:

- Seems the low carb and high protein way is popular.Ryan Reynolds when prepping for his DeadPool liked his CLA and consumed most carbs around training time.

- Before shooting, the actors seem to like the bodybuilder's gluceogenesis (protein only) and go carb crazy to get the reduction in water and vascular for a shot where the viewer needs to see veins and max definition.

Dieting for bulk:
- More carb allowance and a nice steady increase in total calories. Hugh Jackman supposedly ate 1,000 calories over his maintenance diet to become Weapon X.


 So what can we take away from the training and dieting for superhero actors....well.....nothing new, I guess.