Super-Fast Pecs?

July 4, 2005 11:33 PM

When I joined a gym, I was told that lifting weights every day would cause injury and that muscles needed time to repair and rebuild. But whenever an actor is interviewed about his Hollywood blockbuster, he talks about training for four hours every day. What's the deal?

I've been lifting for about a year, usually every other day. A good workout definitely requires a day to recuperate. So how do stars like Tobey Maguire, Linda Hamilton, etc. manage to bulk up in a matter of weeks? How do they lift every day without injury? Aside from pharmaceutical aid, do $1,200-an-hour personal trainers have a secret?

posted by cribcage to health & fitness (15 answers total)

They are most likely alternating between muscle groups. The axiom doesn't mean you can't work out every day if you want -- only that you get some variation in your routine.
posted by RavinDave at 11:39 PM on July 4, 2005

Speaking as an armchair athlete and general couch potato, I conjecture that there's a difference between the appropriate exercises for building muscle mass and for maintaining muscle mass. I've always heard that to build mass/strength, you need to exercise to exhaustion and then give a day or so of rest for the actual repair/building process to work. But it seems to me that once you've got the muscles, using them every day is more or less what they 'expect'.
posted by hattifattener at 11:55 PM on July 4, 2005

Rotation and diet is how you do it. Resting just means resting muscle groups and not your whole body. Eating lots of extra protein, B vitamins and carbohydrates help you body recuperate faster. I've never tried to put on a significant amount of muscle before but have worked out everyday for strength and endurance. As long as you don't strain anything too hard you can work the same groups everyday, but I think that you need to strain and extra food to put on bulk.

You might want to look in to how Christian Bale got from the Machinist to Batman.
posted by mexican at 12:14 AM on July 5, 2005

I've always heard that to build mass/strength, you need to exercise to exhaustion and then give a day or so of rest for the actual repair/building process to work.

For an experienced lifter who can completely exhaust the muscle group he's training, one day isn't time for repair. Many body builders only train muscle groups twice a week. Some, once.

And ravindave is correct about alternating muscle groups.

Also, not all, but I'm sure some actors/actresses stretch the amount of time they work out. 4 hours a day? I'd doubt quite a few.
posted by justgary at 1:29 AM on July 5, 2005

I used to work out with a personal trainer who counted a number of actors among her clients. I can tell you with certainty that in the case of those women building upper body strength, the issue was really toning. As hattifattener said, there was already a certain elasticity and fitness present and the regimen was all about building on that. There was a heavily restricted diet involving a balance of protein and carbs. That, coupled with hours on the treadmill, stretching, and literally hundreds of pushups was the routine. In case you're curious, I personally gave up after a year and ate Cheetos. Not advisable, but I'm not Sigourney Weaver hunting Aliens.
posted by 12XU at 1:30 AM on July 5, 2005

Much depends on the nature of your training. If you're actually trying to bulk up and build muscle mass then yes, as others have said, your muscles will need at least a day to repair. If you're going for a more high reps/low weight regime you can do it daily. I know, I did for many years. I basically used weights as part of a fairly high intensity aerobic fitness routine (I was an insanely keen squash player). The light/high rep circuit training approach not only gives a great aerobic workout it strengthens and tones muscles without doing that insane "tear and repair" stuff that iron-pumping penis-shrinkers body builders favour.
posted by Decani at 6:35 AM on July 5, 2005

rotation and nutrition, as others said. but don't take Hollywood men as a model, unless you're willing to follow the Jose Canseco Training Regimen

You might want to look in to how Christian Bale got from the Machinist to Batman.

50 pounds of muscle in three months? one word: steroids.
did you see his arms in Batman -- he was twice as big as in American Psycho. there's no way you can get muscle mass that big in such a short amount of time without getting some chemical help
posted by matteo at 6:50 AM on July 5, 2005

The other thing to remember is that visible muscle is more a function of body fat percentage than it is of muscle mass. Almost everyone has some muscle, it really begins to stand out at low body fat percentages. If stars are working out for that long, aside from rotating muscle groups from day to day, I would guess that the huge bulk of it is cardio to lower body fat.

