38 Super-Fit Celebrities and the Workouts That Got Them Ripped

You might be watching one of your favorite action movies (Thor or Black Panther, perhaps?) or kicking back watching the game when you suddenly think: Damn, I wish I looked like them. Although working out with your favorite celebrity might not be possible in real life, we have a solution: The Men's Health Train Like a Celebrity video series. Learn what your favorite leading men (and women!) are doing to build muscle, stay in shape, and get their bodies into peak condition—for the big screen, the playing field, and beyond.

A fan of the pyramid workout (named for its descending rep scheme), the This Is Us star told Men's Health his routine is "the best bang for my buck that I get out of all my workouts."

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For the Superman and The Witcher star, it's important to remember that your fitness journey doesn't have to be comparable to Superman. "Everyone has a different genetic makeup, everyone is at a different stage of fitness or training or even has a different amount of calories going in," he told Men's Health." So you do you, and just make sure that every workout is as hard as you can do it."

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You might know Hopper from roles on Game of Thrones and The Umbrella Academy, all of which make it clear the actor is serious about his fitness routine. He told Men's Health in 2019 that he's fond of free weights because "if you only have 45-lb. dumbbells, you can make a big workout out of that."

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While training for his role in the upcoming Marvel project Eternals, Nanjiani said he likes routines that lend themselves to plenty of variation. In March 2020, he told Men's Health "what's kept me going to the gym is changing up the workout, finding exercises I like, and sort of mixing things up all the time."

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Constantly needing to be in shape for various roles (including an important one on Riverdale), the 23-year-old told Men's Health he's committed to his workout routine—but it's "pretty brutal."

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After his show Lucifer was renewed for season 4, Ellis felt he needed to step up his workout regimen and gain some muscle mass. "We were going to train six days a week," he told Men's Health. "We would do four days of it as an upper-lower body split using big compound movements to get the big muscles going."

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When it came to looking good for his role in Black Panther, Jordan's trainer Corey Calliet told Men's Health he wanted Jordan's physique to be a part of the character's story. "I'm talking about sculpting a body, not just trying to condition it to be fast," he said. "I wanted to make his shoulders look better ... I needed his upper chest to pop. I needed his back to tell a story. I wanted his back to look like a globe, like a map."

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Just like his starring roles, Eastwood prefers to mix it up when it comes to his workouts. "I like to keep it interesting," he told Men's Health. "I never like things to get stale. I always want to be moving and keep the body guessing."

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After revealing in January 2020 that he lost over 200lbs., Suplee discovered he primarily enjoyed lifting weights to keep the pounds off—partly because of its time-saving benefits. "I could get my workout in an hour, and so that wasn't like a huge part of my day," he told Men's Health. "Even if I had a really long work day, I could go before or go after."

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While Efron might have thoughts about the workout routine he did while filming Baywatch, it's not hard to see that the routine, which his trainer Patrick Murphy explained to Men's Health back in 2019, did wonders for him in the film.

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When it came to getting in shape for Deadpool 2, Reynolds called on his right-hand man for the last decade—personal trainer Don Saladino, who makes sure to change the workout depending on what's going on with the actor. "Not every day has to be a Level 10 on the workout meter.," Saladino told Men's Health. "He comes in, he and I sit down and we have an understanding. I ask, 'How are you feeling today?' and we make an adjustment to focus the intensity on how he’s feeling."

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While the NBA star is known for his advanced skill set on the basketball court, his trainer, Mike Mancias, says it's important to remember the basics in a workout. "Some of the simplest routines and exercises are probably the ones that are most beneficial to you," he told Men's Health. "As long as you focus on your intensity and focus on your movement, that's when you'll see the results.

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The Thor and Extraction star constantly needs to be in shape, which can be a challenge when you're always super busy filming. But that's all incorporated into Hemsworth's fitness routine, according to his long-time trainer, Luke Zocchi. "My training philosophy with Chris is to train in the most effective way possible," he told Men's Health, "because he's always pushed for time."

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For the actor/entrepreneur, fitness isn't just about muscle mass—it's about functional strength. "When we’re training together, my philosophy comes from...focusing on staying healthy and moving well," Wahlberg's personal trainer Brian Nyugen told Men's Health. "That’s been my job, getting him to moving better to address how he wants to train as an athlete."

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When the Vikings star had to put on 25 lbs fast for his role in Bad Boys For Life, Ludwig wisely avoided the temptation to overtrain. "One thing I've found is that moderation is actually key, and consistency," Ludwig told Men's Health. "Back in the day I used to just try to kill myself with these workouts, but now I'm trying to just get to the gym every single day, and maybe one or to days off on the weekends."

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After being caught up in the spotlight of Hollywood for so long, it was important for the 30-year-old rapper to slow down and start taking care of his health. "For those that are wondering if I even trained, fair enough, because this wasn't the case years ago," he told Men's Health. "But a lot of years of doing a lot of stuff has led me to believe that I've gotta keep on living and I've got to get stronger."

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In order to match up to Evans' action skills in the Avengers films, stunt double Sam Hargrave (and director of the Netflix film Extraction) knew he had to make sure his workout routine was in top shape. "When you're part of something like that, you don't want anybody looking to you as the weak link," he told Men's Health. "You've got to be able to do your backflips, you've got to do your martial arts, and you have to do take after take."

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As Brolin's made the rounds in popular superhero films, his exercise routines have evolved just as seamlessly as the MCU. "These workouts changed every single day," the actor's trainer Justin Lovato told Men's Health. "So we're consistently confusing the body, changing it up, making it not adaptable, but making him work and learn each day."

