Hollywood Workout: Are Celebrity Workouts and Diets Effective? | Not Your Average Fitness Tips

Hollywood Workout: Are Celebrity Workouts and Diets Effective?

There’s no doubt that Hollywood actors and actresses develop some of the best bodies for their roles.  It often prompts the question of how these stars of Hollywood workout.  People in general seem fixated on taking their favorite celebrity’s workout and applying it to their own body.  However, a lot of people fail to consider a fundamental question: are celebrity workouts and diets effective?  Can a Hollywood workout really help you build a better body?

Best Celebrity Bodies

Great Hollywood bodies have actually evolved over time.  Decades ago, Arnold Schwarzenegger set the standard for a great body with every red blooded American male seeking to look like the Terminator.  Since you don’t see many bodybuilders who are celebrities, it’s obvious that the appeal faded over time.  The entire Hollywood look really changed with Brad Pitt’s role as Tyler Durden in Fight Club.  He had extremely low body fat, well defined muscles, and still maintained that dangerous look.  His body set the gold standard for years to come and is still highly influential today.

Brad Pitt helped begin an exercise revolution to get the lean, toned look

Over the past decade since Fight Club’s release, Hollywood has seen its share of more great bodies.  Pitt once again blew everyone away with his god-like body in Troy, packing on muscle mass after Fight Club.  Ryan Reynolds truly transformed himself in Blade Trinity where he sports an amazing set of abs.  The whole cast of the movie 300, including Gerard Butler, built great bodies worthy of the Spartans.  However, the most influential transformation involves Taylor Lautner, the star of Twilight who plays Jacob Black.

Taylor Lautner may help begin an exercise revolution for the latest generation

Celebrity Workouts and Diets

With all these great celebrity bodies, you would think there would be some common theme or lesson that could be extracted from their workouts.  However, for the most part, celebrity workouts and diets vary significantly from one another.  Some celebrities work out one muscle group per day; others perform full body circuit training workouts.  Some celebrities exercise for 2-3 hours per day; others simply do 30-40 minutes of high intensity training.  Some celebrities eat small meals every 2-3 hours; others eat regular meals but limit sugar or alcohol.

Ryan Reynolds exercised 2-3 hours per day, 6 days per week…do you have that much free time?

Despite the various workout routines, these celebrities all managed to get in phenomenal shape for their roles.  How did this happen?  Dedication and hard work.  Celebrities have a distinct advantage in getting great bodies, and it’s not genetics.  They simply have the time, money, and desire to get the best body possible.  If someone offered you $20 million to get in the best shape of your life in just 3-6 months, you’d find a way to do it even if it meant getting up at the crack of dawn, working out hours on end, and severely restricting your diet.

Jason Statham uses 30-40 minute high intensity workouts…much more reasonable for the average person

Because celebrities can dedicate long hours to getting good bodies, they have plenty of room for error in workout routines.  In other words, even the worst workout routine combined with a reasonable diet plan will help someone get in shape if they put enough time and effort into it.  Additionally, celebrities have personal trainers and nutritionists to keep them on track.  Unfortunately, the average working class individual has neither the time nor the resources.  This significantly increases the margin for error.

Hollywood Workout

So can you learn anything from a Hollywood workout?  I’d argue the only real lesson is that celebrity workouts and diets can help you get in shape with enough hard work, just like any other fitness program.  However, if you want to exercise more efficiently, then don’t simply follow your favorite celebrity’s workout and diet plan.  You may not be able to commit as much time to exercising.  Additionally, what works for their body may not work for yours.  Instead, strive for the Hollywood look, not the Hollywood workout routine, by following a program like Visual Impact Muscle Building and Visual Impact for Women.