As to Christian Bale--the steroids thing hit me when I saw ads for The Machinist, and realized that it's as important to an actor like that to be able to bulk up/lose weight as it is for a sports star. I also think that probably speed was involved in losing the weight for The Machinist. Don't forget that he had some pretty big guns in that dragon movie.
posted by OmieWise at 6:56 AM on July 5, 2005

Reign of Fire.
posted by OmieWise at 6:57 AM on July 5, 2005

I just re-read what I've written below, and need to point out: I am not a doctor! Get a sports professional to advise you on any exercise program. I don't condone or recommend anything mentioned below :-)

Lose fat, and your muscles will stand out more. Pumping the muscles will make them swell a tiny amount. Do a few press-ups before you take your shirt off ;-) Adding creatine to your diet will increase the water content of your muscles, making you appear more muscular. It also seems to improve fast-twitch muscle performance.

I may go off on a tangent here, but this is all interesting stuff IMHO... :-)

Lifting weights every day doesn't have to lead to fatigue or damage. Higher weights at lower reps (ultimately the "one rep max" approach) will build strength by training muscles and nerves to work harder. But they don't necessarily build bulk. Incidentally - this is what I recommend to women who say they want to "tone up" without "bulking up". But get professional advice before starting this approach.

To build bulk and appearance, the body-building approach is far more effective. Muscles are exercised individually (e.g. bicep curl), at lower weights and high reps. This will build a lot of bulk, but won't necessarily lead to equivalent strength gains. It will also take a long time to finish your workout.

Muscle repair is facilitated by protein and other substances as mentioned above. Standard advice is to eat carbohydrate and protein in the morning to kick-start the metabolism; eat carbs during the day for energy; eat protein immediately after a work-out. Drink plenty of fluids - especially if you add creatine to your diet, or increase your protein intake.

There are plenty of other ways to build and train muscles: plyometrics; push-pull cycles; high intensity interval training (more for "fitness" than fat burning and muscle building); the list is endless.

And just to displee any myths about the amount of meat you have to eat to gain protein for muscle growth: Tobey Maguire is vegetarian (possibly vegan?) and did pretty well for himself. The "best" protein is currently thought to be that derived from whey, so it's also vegetarian.

This is a huge subject. Everyone has an opinion, and you'll often find contradictory advice. If you're trying to find something that works for you, rather than just asking the question out of curiosity, I'd recommend (i) set out your goals, such as fat loss, lift bigger weights, etc; (ii) set a routine that meets these goals and that you can stick to; (iii) keep a diary to monitor your performance; (iv) don't make changes to the routine too often or you'll never see any results and won't understand why.
posted by ajp at 8:19 AM on July 5, 2005

Hmm. Displee = dispell.
posted by ajp at 9:11 AM on July 5, 2005

Actors may say that they work out for 4 hours a day, but that doesn't mean they are doing strength training for all of those four hours, and it doesn't mean they are doing something which is particularly hard. Probably they are doing 3 hours of light cardio and one hour of weights.

The thing about being an actor is that you can probably spend the whole day working out. Most people can only spare an hour out of their day, making them need to get the most exercise possible in that one hour and all at once. An actor can probably do an hour of yoga after waking up, an hour of tae-bo before lunch, an hour of running in the afternoon and some weights before bed. Doing it all split up like this is probably better for you than one four hour session anyway. If one includes time changing, showering and setting up your equipment in the exercise time, probably the actual exercise time would be about an hour less than stated...
posted by darkness at 10:09 AM on July 5, 2005

Before steroids, after steroids.
posted by 517 at 10:15 AM on July 5, 2005

Lifting weights every day doesn't have to lead to fatigue or damage. Higher weights at lower reps (ultimately the "one rep max" approach) will build strength by training muscles and nerves to work harder. But they don't necessarily build bulk. Incidentally - this is what I recommend to women who say they want to "tone up" without "bulking up".

It's really really hard for women to "bulk up". We're just not built like men. I'm a gal who lifts heavy three times a week, working to exhaustion each time. I've lost a lot of weight (including at my face - lifting heavy makes you sweat like you wouldn't believe!), toned up, and gained strength. I haven't bulked up. Remotely.
posted by jamesonandwater at 6:09 PM on July 5, 2005

free-weights for sure - machines won't do a thing for you - go with 6-8 reps... 3 sets per execise. 3 chest excercises per session. make sure you stretch before and after.

when you are so tired it hurts, lift one more rep - rest 3 days... then hit em again - hard, and eat lots of protein and drink alot of water. if you haven't been lifting alot - you'll notice a ton of difference in 6 weeks.

you might also try creatine while lifting - my feeling is that it is effective for thinner body types that have a hard time putting on muscle.

three exercises: bench press, flyes, incline presses should do -
posted by specialk420 at 9:33 PM on July 5, 2005