The Secret To Hollywood Abs
You, too, can have an action-hero six-pack—but only if you want it bad enough.
(Photo: Thinkstock)
When any new action film comes out, men start asking how the guys got into that great of shape. The women will ask: “How did Linda Hamilton get her arms?” The answer is the same for both discussions: Discipline.
Related: 6 Guys With Ripped Abs Tell You Why It’s Not Worth It
Discipline for what, specifically? Mark Twight, the owner of Gym Jones in Salt Lake City, Utah, has three requirements. You can’t beat his track record of success, given that he and his colleagues trained the cast of the orginal 300 movie, last year’s 300: Rise of the Empire, and also Henry Cavill for the role of Superman in Man of Steel. Here’s what Twight asks of his clients:
1. Sleep 10 hours a night. (Find out What Your Sleep Position Says About You.)
2. Eat 1,800 to 2,000 calories a day.
3. Train as hard as you can in the time available (up to three hours a day for some!).
It looks easy on paper. But survey that list and honestly note what you can’t—or won’t—do. Sleeping that much is going to cut into your “must-see” television watching, goofing on the Internet, and sitting in traffic. It’s hard to fit a six-pack of beer, some cake, and some pizza into 1800 calories a day. And, that third one, “train as hard as you can,” demands a level of discipline few people own. (Just looking to get rid of your belly fat? The Lose Your Spare Tire Program is designed to help you lose 20, 30, even 50 pounds and flatten your stomach forever!)
Not long ago, a friend of mine from Los Angeles marveled at how a former client, a female actress, looked so good in a movie. He used to work for her and he said: “They must have had two full-time people stopping her from stuffing crap in her mouth.”
If you have a whole posse of people who cook for you, serve you, train you, and keep crap out of your mouth, you don’t have discipline; you have a lot of money. Trainers have a special place in their heart for the guys and gals who haven’t made it yet in the business, but show up and give it all each and every session.
When Hollywood turns to performance professionals for a “look,” many turn to the wisdom of the late Vince Gironda, who trained stars from Michael Landon to Marty Feldman. He correctly figured that if you gain an inch to your shoulders and lost an inch off your waist, you look as good as if you gained two inches on your shoulders or just lost two inches off your waist. This is the look we are after on the big screen.
Related: Why Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson Is Technically Obese
Adherence to Twight’s three principles can lop a pound a day off you, and they will build muscle. For the movie, 300, one of the actors picked up his wife at the airport after a month of training and she didn’t recognize him. That is what happens when you stick to the plan. If you decide to party all weekend, you blow away your progress and start from scratch again on Monday.
It’s a circle: To train this hard with this little amount of food, you have to sleep. If you ignore the sleep a few days, you won’t train hard enough. Lack of sleep often leads to poor food choices and poor food choices lead to more calories and, usually, worse food options. It’s not a single item that makes the difference; it’s the discipline to follow all three principles of sleep, caloric restriction, and training. In fact, it’s literally all three or none if you want to look like a superhero.
By Dan John
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