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Longtime trainer Alex Guerrero gave Men's Health an inside look at the nine-step routine Brady uses to keep playing at an MVP level over the course of the season—and well into his forties.

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Strength alone won't allow Harden to endure the grueling physical demands of the NBA's relentless schedule. That's why Harden's trainer Paul Fabritz's philosophy isn't just about building muscle. "It's about explosiveness," he told Men's Health. "It's about his movements on the court."

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Sure, Larson might've recently performed her first workout while in quarantine. But while she was training for her role in Captain Marvel, her mindset was quite different. "Brie worked out 5 days a week with me pretty much the whole nine months," long-time trainer Jason Walsh told Men's Health. "She worked her ass off to get into shape for this movie."

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Whether it's his filming schedule or taking care of a new baby, the Upload star's fitness routine has to be in line with his hectic days. "My workouts consist of 10, 15 minute increments," he told Men's Health, "because I don't always have an hour or an hour and a half."

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The Australian singer's at-home workout routine has no equipment, but it's tailored to mimic the motions he would make in the water. "A lot of us can't get in the water right now and certainly can't get into the gym," he told Men's Health, "so we're gonna try and replicate some of those motions right here on the mat."

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While Butler's roles in films like 300 and Olympus Has Fallen required to be in top-tier shape, these days, it's not always about muscle definition. "These days when I train with Gerard, we're not really trying to bulk up for a particular role," Butler's trainer Joe Dowdell told Men's Health. "More or less looking for body composition-type training, like maintaining lean muscle mass, sort of decreasing some body fat."

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The New Girl star might be making jokes for a living, but his home workout is all business. "Make sure when you're at home, use this time to keep your body active, and keep your mind even more active," he told Men's Health.

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Still performing his own stunts in his 50s, Reeves needs a workout routine that prioritizes flexibility and stamina over brute strength. "[Keanu] wasn't lifting crazy heavy weights—it was getting his body moving, getting his muscular endurance and stability—it was just a mindset," long-time trainer Patrick Murphy told Men's Health. "He would leave the gym exhausted, but feeling great."

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Sure, Tatum was never exactly a slouch, but trainer Arin Babaian helped him go to the next level for super-jacked roles like Magic Mike. "We had to change our plan," Babaian told Men's Health about his initial workouts with Tatum."We turned our day into a fit lifestyle."

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When Affleck signed on to play Batman in 2017's Justice League, he turned to Magnus Lygdback to help him get in shape for the role. "Our goals to build Ben as Batman were to [prioritize] leg strength, stability," Lygdback told Men's Health. "You know Batman's carrying around this heavy suit all day on set, so we needed Ben to have the support he needed to carry that suit."

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The former Bachelor and NFL athlete isn't exactly new to fitness—but he is new to adapting it to be more functional, rather than about muscle definition. "I played football all of my life and my main goal in football was to get big and bulky," he told Men's Health. "Now that I'm not playing anymore, my main exercise goals [are] to lean out and be functional."

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Although Harbour's character for the 2017 film Hellboy required some prosthetics to enhance his physique, trainer Don Saladino made sure the rest of his body looked the part, too. "He had to feel like he was able to kick some ass, and walk on the set and feel like Hellboy," Saladino told Men's Health.

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After knee surgery and a subsequent physical transformation, the singer made sure that his new physique didn't go to waste in quarantine. "Right now, we can't get to the gym," Murs told Men's Health. "But we can still train. We can still do it at home."

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Playing the God-like Dr. Manhattan in the Watchmen series required Abdul-Mateen to be in top shape, and he told Men's Health that his gym philosophy had to change slightly. "We want to make sure that we can carve a really chiseled body, a strong body, that's damn near perfect," he told Men's Health. "That really takes a different level of skill and fitness and concentration in the gym."

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When Malek signed on to portray Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody, it wasn't just about his costumes. He turned to trainer Jay Cardiello to help develop a similar physical build to the late singer as well. "When you look at Freddie Mercury when he got on stage at Live Aid, he was muscular, he was ripped," Cardiello told Men's Health. "[Malek] had to pack on muscle, and we had to do it in a smart way."

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An avid fitness fanatic, the EDM DJ has found a way to insert working out into his daily lifestyle, and often encourages his fans to complete his own routines. "I love creating challenges to obtain and reach goals," he told Men's Health. "One challenge I recently did was to drop to 10 percent body fat. By doing that I had to change a lot of the structures of my life, when it comes to my diet and how hard I was working out."

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While the 2020 Olympics are postponed to 2021, the wrestler isn't stopping his training for the gold. "Part of being the best in the world is being physically prepared, mentally prepared, and then emotionally prepared," said Burroughs' coach Mark Manning to Men's Health. "So we really demand a lot out of him from the cardio standpoint, and also the physical nature of our sport."

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The skateboarder was about to make his Olympic debut before COVID-19 shut down the games, but his workout still reflects his level of commitment for when he eventually makes it to Tokyo. "My main focus in training is to basically build muscle around my joints to prevent injury, and just to stay fit," Reynolds told Men's Health.

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As the world's Strongest Man, Licis knows a thing or two about packing on loads of muscle. But his overall approach to working out involves recognizing the little things, too."Every single session should be a slight step forward," he told Men's Health. "If you don't have the strength that day or you don't have the energy to push more weight, push more repetitions. If you don't have the energy for that, at least improve your technique and form. Always be improving something."

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When McAvoy came back to reprise his role as Beast in Glass (the sequel to 2016's Split), the actor had to gain back his muscle definition—fast. "We had about three months to pack on as much muscle mass as possible to make him look as freakish as possible," McAvoy's trainer Magnus Lygdback told Men's Health, "but at the same time move like a beast."

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