Training with a Purpose, Part 1: The Rundown

Weight lifting is a critical component to that lean body we here call a “Hollywood Body.” And I’m sure most readers at least perform some type of resistance training, even if it’s just plyometrics or bodyweight exercises. I want to make sure that everyone knows that creating this type of physique we’re after does not require an excessive amount of muscle. In fact, as my buddy Rusty Moore of Fitness Blackbook always says, it’s more about having a normal amount of muscle but with exceptional muscle tone and a low bodyfat percentage. This applies to guys and girls both!

Guys

The dude in the middle looks like someone from my nightmares! Not a good look!

Take a look at the guy in the middle. He is a powerlifter. What a lot of powerlifters do is eat, eat, eat, and lift, lift, lift, with reckless abandon. Their only goal is to get as strong as possible, and they don’t give a rat’s ass what they end up looking like after the dust settles. They tend to end up carrying a ton of muscle and a lot of bodyfat to go along with that, and more importantly, they are TOO big and big in the wrong areas! Just as long as they’re strong enough to throw a car at you, they are happy. But seriously, look at that red-shirted buffoon up there! He looks like an ogre!

Okay, it’s not about looking like the guy on the right up there either. Can you say steroids? He has done a good job at creating muscle tone, and has gotten his bodyfat down to a very low level. Yeah he is ripped, but also went way overboard in the process, thanks to the juice. It’s not only impossible to get muscles that big naturally(without steroids), it’s also unattractive. Come on, do you really think girls want their guy busting out of his shirt every time he flexes? 98% of them don’t, and the 2% that do are girls you probably want to stay away from anyway

Now look at the first picture. That’s my friend, Danny. Not only is he an awesome person in real life, he is also the most successful model I know, and has done work for Calvin Klein, Guess, Adidas, the list goes on and on. And why is he so successful? Well the face I can’t help you out with, but he has got a lean Hollywood Body! He doesn’t have too much muscle, but the muscle he’s got is in the right places. I used to go to the same gym as Danny before I moved to Hollywood. His workouts focus largely on cardio, but he also does SMART weight training. I’ll go more into that in Part 2 of this segment.

Okay if you’re a guy, which one of these three dudes would you rather look like? Meathead, Roidhead, or the guy that looks like a million bucks? And is making a lot of bucks in doing so! And if you’re a girl, which guy is most attractive? I think it’s pretty obvious. Some guys either want to get HUGE, probably like the guy on the right. You see guys like this in all the bodybuilding magazines in all the ads for supplements. Guys my age get brainwashed into thinking that’s what’s attractive. Don’t fall for it, and don’t get sucked into this trap! Trying to get bigger and bigger is counterproductive. We need to workout smarter here! Even putting a small amount of muscle in the wrong places can end up making you look worse. Like blowing up your obliques, for example. That’s going to turn into muscle, yeah, but it’ll look like love handles. BAD. Don’t worry! I’ll teach you the kind of workouts to achieve this look, the muscle you want to hone in on, and what to avoid to get too bulky! … in Part 2 that is.

Girls

My future wife on the left! This is the slim and toned Hollywood Body look for females. On the right, cover her face and you'd think it's a man. Don't worry, it won't happen to you, girls!

Don’t worry, I didn’t forget about you. Okay most of the girls I talk to have pretty much the polar opposite concern of weightlifting than guys do. They think if they commit to a structured weight training routine that they’ll wind up looking like the chick on the right… IMPOSSIBLE! Seriously, it can’t happen naturally. Steroids, a ton of food and a ton of lifting, maybe, eventually. But even just removing ‘roids from the equation, no girl would get muscles that big. Guys produce 20 times more testosterone than women, which is critical for building muscle mass. And even a guy who lifts his ass off would have to really commit to attain a physique like that chick up there. It would be hard for a guy to get that big, so as a girl, don’t even worry about the possibility of this happening to you!

In fact, the women I work out, I’ll have perform many of the same routines as the guys. However, adjustments do often have to be made. Weights are an obvious, but also for example, women have a hard time doing pullups than men, so I’ll substitute exercises in that regard. But performing the same style of workouts will yield different results, based upon gender. This is great news for you girls right?

Girls tend to love doing baby weights that supposedly create muscle tone. First off, super high reps with low low weights does not create maximum muscle tone! What if I told you that it’s the opposite? It’s true. Strength training is what creates muscle tone and density, and that is normally performed with challenging weight in the 1-5 rep range. 6-12 will create more fatigue and build muscle. Anything above 15, and you will enhance muscular endurance, but by that point you’re flirting with almost having to call it cardio.

Part 2 Coming Soon

Which will include workouts to achieve a better look, and which muscles you need to tweak in order to do so. Until then, a video farewell of Jessica Alba looking amazing in “Sin City”