So yesterday I learned that Canadian Ryan Reynolds is People magazine’s Sexiest Man in the World. 
Admittedly, I don’t think I made the short list this year, but I’m glad to see another Canadian representing so well 
So what can we learn from Mr. Reynolds?
Firstly – Great hair can only get you so far. Ryan wasn’t a house hold name UNTIL he added some muscle for Blade3. In fact, before he gained some muscle, you probably thought his name was Van Wilder.
Second – Talent can only get you so far. Ryan has had some great movies…’The Nines” and “Chaos Theory” come to mind as really good Ryan Reynolds movies you’ve never heard of….So most people haven’t seen his best works, but they HAVE seen him shirtless.
Third- Beards are awesome (He sometimes rocks one)
Lastly- Getting in shape is NOT a life long process.
Yep, I said ‘not’.
You see, when I was on a plane…(I think I was coming home from Gainesville)…I read a very interesting article about Ryan Reynolds upcoming role as the Green Lantern.
In this article, he mentioned how he had to ‘get back at it again’ and workout to get into the right shape for the film. He also eluded that his ‘movie body’ wasn’t his natural state, and that it typically takes him about 3 months to get into movie shape.
3 Months
Now granted the vast majority of us don’t have the time or monetary incentive to get into shape that Ryan does, but it does prove a point. 3-6 months for someone who is already relatively lean is an ideal goal for building enough muscle mass to look…well..movie ready.
After that, your goal should be reducing the amount of work you do in order to maintain this new look…while letting yourself..recover and relax.
Realistically, I think I’m trying to describe a sort of ‘wave theory’ approach to building muscle.
But what I’m also telling you is you simply can not go all out all the time…Actually you CAN if want to, but most likely you will not get results from going all out all the time.
You may need some down time AND you may need to come to terms with the fact that after an intensive 3-6 month training program you may not gain much more lean body mass…especially if you stick with the same workout volume and set-up.
I talk about this a lot… It’s a process called Anabolic Slow Down (Admittedly, I named it, because I couldn’t find an actual name for it)
Bottom line: the anabolic effects of a workout tend to diminish with time.
So the point of this blog post: For 3-5 months a year go ALL OUT, get all the gains you can, but after this once the gains start to slow, don’t be afraid to take some time off, lower the intensity and volume…who knows you may even grow a bit during this process..
BP
PS- This post has also made me re-think Muscle Buildling. I used to think it should only be used by high-level experienced trainers, but now I’m thinking even moderate lifters would benefit from an intense 5 month blast followed by some time following something much less intense (in terms of volume and frequency).
UPDATE: GO HERE for PART 2.
Tags: anabolic again, anabolic slow down, gaining muscle, People's sexiest man, Ryan Reynolds, working out
That’s a great point! And I do love me some Mr. Reynolds. In a very heterosexual way, of course. Wait, that still doesn’t sound right…Anyway, I think he’s a great guy and I’m glad he’s becoming a household name. I remember him from way back in Two Guys, A Girl and a pizza place.
Holy cow this was a great article. Excellent conclusions based on a real-world model. Most of us consider Hollywood bodies ideal; how great, maybe even liberating, to realize that *they* aren’t always in Hollywood shape, either.
I always believed that movie stars had access to things like growth hormone (i.e. Stalone) and THAT was the key to their movie bodies.
That was the big ah ha moment for me too, realizing that they don’t look like that all the time. I found an article about Hugh Jackman saying the exact same thing…
That was an awesome show! I’m happy for him too, for anyone who’s a fan..the nines and chaos theory were good movies worth renting…
That helps too
Brad,
Ryan Reynolds is in great shape. He is definitely one of my fitness role models. I think 3 months is a reasonable time frame to get “event ready” if you are already lean. I think an ideal time to do this is during the spring. Then, you can relax a little and enjoy your down time during the summer.
Alykhan
I love Ryan Reynolds and am excited to see everyone else thought he was as sexy as I do…even if he is Canadian! Ha, kidding. I love Canadians! DO you remember him in 2 Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place?
The “Wave Theory” is a great name (I like to study Quantum mechanics and relativity so it sounds unreal in fitness terms) you can see everything in nature travels in a cycle so it makes sense to apply to our body.
Nothing better than working out hard, dieting hard and then having a break you often will come back leaner and stronger.
I do every time I come back from holidays! Excellent concept to exploit.
Raymond
…”some time off”. Such as, please. So I’ll keep this short ’cause it applies to words too.
Basically exactly as I outline in the ‘elimination workout’
B
Hey Brad, I thought that you were talking about minimalism there, for a second, and following a trend of fitness experts who’ve been advising us not to keep adding more (of course, I heard that from you first!). Martin Berkhan’s talked about his minimalist approach to training, Jay Ferruggia’s come up with a pretty little series on minimizing the overthinking and Craig Ballantyne’s been the one who finally got me to stop overthinking my fitness and nutrition. But then, it’s all about maintenance, which most people can’t do. In schoolwork terms, I can’t study consistently throughout the year, but I can enjoy for 3 months and step on the gas for 1 month. Sometimes, I really do wish that I were like you and all those fitness experts out there. You guys are just so consistent and can keep constant progress throughout the year. I can only do it in bursts, at the moment. How much easier it would be if I didn’t have to make that last-minute cramming of notes, or crash-diet of extremely low-calorie foods! But then again, I did dig my own grave. And my ambition is to learn how to be consistent as well. As they say, “slow and steady wins the race.”
Great post, Brad. Very timely. I’ve just been learning more about the “wave theory” of training. I’ve been one of those guys that goes to failure on every rep. Not so anymore. I heard roman talking about this on fitcast too. Thanks for the perspective!
I don’t think everyone is as consistent as you might think.
Pics are consistent but real life, I’m guessing most fitness pros wave in and out of really good shape.
B
In a sense it sounds like a bulk and cut approach=) You cant be on a diet forever. You try to maintain the shape you worked hard for. You enjoy life a bit more. A few more drinks, a few more cheat meals. But not to the point that it makes all that you worked hard for a totAL Waste. Then its back to it again for summer or if your an actor for a shirtless scene.
I used to LOVE Two guys, a girl and a Pizza place!
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Brad – I’m curious what your thoughts or definition of “coasting” or laying off for a while is. Lower the intensity? Lower the frequency. For instance someone (like myself) doing AI…its a pretty much all out blast for 50+ weeks if you include ATS. To you, does this just showing up to the gym and kind of winging it during your “off” period rather than pushing a weight that you can’t push any further on the last rep of a set?
Coasting is more managing frequency and volume relative to the gains you’ve made, if that makes a bit more sense.
After a period of big gains (strength size) when gains begin to stale a bit, this is when I like the idea of dropping frequency and volume but maintaining weight and effort…let the body catch up a bit.
B
Hi Brad…great post as always…in last months GQ they had a similar article with Ryan…one thing he did mention in that one, is that he learned a strange sort of sleight of hand trick – that if needed – could get into that sort of shape faster…do you have any idea what that could be? Maybe something similar to Rusty Moore’s Shrink Wrap Effect?
ok…he’s cute. But for pure hot factor, it’s Bradley Cooper.
Interesting…Cooper over Reynolds. Maybe Cooper’s got dibs on 2011?
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