Believe it or not achieving a visually stunning Hollywood physique requires much less work than you probably think. You don’t need to workout 2 hours a day like most people assume. In fact 3-4 hours per week is more than enough to build a perfectly lean and muscled physique.
Look at some of the top hollywood fitness icons like Ryan Reynolds (Blade Trinity), Brad Pitt (Fight Club), Cam Gigandet (Never Back Down), Christian Bale (American Psycho) and even Bruce Lee (Enter the Dragon).
Now what do all of these guys have in common? They all have a natural amount of muscle mass with very low body fat. This is what creates the incredible appearance. If they were to maintain the same amount of muscle but gain a little bit of fat they wouldn’t look nearly as good. They would lose their cuts and defined features and they would start to look just average.
What does it take to build an incredible Hollywood physique?
Strength Training 3-4x per week and a strict diet. THATS IT! When it comes to losing body fat it really just comes down to diet. Cardio is completely optional.
Yes cardio may slightly speed up the fat loss process but you can do all the cardio in the world and if your diet is bad you won’t lose a single pound. So the strength training is to build / maintain muscle and the strict diet is to maintain/lose fat.
Lift Like a Bodybuilder
In the title of this article I said to ‘lift like a bodybuilder.’ This is partially true and partially false. You see our strength training workouts are going to be completely different from a bodybuilder. However because of this overtime you will be able to handle weights that a bodybuilder 30 lbs heavier than you would be lifting.
You see bodybuilders train solely to increase muscle mass. Therefore they follow high volume – fatigue oriented workouts that force their muscles to adapt by increasing in size (not strength). This type of training creates bulky, puffy looking muscle lacking true strength and power.
Our strength training workouts are going to be focused on building dense, defined and compact muscle that is visually stunning. Low reps with sufficient rest time build this type of functional strength and muscle. The muscle gains will be slower training in this manner but the difference will be night and day in your appearance.
Eat like a model
If you can get used to eating low calories (while strength training) you will be able to reach a very low body fat while maintaining muscle. Do this for a long enough time period and eventually you will look like Tyler Duren (Brad Pitt in Fight Club)
But won’t I lose muscle and damage my metabolism eating low calories?
Nope! As long as you strength train 2-3x per week and get in at-least 90 grams of protein per day you will be fine. You definitely won’t damage your metabolism either. I used to think that if I dieted I would inevitably lose muscle like crazy. Well after reading Brad Pilon’s awesome book, ‘Eat Stop Eat‘ I realized this is just not true.
But I hate eating low calories! Have any tips?
Focus on your goal. A leaner, fitter YOU. Forget about the excess garbage that you don’t need. It will be difficult for the first few days but after you start to pick-up positive momentum it will be effortless. I recommend putting motivating pictures in your room and on your fridge.
Listen to great music that puts you in an awesome state. Drink lots of tea (fills you up and kicks your cravings to the curb). Ask yourself – is this going to benefit me when your considering eating more food.
Pretend you’re eating with the FUTURE YOU – What would that person do (obviously they would make the right choice). Perform a few sets of push-ups, pull-ups or dips before and after a meal. Totally gets your mind off food.
Low Cal Model Diet
Breakfast – Protein Shake (250-300 calories and 30-40 grams of protein)
Lunch – Protein Shake (250-300 calories and 30-40 grams of protein)
Snack – piece of fruit
Dinner – Lean Meat, Veggies, Salad
Snack – 2 hard boiled eggs
This diet kicks butt for losing fat fast! Once you begin closing in on your goal weight you can switch to 2 meals and 2 shakes and 1 snack. You will be hungry on this diet but that just means your using fat for fuel. You need to accept being hungry and tell yourself – “I’m hungry but I love it”
Another awesome option is to fast until dinner 1-2x per week. When your body goes 24 hours without food your hgh levels (fat burning hormone) go through the roof and you start to burn fat like crazy.
This 24 hour fast is tough but it totally pays off. I have gotten awesome results from it. In addition you won’t lose muscle mass at all because your body begins to shuttle amino acids to your muscle cells. You can learn more about this by checking out Brad Pilon’s book ‘eat stop eat‘
What if I’m skinny and I need to gain weight?
If your skinny and you need to seriously put on weight than I recommend eating more carbs and using slightly higher reps. This will allow you to put on muscle faster. However, a lot of bodybuilders will tell you to eat like crazy and this will just cause you to ruin your physique with excess fat. The best times to have high carbs is after your workout.
NEW Article - Get Shredded on 2 Workouts Per Week
How I stayed lean while gaining muscle traveling Europe this summer, training just 2 times per week. You need to try this. Click Here to Read...
*Training just 2 times per week has allowed me to gain strength and muscle at rate I never knew was possible.
Makes it easier to stay lean as well. I know this sounds counterintuitive, but let me show you precisely the body part split I’m using.