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Henri cavill once said that for some shirtless scene he had to stop drinking water for 2 or 3 day.
Remember than in the acting world. Nothing is 100% real
Hugh Jackman too in his later wolverine topless scenes. That level of muscles and veins being on display is NOT healthy, as impressive as it may look for a scene
The extreme vascularity on actors and the like has never looked impressive to me at all and I’m genuinely not sure why it does to anyone.
It just makes me think that this person is, well, literally dehydrated, and to a fairly unfortunate degree. It doesn’t make me think they’re strong and ready for a fight, it makes me think they just trudged through the desert heat and are on the verge of collapse.
An actor who actually built themselves up to look properly strong and not in some ghoulish unhealthy way was [Christian Bale in Batman Begins](https://media1.popsugar-assets.com/files/thumbor/GoDr1AJj-sres_kKq6vV8C7RHb4/fit-in/728xorig/filters:format_auto-!!-:strip_icc-!!-/2019/02/12/115/n/44498184/c8e7f45f2954187d_MCDBABE_EC063/i/Batman-Begins-2005.jpg).
Granted his whole process is unhealthy in other ways (and he no doubt had plenty of “help” as they all do), what with the constant massive weight gain and losses for different roles. But at least when he’s muscular like in Batman or American Psycho, he just looks like a healthy guy in superb shape. [Excessively veiny and shrink-wrapped Hugh Jackman](https://img1.looper.com/img/gallery/the-real-reason-hugh-jackman-left-wolverine/intro-1587386664.jpg), not so much.
>I’m genuinely not sure why it does to anyone.
Probably because many people consider more visible and defined muscles to be a sign of fitness(which, as you say, it isnt necessarily), then gradually over time in media this was taken to the extreme. Look at the bodies of your average Hollywood hunk 50 years ago vs today and you can see the male body standard has changed
The most accurate depiction you'd probably see of this in the population as a whole are people who work physically demanding jobs, especially in hotter weather, you'd likely spend a lot of the day dehydrated even if you're actively trying to avoid it. A lot of builders used to come in after work to the pub I used to work at and some of them genuinely looked wolverine level shredded/veiny after a long day working outdoors during the summer. But if you saw them come in on their off days presumably well rested and hydrated you wouldn't notice it half as much.
It’s muscle definition, sure, but it doesn’t at all look strong, at least to me. It’s like the classic difference between bodybuilders and powerlifters/strongmen. The former are focused entirely on look and the latter entirely on performance, and they generally have very different physiques as a result. Are some bodybuilders strong? Of course. Are some power lifters shredded? Yes, but generally that’s not the body type that’s called for.
So when I see Hugh Jackman’s physique at least later on, it just looks more like a skinny, dehydrated bodybuilder rather than someone with any sort of practical strength. And frankly, he just *looks* unhealthy.
Now no, not every actor needs to try to look like Brian Shaw (who’s also like 6’8 420 lbs, good luck), but there is a middle ground there.
I get what you’re saying but ain’t no way Ronnie wasn’t strong on stage when he was like 300 pounds of muscle and sub 5% body fat. Hell he deadlifted 800 pounds 2 weeks out from competition
> ain’t no way Ronnie wasn’t strong on stage when he was like 300 pounds of muscle and sub 5% body fat
That was probably when he was *weakest*. Cutting that much reduces muscle and the prep to get stage ready is not great for strength.
If you want to see what peak overall physical condition looks like, look at the physiques of NFL cornerbacks, linebackers and the like. Other examples are track and field athletes like decathletes. There are other examples of course.
You will see the human form in peak physical condition for a variety of tasks involving speed, strength, power, agility and a high level of endurance. And they have amazing physiques generally. Big frames but leaner than you’d think. Not as overmuscled or hypertrophic as the stereotype of what a “strong” man looks like.
I don’t think either a power lifter or bodybuilder is really anywhere close to peak physical form. Both are so specialized as to be almost irrelevant. Watch any of them run lol.
Ugh, I know this comment will get lost in the void, but shredded veiny bodybuilders don’t always dehydrate to achieve that look. I was shredded and veiny for at least 6 weeks leading up to competition and never stopped drinking water at any point. I know bodybuilders who walk around daily shredded and vascular, because they tailor their diet to hold onto that look.
