Hit the gym like Hugh Jackman this year.
It all started with a man in a tub.
This summer Marvel churned out the latest installment of the Logan/Wolverine/Weapon
X saga, aptly titled “The Wolverine”, to minimal fanfare thanks likely to the steaming
pile of horse crap that “X-Men Origins” Wolverine” was. It turns out the second movie fired
on absolutely all cylinders, stayed true to what is best about the comic, and was just
completely awesome. But this isn’t a movie review.
There’s a scene in the movie where the scraggly, eponymous hero has been flown to
Japan at the request of a mysterious billionaire after spending three years in a cave in the
Yukon. It being a pretty pristine and awesomely Japanese set piece, Logan can’t be seen
looking and smelling like a mix between Nick Nolte and a St. Bernard, so he’s dragged
unwilling into a big wooden basin and worked over by three old Japanese ladies armed
with soap and the kind of brushes they use to scrub elephants.
While he snarls and fights the old ladies, Hugh Jackman makes history as the most cut A-
lister ever caught on celluloid. The scene is supposed to be funny, but every woman in
the theatre had to adjust their seat and every guy started getting pissed off about what
they were doing with their lives.
While doing the press junket for the movie (again, a very good movie!) Hugh Jackman
was courting questions not from the geek armies upset about the wishy washy nature
of healing factors, but from the morning show talking heads who all wanted to know
what his wife thought about his glutes. Jackman’s workout regimen was the story, and
since then every website and men’s health magazine has printed their own version of the
workout that turned a guy well into his 40’s into the monster who eats Gerard Butler for
breakfast. I was watching this drama unfold pretty passively, but then I saw that Jackman
and The Rock were twittering each other about meal plans.
For me that was it. The very next day I started looking into how he got that way and I’ve
been pounding weights and eating veggies since. What I found out, which should come as
no surprise to anybody, is that his kind of physique doesn’t happen by accident.
Swagger fully recommends this regiment. It’s simple (not easy, but simple) and it works
all kinds of wonders. It’s probably not the sort of routine you’re going to want to carry
on for years on end, but if you want to be a monster in a few months, this will get you
there. Here’s a few things to keep in mind.
Keep it Simple
You won’t find any yoga balls or weird tension ropes here, just straight up heavy
weights. Lift big, lift safe and lift slow.
No Cheating
Whether it’s skipping a certain part of the routine you don’t like, or sneaking in a Mars
bar, it won’t fly. The kind of results we’re talking about aren’t going to happen without
dedication. Form is always more important than how much weight you’re lifting, so make
sure you’re educating yourself on what you need to be watching. Youtube videos are
available several times over on each and every exercise listed below.
Sleep/Rest
8 hours, you’ll need it with no exceptions, your body is going to need to recover to grow,
and if you don’t get it you’ll be too exhausted to do anything else. Take two off days in a
week, and space them out according to what your body tells you.
Meals
5 Meals a day, lots of veggies, lots and lots of meat, a big bowl of porridge in the
morning and some brown rice with the meals. You’ll probably stick to it better and save
some money by repeating the same meal plan day in and day out. You also want to do
all your eating in a 8 hour span, stuff yourself with the good stuff and digest over the
evening and the night. Drink water if you’re hungry in between, but if you’re doing it
right, cravings should be minimal.
Cardio
Get on the treadmill and go for half an hour after every workout. Simple as that.
Day 1
Legs/Abs
10 Squats X 4
10 Front Squats X 4
10 Leg presses X 4
10 Ab Wheel Rollouts X 4
Superset – Calf raises/Hanging knee raise to exhaustion X 4
Day 2
Shoulders/Triceps
10 Bench Press X 4
10 Dumbell Shoulder Press X 4
10 Behind Neck Shoulder Press X 4
10 Cuban Press X 4
Superset – 10 Tricep Dip/Lateral Barbell Raise X 4
Day 3
Back (Biceps)
10 Pull ups (or seated Pull Downs) X 4
10 Dumbell Single Arm Rows X 4
10 Bodyweight Rows (or Seated Rows) X 4
10 Incline Dumbell Curl X 4
Superset – 10 Standing Bicep Curl/Pronated Curl X 4
Day 4
Chest/Triceps
6/6 Incline Dumbell Press Drop X 4
(Go heavy then Drop weight after 6 reps,)
6/6/6 Dropping Bench Press X 4
(Adjust your bench to 45 degrees and notch down 15 after every six reps)
10 Cable Fly X 4
10 Military Bench Press X 4
Superset – 10 Tricep Pushdowns/Tricep Dip to exhaustion
Day 5
Legs (Again)
10 Deatlift X 4
10 Romanian Deadlift X 4
10 Zercher Squat X 4
Weighted Decline Situps X 4 (to exhaustion)
10 Barbell Landmines X 10
