It seems like no matter the role he takes on, people are searching for a Ryan Reynolds workout. For this article, we are giving you the inside scoop on how Ryan Reynolds got in super hero shape for the role of Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern.
Ryan Reynolds Workout: Comic Book Physique
If you were going to compile a list of Hollywood’s most impressive bodies you would not be able to do it without Ryan Reynolds. The 35 year old from Vancouver may have started his career in mostly comic roles, but when he was cast in Blade : Trinity as a Vampire hunter he blew audiences away with a finely cut 6 foot 2 physique and 8 pack while showing the film world he was ready for more action packed roles.
He famously later followed that cast as Deadpool in Wolverine : Origins, a dream come true for Reynolds as he had always wanted to play the Canadian wisecracking anti-hero and mercenary for as long as he could remember. This role challenged him in new ways as he had to get ripped to new levels in order to measure up to the films leading man Hugh Jackman, who Reynolds described as a being “ridiculous, a skin covered mountain”. But it was in 2011’s Green Lantern that the Canadian superstar really got a chance to shine in a leading superhero role and he needed a physique appropriate to play the spandex clad Hal Jordan.
Ryan Reynolds Workout: Meet the Trainer
As with all leading men getting in shape for a demanding action role, Ryan Reynolds had a great personal trainer in his corner – Bobby Strom. Strom’s list of clients reads like the guest list of a big celebrity award show and the reason for this is the man knows how to whip his clients into shape fast and in a way catered just for them. Bobby has been working with Reynolds since his appearance in Blade : Trinity and knows just how to get the Vancouver native from the 180 pounds with 11% body fat he usually carries for most roles to the 200 pound with 8% of body fat needed to get in shape for an action role.
Principles Behind the Ryan Reynolds Workout for Green Lantern
- Ryan was working out 6 or 7 days a week for 6 months with Strom over the filming of Green Lantern and the superstar personal trainer has been quoted as saying that they never did the same workout twice, it’s with this variety and constant change of stimulus that helped Reynolds build and sculpt his body for the role.
- Another principle was using dumbbells instead of barbells to promote greater coordination and proprioception as well as getting the muscle groups working through fuller ranges of movement, getting the body to work as a finely tuned unit.
- Reynolds likes to turn conventions on their head when it comes to working out, doing his abdominal work first as he found it “meditative”, allowing him to get into the right head space for the grueling 90 minutes session he was putting his body through every day.
- A big key to allowing this man to train to superhuman levels was the way his workouts would be split, working opposing muscle groups over separate days – allowing one part of the body to recover while another part was getting trained. However, his regime also included All body days in the form of resistance circuits to burn fat and build lean muscle.
- Gymnastics and kickboxing also helped prepare Reynolds for his harness work and fight scenes.
- On the days when he was exhausted they switched to yoga or pilates in order to stretch the body out and help it recover while also helping to maintain his famous core.
The Secret Behind Ryan Reynolds’ Ripped Physique
It is not surprising that Ryan Reynolds can be considered an athlete by Bobby Strom. When you look at the way he trains, and even when he is not training for an action role he is hitting the gym and being active. What may surprise some (as it did the actor when he first started training) is the fact that getting in this kind of superhero shape is only attributed 20% to the workout, the other 80% is all nutrition – taking a whole new level of discipline, one that lasts throughout the rest of the waking hours of the day, not just when working out.
The Diet to Accompany a Ryan Reynolds Workout
As we just stated, the Ryan Reynolds workout program has a very specific focus on diet. Whether you came here to see the official Ryan Reynolds workout for Green Lantern or some type of Ryan Reynolds workout to get you shredded like him, you must focus on your diet to get results like him. When asked about his diet while preparing and maintaining himself for the role of Hal Jordan, Reynolds famously wisecracked he was eating “any passing orphan child who came near him” in order to get the required protein intake for the day and “dry wall and wood chips” for complex carbs. In all seriousness and to the relief of orphans and dry walls everywhere this is not true. Instead, Ryan was eating 6 small meals a day (eating every 2 or 3 hours) based on lean proteins like Bison and ground turkey with complex carbs such as brown rice or brown pasta , with metabolism boosting spices like Cayenne, Garlic and Black pepper (but no sugar or salt). This really worked for Reynolds as he is not one of these Hollywood stars who likes to starve themselves of carbs, instead he would take most of his carbs in his post-workout meal when his body would need to take in this macronutrient for fuel but avoiding them after 8pm.
It is clear to anyone reading this that getting the right workout and right nutrition would be nothing without Ryan Reynolds work ethic and will power, a will that has made him the perfect choice to play a hero who uses will power as a form of energy to save the universe. He needs that will to succeed and discipline for all his beefed up action roles. Reynolds once mused : “How can you feel like a million bucks when you’re in shape when you’re always exhausted?”. You can bet he is no stranger to Delayed Onset Muscle soreness while having to balance a workout regime and a busy shooting schedule. But regardless of that he has always done what is necessary in order to produce the goods whether it is in his performance of a role or providing the ripped athletic body needed to make a super hero come to life from the pages of a comic book and onto the big screen.
