The Official Hugh Jackman Workout Exposed – How he gets ripped for his movies roles.

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Hugh Jackman has turned some major heads for his acting roles in Wolverine, Australia and most recently Real Steel.  Although Jackman has been in good condition, some of his movie roles require him to add some extra lean muscle mass.  The amount that he added shocked some people.

 [As you can see he had to add some muscle mass and use the "Shrink Wrapped" effect to reveal that additional muscle.]

Like all superheros (Superman, Hulk, Captain America and Batman), it is vital that Jackman was ripped for his role as Charlie Kenton in Real Steel, not to mention Wolverine.  Hugh isn’t known as an elite athlete, but just an actor the has some some really physical movie roles.  But if you do a little research — talk to a guy like Aronofsky, for instance, or chat with Jackman himself about what he’s done to prepare for all these roles — the “just an actor” label starts to stretch and split open like the Hulk’s purple pants.

At a height of 6’3″, Jackman’s offers an amazing presence on and off the screen, and he backs up that presences with brute muscle power.  He can bench 315 lbs and leg-press 1,000 lbs for his role in X-Men: The Last Stand.  With all that brute force his also perfected key tai chi forms and groin-shredding yoga positions for the movie The Fountain.  Not to mention he does almost all of his own stunts.

Jackman is always looking for the tipping point between what the mind wants and what the body can achieve.  “I don’t set goals in life,” he says. “In this country, people are all about goal setting. And I concede, to a point, how it can help you get going. But we limit ourselves with goals. We have far more ability than we give ourselves credit for. You see that in people under pressure. How does someone run a 100-meter race at the Olympics? When it’s once every 4 years, with everything they’ve done leading to that? It can’t just be adrenaline.” Then he nods and smiles. “Maybe it’s just the mind getting out of the way.”

There is no better demonstration then Jackman’s Wolverine Workout Program (Click if you want to see how Hugh got RIPPED for the movie Wolverine). ”For Wolverine, I ramp it up,” he says. “I do an hour and a half a day in the gym and eat a thousand calories more a day than I would normally. And I train really hard. I crank up the Godsmack and Metallica. I yell and scream, which helps me get into the character and have a bitch of a workout.”

The workout itself is not groundbreaking. Lots of heavy iron: bench-press variations, barbell lunges, light squats, and leg presses, among other staples. “I’d change it up every 3 weeks,” he says. “Three weeks heavy with lots of rest between sets. Then change to lighter weight, slower reps, four count up, four count down. Then mix in fast, explosive lifting, always changing the workout.”

The mental approach, however, remained constantly vicious and very Wolverine — and that ability to shove the mind out of the way is what allowed Jackman to do what he’d never done before: bench a six-plate barbell.  This approach was taken any time Jackman had a physical quest to complete.

For The Fountain, it took Jackman 9 months of daily yoga to achieve the lotus position, and another 3 months to be able to hold it long enough for those underwater takes. Why not just hire a body double? Aronofsky certainly offered. Jackman just shakes his head no. “I always take things like the lotus scenario as ‘All right, let’s see if you can do this.’ ”

That’s Jackman’s primary driver: Instead of setting goals, seek defining moments. Those are the real tests, because you have to be willing to fail in a pressure situation in front of other people.

Hugh Jackman’s Workout Plan Phase 1

Each phase lasted 6 weeks.

Gaining Muscle Phase: Hugh Jackman’s trainer changed the tempo that Hugh had been lifting to force the muscles to adapt…to force the muscles to grow. He had Hugh lift the weight for 3 seconds up and one second down. At first this limited the amount of weight he could lift, but as he adapted it help him put on a lot of lean mass.

Strength Training Phase: This phase was all about lifting as heavy as possible with no rules on tempo. He just wanted to see how heavy he could lift. The great thing about the previous phase is that it made these weights seem lighter. Hugh actually was benching 315 for reps before filming began.

He alternated these two phased for 5 months.

Hugh Jackman’s Workout Plan Phase 2

The second part of Jackman’s workout which should be mentioned is how he leaned up and keep that lean look.  These workouts were intense and meant to help him burn off any little bit of fat he accumulated during the 6 weeks of each phase.  Which ment bootcamp every Friday.  Alongs with a program that is known in Hollywood and the “Shrink Wrapped” effect.

A Free Video Which Explains an Advanced Strategy to Get the Hollywood… “Shrink Wrapped” Effect

 [Note: Click on the picture above and watch video #3 (it's a cool technique)!]

In order for Jackman to look super ripped and keep that lean look, on the last week of each phase of training, Jackman would only lift once per week.  The rest of the time he would perform High Intensity Interval Cardio Workouts.  These workouts are super intense and are designed to burn off any additional fat that he may have gained on the previous weeks workout.

In order for Jackman to achieve the Shrink Wrap Effect, he had to reduce his rep range, resulting in fast tightening of the skin around his muscles.  Jackman know the Shrink Wrap Effect was the only way that he was going to get that mean lean muscular and intimidating presence.

If you want to look like Jackman, you will want to lose body fat by going for a smaller rep ranges.  So if you are pumped, and are willing to follow Hugh Jackmans Workout as explained you too will be able to have the same look.

==>Find out More About The Shrink Wrap Effect and the Hugh Jackmans Workout

So if you are looking to tone up, lose some of that extra weight, then I would recommend you use Jackman’s approach.  For a complete program which will provide you with exact workouts and the information need to become supper ripped like Hugh Jackman, check out Rusty Moore’s, Visual Impact Muscle Building.