How Ryan Reynolds added 20 pounds of muscle and cut his fat to 3% for Blade Trinity?

There’s no doubt that one of Hollywood’s most talked about bodies is that of Van Wilder and Blade Trinity Star Ryan Reynolds. The transformation he took back in 2003-2004 to prepare for his upcoming role in Blade Trinity was nothing short of impressive. Not only did he gain 20 solid pounds of muscle, but shed his body fat from 11% to just 3%. So how did he do it? What were his workout secrets? In Ryan Reynolds very own words he explains his tips for sculpting his six-pack and putting on some serious mass in the five months before shooting.

Ryan Reynolds Workout & Diet

The question has come up a lot, so I'm gonna give you the detailed version. The first time I lifted a barbell for BLADE was the end of July, 2003. I had to be ready to go by mid December, however when we shot the scenes in question it was January, 2004, so, basically, 5 months.

DIET: I ate something pretty much every 2-3 hours, never "stuffing" myself, but never letting myself get hungry. Tons of water throughout the day... BREAKFAST: 1/2 cup egg whites and 2 eggs. Oatmeal - no sugar,  a *protein bar 2-3 hours later. (the best oatmeal is this stuff called McCann's Steel Cut Oatmeal. It takes about a half hour to cook, but you just make enough to last a couple weeks. add apple sauce and cinnamon to improve the taste.)

LUNCH: chicken and veggies/brown rice. a *protein bar 2-3 hours later.

DINNER: fish or chicken with salad and vegetables. balsamic vinegar for dressing. couple more **protein shakes throughout the night and right before bed.  

TYPICAL DIET:

Breakfast: 2 eggs, some "good" fat like a spoon of almond butter or slice of avocado, and 1 cup of oatmeal with applesauce

Midmorning snack: protein bar

Lunch: albacore tuna wrap or chicken and salad

Mid-afternoon: snack protein shake (whey and water), protein bar, or apple and almonds

Dinner: broiled fish or chicken, brown rice, vegetables, and salad

Evening Snack: protein shake

While eating a protein/carb mix every 2 hours all day, I'd wind up having about 8 - 10 "tiny" meals instead of 3 big meals over the course of a day. No carbs at night, but plenty during the day. This kind of diet kept my blood sugar even and gave me the requisite energy needed for the physicality of the role...

"Never do any of that carb-starve crap," Reynolds says. Instead, watch the clock. He ate most of his carbohydrates post-workout, and none after 8pm.

My trainer (and Jessica Biel's) was a guy named Darren Chapman. He's one of the most inspiring individuals I've ever met. A member of the UK's Olympic bobsled team, he's as adept at the nutritional training as he is the physical training. Also, a great guy that doesn't mind me calling him every swear word ever heard in any language. He showed me how important the process of visualization is. Visualizing the transformation I had to make, I believe was key to making it happen. With this information, I began training as though preparing for the olympics!

Workouts varied, generally starting off with abs and then heavy weights for bulk. I'm a pretty scrawny guy so we cut cardio entirely and just focused on bulking up. Weight training involved a variety of exercises too numerous to mention at reps of about 8-12, for 6 days a week. After the first week I was longing for the sweet release of death, but soon enough got really into it.

I'd work one body part per day, as in: chest day, back day, shoulder day, leg day, with arms mixed in. Don't know what I was benching. I remember it wasn't anything to brag about.

"If you hate your workout, you're not going to do it," explains Reynolds. Customize your fitness plan to meet your needs. He found it "meditative" to do ab exercises first instead of last.

ABS - Lower abs are the hardest muscle to develop. Most males store their fat in the lower abdomen. The trainer had me using one of those exercise balls between my legs, lifting up and down, using my arms to anchor myself. I'd also put a 15 pound dumb-bell between my feet, and do leg raises while lying on the ground.

SUPPLEMENTS: I gained a lot more muscle mass when I went on creatine," says Reynolds. He also took L-glutamine, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), whey, and a multivitamin.

The main thing I learned about this whole process is how important food is. Transforming your body quickly is a genetic ability, but can also be traumatic. Eating properly is 80% of the equation. Most people think it's the other way around...

I learned that 80% of building muscle is diet. We got the food down to a science, making sure I was getting enough calories to gain mass, but not fat. A lot of oatmeal, eggs, protein bars for snacks, chicken, fish or steak for dinner. I ate a lot of small meals all day long. Lots of protein, but plenty of carbs, too. I really don't believe in that no-carb stuff. It's probably not good for you--and it makes you pretty cranky.

When asked on whether he's maintained his physique, "No way! It was nice to be able to take a break. But just as I'd gotten used to being lazy again and sitting on my ass all day, we had to re-shoot some scenes, so they sent me back into the gym. I'm glad, though, because I ended up finding this nice gray area, where I still work out four or five times a week and enjoy it, but it's not to that extreme level."

With Ryan possessing the best abs in the business, in a recent interview in Muscle & Fitness Magazine Ryan was quizzed about his new six pack:

"RYAN REYNOLDS: It's ridiculous. “Muscle and Fitness” magazine was interviewing our trainer.

JESSICA BIEL: They wanted to do a story on our training. They said, “Well, we're really interested in Jessica but we're just not so sure about Ryan because of the ab implants.”

RYAN REYNOLDS: They thought it was just prosthetics on my stomach!

DAVID GOYER: He's got like an 18-pack instead of a 6-pack.

RYAN REYNOLDS: It's true. They didn't believe it.

JESSICA BIEL: They really thought he had ab implants."

In a recent shoot for Marie-Claire magazine, you can see that Ryan has slimmed down considerably from the build he had in Blade Trinity and Amityville Horror, but as you can see he's looking lean and cut and sporting a damn good set of abs, close to a good 8 pack!!
 

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