The 5 Golden Rules to a Ryan Reynolds Workout
We can’t all have Bobby Strom or someone similar in our corner getting us in shape or even cooking our meals for us (like he did for Ryan Reynolds during the filming of Green Lantern) and we don’t all have 90 minutes a day to workout what with trying to fit jobs and life around our training (Not to mention Reynolds genetics). But we can arm ourselves with changes to our habits and a bit of knowledge that can help us build our own superhuman physique, using principles applied during Ryan Reynolds own training regime.
Whether your training 3 times a week or 7, try implementing these 5 tips to upgrade your workout to a level that the Green Lantern Corps very own Personal Trainer – Killowog, would be proud of.
Swap the Barbell for Dumbbells
By using two Dumbbells where you would use just a bar you are encouraging your body to work as a unit with greater range of movement and while working harder with your synergist and fixator muscles to stabilise and modify the movement required to complete a rep. More muscles being brought into play means more metabolic burn for your workout as well as helping you build a balanced physique.
Sure, you may not be able to bench as much weight with dumbbells compared to a bar but that does not mean you won’t benefit as you have to work in a different way to perform the move while implementing the correct technique and tempo. It hasn’t done Ryan Reynolds any harm.
Mix it up – Your Workout is a Buffet
Think of a muscle group, I bet you will know a whole bunch of different workouts for that muscle group? So why do we have a tendency to get stuck using the same moves week in and week out? Try mixing up these moves every time you workout. For example, if you are having a chest day and you are doing a Dumb bell press, then next session do a Neutral Dumbbell press or maybe do some Dips or even weighted Push ups. There are many ways to get results, keep your body guessing instead of robotically following the tried and tested. Try Playing with the amount of reps you do, or sets or the amount of rest , tempo, loads used – think about what you are going to do in advance, write it down and then workout how to progress it for your next session. Challenge yourself every time you train.
Nutrition – You Are What You Eat, Eat Like a Superhero to Become One
- You could be training like a beast and giving it your all in the gym but you will have a major stumbling block if your Nutrition is right. “You can’t out train a bad diet” should be a mantra to anyone wanting to get in some serious shape, if you can get this right then most of the battle is won. Think about the clean wholesome morals of your average superhero and apply them to your diet :
- Eat clean unprocessed food, meals based on lean protein, keep feeding your body with small meals every 2 to 3 hours for 5 to 7 times a day (it’s like throwing logs on your metabolic fire, keeping it burning and preventing your body from storing fat whilst burning more calories), drink plenty of water (2 to 3 litres of water), keep your carbs complex and get your 5 a day of Fruit and vegetables.
- All that may take a lot of effort and you may have to make big batches of food so you can be constantly eating but if you read any interview with anyone who has played a superhuman on the big screen recently they have all done it.
Every Move You Do Is An Abs Workout If You Do It Right
Every single move you do in your workout should be used to work your Abs and not just the ones used to train them in isolation. Through every Bench press, Shoulder Press, Squat, whatever it is – Brace your core muscles and squeeze those Abs, not only will your Abdominal muscles be working overtime through your workout but they will be working to protect your spine as you put your body through the rigours of your training program. Getting a back injury sucks and will keep you out of the gym, 6 packs may be aesthetically pleasing but remember your core has a job to do too, as Ryan Reynolds will tell you from all the back breaking harness work he had to do for Green Lantern.
Rest Well to Fight Another Day
This is one area where we may have an advantage over Hollywood’s leading action stars and that is getting the right rest. Ryan Reynolds and many other actors have had to spend the first 2 hours of a day working out prior to going on set, which is then a further 15 hours (sometimes more) of acting and stunt work before being able to grab some rest. Some of us may have jobs with similar hours to this to some degree or another and we fit our workouts, rest and life around it, but if you can get 8 hours of sleep a night you are getting what you need in order to recharge your body and build new muscle tissue.
Your muscles get bigger and stronger in your rest periods and 8 hours of quality sleep are essential to this in order to prevent Catabolism in the body, this is when your body starts to break down muscle for energy in times of prolonged stress which is of course counterproductive to anyone trying to build a superhero body. Make time for rest, try and get your 8 hours a night. Don’t be afraid to have a nap in the day if you can fit one in and you really need it, 1 hour of sleep in the day is the equivalent of 2 hours at night to someone with a regular healthy sleeping pattern. And remember, if you are feeling really FUBAR from tiredness when it’s time to work out, go back to bed instead and catch up on some sleep. You don’t want to fall asleep in the middle of Incline Chest fly and tear your arms out of their sockets.
The Bottom Line With the Ryan Reynolds Workout
With all the hype these days of celebrities getting a larger than life physique to take on roles like Bane, Captain America, Thor, or Superman. The Ryan Reynolds workout is different because he usually maintains a lean physique. The above post on the Ryan Reynolds workout for Green Lantern is what was done specifically for his role as Hal Jordan, but much of it are habits that Ryan Reynolds keeps all year long. So if you are looking for specific movements for a Ryan Reynolds workout, know that he mixes it up constantly (much like Tom Hardy did for Warrior) and follows a strict diet. Those notions alone with the 5 golden rules for a Ryan Reynolds workout will get you strong results.