Muscle building is a precise science in today's image-conscious media industry. Stars on screen and on magazine covers fine-tune their workouts to make an impact on camera, not on the heavies in the storyline. These are the images prized by men and women. Sure, athletes too set the bar for sports performance. But while action images of icons like Cristiano Ronaldo and Ana Ivanovic make headlines, it's candid shots of them stripped down at the beach that make them lifestyle role models.
VISUAL IMPACT MUSCLE BUILDING There are no shortcuts to looking like Brad Pitt in Troy or Angelina Jolie in Salt. Each movie role is a marketing operation. They are selling a production costing upwards of $100 million or more on their Look as much as the action sequences. That Presentation is what we all use when planning to make a big impression. We choose an image we know will turn heads and map out ways to achieve it. The A-list outfit and grooming are available if you have the right budget. A sleek, perfectly-sculpted physique generates the kind of attitude worth millions to Hollywood producers and magazine publishers. It powers the charismatic self-confidence essential to sell an image to the global audience.
LEANER IS HOTTER Sheer bulking-up effectively sold a screen image in the era of Sly Stallone and Arnie Schwarzenegger. Today it's Taylor Lautner in New Moon, Brad Pitt in Fight Club and Candice Swanepoel in Victoria's Secret lingerie and swimwear that define the body ideal. They fine-tune their daily workouts on muscle definition, combining optimum visual impact with easy, confident moves on the camera.
LESS PAIN, MORE GAIN Their A-list personal trainers are specialists in their field, creating diet and exercise routines tailored to their clients' high profile work schedules.
* Taylor Lautner - based the look of New Moon's red-hot werewolf Jake on lean and sculpted muscle mass. His trainer used 40% heavier weights than normal to define the muscle form
* Candice Swanepoel - a intensive, full-body workout twice daily to stay thin enough to fit designer clothing without losing the supermodel curves prized for the Victoria's Secret ultra-sexy campaigns.
* Brad Pitt - shaped his workouts to shape his Look for Troy, then Fight Club. To play Achilles he worked on one muscle group each day and ate four high protein meals a day to add 10 pounds of lean muscle mass. Fight Club required a slimmer, more agile build. He backed up his workouts with a weekly, intensive cardio program to burn any excess fat. This dropped his weight to 155 pounds and gave the classic 'cut' look
* Hugh Jackman - to play Wolverine, increased the tempo of his weight lifts, forcing the muscles to grow fast without bulking up. This kept them lean and ripped, matching the comic book character.