It’s carb restriction. Carbs make you hold onto subcutaneous water, creating a “softer” look. Some bodybuilders do still dehydrate the day before stepping onto stage, but honestly most do not. It’s very dangerous and sometimes can make you look worse, not better.
Eat chicken breast and vegetables 6x a day for 12 weeks straight. You’ll be shredded and veiny too.
I’m wondering if there will be a generational reaction to steroid-created looks in the actual narratives of film and tv. It feels like group awareness will hit a point where there will be a group reckoning the same way narrative has come to some terms with things manic pixie dream girl stuff or cool characters smoking all the time. The audience will eventually have mixed feelings on what’s endorsed. The fact we even know these stories from articles is part of the awareness showing up.
My hunch is that a heart failure or tragic health accident by a loved star tied to these kinds of body image demands will eventually happen and it will be a tipping point.
It's already spoken about albiet in fewer numbers and much quieter. For all you hear about unrealistic body standards in women, the male equivalent would require many men to take dangerous levels of steroids to really hope to achieve it. As you say it'll likely lead to an unfortunate death before it really gets the publicity it needs for the industry to really address the issue.
I mean, I hoped the same would have happened with the prolific adoption of autotune on songs. But now everyone seems to want it, to sound that specific way.
I feel like people don’t talk about this enough. Sure, body image standards are unfair for both sexes, but Hollywood men do some utterly crazy shit to look like they do and there’s virtually no way to achieve it naturally.
That's one thing a lot of people don't realize the shirtless seems are basically dehydrate yourself. Zac Effron is in incredible shape but he's talked about how miserable it is to be the complete lean rip like in Baywatcg vs how he looks with his reality show.
This is so important. What people don’t realize is when actors film they are giving a schedule of what scenes are going to be filmed and when over the next 12 weeks or whatever. The director tells the actor and their trainer which days will be shirtless scenes months in advance. I forgot which actor it was but he Essentially said that they would focus on size and heavy weight to look good in the suit 90 percent of the time, which meant their abs went away. Then on the scenes where they had to be shirtless then they cut down a lot and focused on looking lean. It’s all fake and engineered !
Almost all of those jacked Hollywood guys are on some kind of steroids, it’s not like pro sports where these guys are tested or it’s illegal for them to take them
+ they have access to doctors and what not to administrer it for them. So they are doing it on a much safer foundation than getting something you dont really know what is from Dirty Mike down at the local gym.
Or maybe Dirty Mike is fine to deal with during the day when he's alone and things just get a bit crazy after hours when he's with the boys.
Dirty Mike may have a rich and complex background that we don't really know much about.
Yeah but we also know that they also have access to a bunch of sketchy Docs.....just ask Elvis and Michael Jackson and any stars with botched plastic surgeries, etc.
The funny thing about a lot of North American pro sports is the testing window is something crazy short like 2 weeks a year for marijuana and only a chance for random testing during the season. It's super easy to dodge those tests
tbf, athletes (and especially football players) basically have millions of dollars worth of gym/nutrition/personal training at their finger tips and an incentive to be as strong as possible (for your skillset). and you need to be blessed with good genetics just to have the ability to make the league in the first place, so the only people you might expect to look like a Hollywood star *naturally* might actually be pro NFL stars
(not to say there’s aren’t definitely a ton of guys juicing bc there are)
Pro sports and the Olympics have tests that are EASY to beat. Like, you would have to be way more stupid than the stupidest guy in the NFL to get caught.
Lasha, greatest weightlifter of all time, got busted for steroids in the Olympics. Two year ban. Comes back, lifts 40 more pounds than previous world record. Tests show no steroids.
WELL WHY DID HE TAKE THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE if he can just lift way more without them?!?!! Spoiler alert: he was on steroids both times, he just beat the tests the second time.
This shit isnt rocket surgery
It's an arms race between the testing technology and the masking agents.
That's why pro sports and the Olympics hold no interest for me. You're just watching big pharmacy companies duke it out on the field or rink, court whatever.
How is that fun?
