Article The Hugh Jackman Wolverine Workout

MalcolmX

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4 Jul 2011
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Hugh Jackman wasn’t playing games this year when he got in shape for the box office smash hit, Wolverine. Jackman was jacked, and had obviously been busting his butt in the gym. But he didn’t just hit the gym and start performing random exercises. Hugh’s trainer designed a routine that was inspiring and effective.

The Hugh Jackman Cycle
Jackman’s routine consisted of a 6 week macro cycle, which included 3 weeks of muscle mass training followed by 3 weeks of strength training. Here are the basic principles used:

Mass Training

Hugh Jackman’s trainer had him performing slower, controlled tempo reps, generally at a 2 seconds up (concentric phase), and 3-4 seconds down (eccentric phase). Initially, Jackman had to back off the poundages to adapt to this training style. But eventually his strength came back.​

Strength Training
No tempo training during these three weeks. Hugh Jackman had one goal…lift as much weight as possible. The primary training priciple was lift big, rest for long periods of time, and lift big again. As filming began Hugh was cranking out 315 on the bench press for reps.​

Jackman continued this specific training cycle for 5 months prior to filming Wolverine. In total, Hugh trained hard for a year to achieve his new physique.

The Wolverine Mindset
Hugh Jackman’s secret training technique was the Wolverine mindset. During training, Hugh would scream and howl like a Wolverine, getting himself into character and mentally becoming Wolverine.

The Wolverine Diet
Hugh’s diet plan wasn’t rocket science. It was good, old fashioned bulking. Hugh ate 1,000 extra calories per day. Simple. Effective. As one can imagine, Jackman and his trainer kept a journal of all food intake.
 

justified

Active Member
1 Oct 2011
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Hugh jackman was lookin huge in the xmen series - he seems to have leaned down much in the movie real steel. Seems a bit of a wasted effort dontcha think?
 

prosu

Well-Known Member
4 Jun 2011
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The after-effects of AAS stoppage? :X
Lol what's that?

Btw I remember reading some interview of Hugh jackman when he was acting concurrently for "Australia" and one of the xmen movies....

His wife was telling him, "Hugh, u gotta stop! U're turning into a monster!!".

At that time he probably bulked up alot, if I'm not wrong the interview also mentioned the Australia movie director complained that jackman was getting too big due to the xmen gumming sessions. Lol.
 

clan_NEt

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4 Jun 2011
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He ate damn alot of chicken meat when he was training for the movie.... Check out this quote I found on a vegetarianstar.com:

He was recently in Hollywood getting his hands and footprints immortalized in the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, when he told a reporter of his dieting plan.

“Let me tell you, I’m not vegan. I ate so many chickens to make this body. If there is a place in hell for people who eat chickens, I have booked a suite bigger than anybody.”


Rofl.
 

PWiD

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20 Jul 2011
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I'd like to see him beat bodybuilders when it comes to eating chicken xD
 

luXy

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8 Jun 2011
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Bedok
After searching for more info I found out some interestings points... The text above says that Hugh jackman took a year to train for the wolverine bod. But Hugh jackman himself have been working out pretty much with a personal trainer for about 20 years already! Workouts probably just got more intense towards filming wolverine.

Some interesting stuff I found from http://www.mensfitness.co.uk/exerci...exclusive_hugh_jackman_wolverine_workout.html

Lol chicken legs:
Ryan knows more about Jackman’s training than anyone, having been closely involved with the actor’s physical development for almost 20 years. ‘I was working as a trainer at the [Australian gym] Physical Factory in 1989 when this young guy came to work just handing out the locker keys and towels. He was getting a hell of a lot of attention from the women in the place, and I thought, “Who does this bloke think he is?” It turned out to be Hugh and we quickly became friends, and soon he asked me if I’d show him how to train properly, because back then he was very, very skinny. We used to call him Chicken Legs.'
if I'm not wrong the interview also mentioned the Australia movie director complained that jackman was getting too big due to the xmen gumming sessions. Lol.
yup!
‘When we were building Hugh up for the Wolverine movie, we got a call from Baz Luhrmann who was directing Hugh in the movie Australia. Baz said, “Come on, guys, back it off! He’s getting too big.” And you can see Hugh getting bigger in the film. ‘In Wolverine, Hugh looks big onscreen, but really he’s just ripped. That’s the secret to looking good. It’s not just about getting big, it’s about getting ripped.’
And...hitting the gym at 4am??!
Jackman has to fit his training around hectic filming schedules, so he and Ryan are usually in the gym at the crack of dawn. ‘We have a philosophy of training first thing in the morning,’ says Ryan. ‘Research suggests that people who train in the afternoons consistently do workouts of far less intensity than those who do train in the morning. When Hugh has a 6am filming start, that means we’ll be in the gym by 4am.’

A typical Jackman workout takes an hour to 90 minutes, including warm-up and cardio sessions. ‘We never start a weights session without a minimum ten-minute cardio warm-up. Never, ever,’ says Ryan. ‘After a session we often finish with 20 minutes of cardio, which could be a run or run/swim.’
 
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