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  3. Wii Workout: Is Video Game Exercise Effective?
  4. Most Effective Ab Exercises: Best Ab Workout for Men and Women
  5. 10 Questions with Rusty Moore: Get the Lean Hollywood Look

14 Responses to “Hollywood Workout: Are Celebrity Workouts and Diets Effective?”

  • For sure I think some celebrities get it right some get really wrong … and we are left to choose …possibly it also comes down to the personal trainer that is hand picked for them for the movie role.
    Raymond

  • Yeah, getting fitness advice from celebrities is like getting finance advice from doctors and lawyers. It might be interesting, but it shouldn’t be your ONLY resource!

  • That’s why I always take any famous person’s workout with a grain of salt. Not only do you rarely know their specific routine and diet, you don’t know what other factors affect it, such as time and/or Performance Enhancers.

    -Drew

  • Dave,

    I agree that the average Joe can’t workout like a movie star. As much as I would love to dedicate all day every day to working out and maintaining a lean physique, this just isn’t realistic. Normal people really do need time efficient methods to achieve results.

    Alykhan

  • Raymond,
    I agree that some celebrities do get it right. I’ve heard P90X is taking off with some celebrities which to me is a good thing…at least it’s a high intensity workout…bordering on overtraining in my opinion, but still. Too many just take the standard bodybuilding approach of working one muscle group per day.

    Darrin,
    Great analogy!

    Drew,
    I didn’t even want to get into the performance enhancer discussion since I don’t want to throw around accusations, but some celebs have been caught with HGH among other things.

    Alykhan,
    Until we’re all celebrities with infinite time and money, I guess we’ll just have to stick with more efficient workouts.

    Dave

  • Hey Dave,

    IMO most celebrity workouts make for good motivational reading because they drive home the fact that it takes hard work and dedication to get good results. Beyond the motivational aspect, it’s not practical for most people to attempt to follow an actor’s workout plan for the long-term – (Jake Gyllenhall’s ‘Prince of Persia’ workout was crazy).

    That being said, there are a few exceptions. Will Smith and LL Cool J – both of these guys stay very fit throughout the year, so they don’t have to work so hard to get their bodies ready for a particular role.

    Ray

  • Ray,
    I certainly agree with your assessment. Celebrity workouts are a testament to what the human body can do in a short period of time, but simply aren’t practical, especially in the long run. Celebrities that stay lean during the year tend to train regularly, but not excessively, which allows them to stay within striking distance of an ideal body. It’s actually a good approach for the average person.
    Dave

  • You provide a lot of insightful information! I hope more and more people get the opportunity to find your posts.

    Hard work, dedication, and keeping in mind that not every workout program or routine may be suitable for you.

    Lots of experimentation plays a big role in deciding which direction to take.

  • Muscle Building,
    Experimentation is a good tip. You don’t know what works best for you until you try it and evaluate it.
    Dave

  • Jason:

    Hi all

    I m 173Cms tall and weigh 130 pounds.It wud be very helpfull if someone give me a workout and diet routine for muscle building.

    Thank u all

  • Jason,
    I think the best muscle building routine is Visual Impact. You can read my review above under Best Workout Routines.
    Dave

  • Jason:

    Thank u for the response Dave :D

  • Toni:

    I think Hollywood diets and exercise programs work for celebrities because they have the time and money to devote to them. I don’t necessarily know if the average person could devote 2-3 hours per day on extreme exercise and a totally strict diet. Of course, there are exceptions. Being in stellar shape is part of their job so they make it their business to be ‘camera-ready’. For people who don’t make their living in front of a camera, I think there’s less extreme ways to get into peak form IMO. BTW, that’s so funny that you mention Ryan Reynolds and his abs because every woman I know seems to think that his perfectly chiseled torso is like the ‘gold standard’, lol.

  • Toni,
    Hollywood actors and actresses are in fact very dedicated…and for good reason. I just hear and interview with Chris Evans where he talked about how he spent 2+ hours exercising and literally ate all day long to add muscle mass for Captain America. Ryan Reynolds is definitely the gold standard today…
    Dave

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