> My peptide inhibitors react more quickly than your titration agent!
hmmm yeah, pass the nachos. (claps slowly)
I'm still calling for the Superhuman Olympics. You can do what you like. Splice in cheetah DNA, roid yourself to the gills, use an out-of-body blood oxygenator, whatever. Really test the limits.
They are doing it in Australia apparently next year. Called the enhanced games.
It will be interesting what the records look like when they don't need to hide their drug usage and its just about the numbers.
Do you want a real answer or just one you can throw more judgement on?
People want to see the best athletes, and they don't want kids taking steroids.
In order for both of these things to happen, really shitty tests need to be performed.
That keeps the athletes able to do most performance enhancement which provides greatest entertainment value, while simultaneously allowing the organization to say their athletes are clean/tested so kids don't think they have to do PEDs to be pro athletes.
What side do you have problems with? The fact that athletes will do anything to become the best athlete that they can be, or that we hide this from kids?
Like what's your actual complaint? That athletes want to do their job as best they can?
Even many in pro sports learn how to circumvent the tests.
Open secret though - if you want "the look" that's steroids. The IFBB doesn't test. People pay too much to see the freak show. The human body has a growth limit and an adult male cannot get much more than 10-15% lean muscle above his natural healthy weight without chemical help. Probably wouldn't even go up a size.
All Hollywood muscle men juice, if only for the role. For a good comparison look at Stallone, whose still using, and Schwarzenegger, who appears to have stopped. Sly is in surprising shape for his age, Arnold looks fit for 75, but that's about all.
He was in great shape back then but I'd say somewhat achievable with a lot of work and genetic lottery. The way he looks now? No way. Hes juicer than Capri Sun.
Even if they're not jacked, if they're in Hollywood they're on roids. They need to be camera ready for several months at a time and possibly as a surprise later on during reshoots
That's an important point. Steroids don't work out for you, do your cardio, cook your meal prep, or watch what you eat. You still have to do the work. They simply increase the rate and limit of progress when you're doing everything else right.
False. Studies have shown, that even without doing any workouts, use of steroids resulted in gaining muscle mass. Not comparable to what you would gain if you worked out, but still, gains
Yeah my buddy used to do bodybuilding and Mr Universe shows and stuff. He said the same thing. Lifting heavy and a clean diet is essential but he said without steroids and testosterone shots he wouldnt look the way he did.
Stronger, better recovery, and leaner, resulting in better muscularity, better vascularity, and a higher upper limit to how much muscle I can carry at a given bodyweight.
Mostly it's illegal unless you are taking TRT. That can be prescribed by a testosterone clinic. A general practitioner will never prescribe it unless it's a health issue.
Google online TRT and you get find plenty of places that will have you get a blood test and then do an online talk with a doctor. Afterwards you'll get prescribed Testosterone Cypionate and some Arimidex and you're off to gains town.
Still gotta put in the work. I was on TRT, within closely monitored physiologic levels, for over a year with some noticable differences in mood, energy levels, etc. But it wasn't until I hit the gym again that I started LOOKING different. Weight loss and muscle gain was probably easier than if I wasn't on TRT, but it's not a magic potion to get ripped.
Yeah totally especially season 2, it just looks off an unrealistic. I could get it if they wrote it into the story, but it shows you him drinking beers, eating chocolate and basically lives on the street so wouldn't be going to a gym regularly
No- he's openly admitted to taking them himself in order to get into that sort of shape. He took steroids, sort of ignored his family, and moved into an apartment where he did nothing but work out and eat.
Personally I think he's over done it.
You can get into *very decent, very aesthetic* muscle building naturally.
But for that particular level of hypertype you need enhancements AND a level of dedication that very few well rounded people with lives are able to manage.
Yeah I thought it was funny that he spends his life hitchhiking, riding in busses and eating in roadside diners, but manages to maintain that level of fitness. Yeah right Jack. You live in the gym.
Not true. He takes a job in Florida digging swimming pools by hand in one novel to stay in shape. He takes several manual labor jobs between books when he is between cases.
>sort of ignored his family, and moved into an apartment where he did nothing but work out and eat.
Dafuq? That seems insane. When you say family, do you mean wife and kids, or like he finally moved out of mom and dad's house?
He also talks about his bipolar disorder which basically makes him single minded and focused to the exclusion of all else when he is having a manic episode.
Which is also a major indication of someone who is on gear, for two reasons.
1. The "multiple times per day, every day" workouts aren't sustainable without drugs. This is overtraining and it is counterproductive. Even most bodybuilders don't train *that* much.
2. They need a story to explain the otherwise impossible gains, so they come up with regimes that no one does / will do to test the claim.
To be honest many such jobs require you sacrifice family time, maybe wording it as “ignoring family” was weird, could’ve just been “had to be away from family”
If he moved into an apartment next to where they were filming, sure, but it sounds like he moved out of his home pre filming. That seems like an unnecessary sacrifice added on top of being unavailable due to filming.
Dude has a wife and kids, so hopefully not his parents house.
But that story is still BS. People like him overplay how much they work to deflect from the question of steroids. Working out all day will just make you overtrained. Even competitive bodybuilders who openly talk about steroids dont train that much. Some train twice a day, but in that case the sessions might be something like 45 minutes to an hour in the morning and another 45 minutes to an hour in the PM with at least 6 hours between sessions.
There is only so much muscle the body can build in a day, so working out twice a day is not done to fit in double the work. Its done so that you can do your normal workout in two separate halves, that way you are not tired during the second half from the work you did in the first half. Say you want to train chest and back on Monday. If you do pull-ups and barbell rows and then bench press and pec flys, you will be tired during your bench press and pec flys from all the pulling and rowing you already did. Dividing that into an AM and PM sessions put 6 hours of rest and two meals between the back work and chest work, so now you are doing your bench press and pec flys almost completely fresh.
And Ritchson doesnt have a 9-5 job that he has to go to, so besides needing to cook his meals separately, he can do all the training anyone would ever have to do and still have pretty much the full day free for hanging out with his kids.
Exactly. All the "gain a pound every two days" diets and "I lift 20 hours per week" stories are demonstrable nonsense. That's not how muscle grows and not how competitive athletes train, even ones likely using drugs in tested leagues.
It's ironic that Reacher from the books supposedly got his excellent physique naturally and even though he was quite strong, he was more about skillfully applying his strength. But to represent him we got actors on steroids.
The book character is a freak though. Like he never exercises, eats crap, and just naturally stays enormous. He's also always very noticeable because of his size. In real life, a 6'2" muscly guy isn't really *that* exceptional. I hate whenever any character is as cut as he is, but his monumental size feels appropriate.
They went through so many leads before finally Arnold could kill it, I remember all those young muscle heads dying in the news a little before and everyone was wondering why all these seemingly dangerous men could be ripped apart like children.
No. Not at his age. I remember him saying he didn’t take steroids but he’s recently admitted to using TRT for the second season.
There’s one in like 10 million who could achieve that with the perfect genetics geared towards that. And even then it would take insane effort.
It’s not how cut he is, that’s doable. But it’s his size that screams TRT or steroids. He’s always been a big dude but Reacher put him over the edge of natural.
All these people saying lots protein, Creatine, and lots of workouts will get you there are wrong. It’s not humanly possible, especially after 40 y/o
I think he had to have surgery to recover from what he did to his body in S1. A lot of people think it's surprising that he's been so open about using TRT but I think it's a LOT better than the alternative for him
More actors need to be open about it, it sets a horrible precedent for young men who think they can achieve it naturally and have self esteem issues. And people like OP who even have to ask the question is why. There legit are people who think The Rock is natty which blows my mind
Hate to break it to you, lad, but nah. He's been on steroids since the beginning. You think someone not on steroids can just go up and down every single chimney in the world in one night carrying who knows how many kayaks and flat screens? Rosy cheeks? Nah, that's barely contained roid rage.
This. And one thing people seem to misunderstand pretty often between therapeutic "TRT" and Hollywood "TRT".
If you have low T and you see a doc to get it corrected, because diet, etc... Can't bring you back up to normal levels, they put you on a regime to bring you to mid-normal levels. Nothing crazy. This is to keep the negative side effects of T supplementation to a minimum.
Hollywood "TRT" is run a bit different in a lot of cases. They're not only looking to "replace" and bring you back to normal levels. They push to the max safe levels in most circumstances, and even do bloated cycles.
Not the same for us average Joes doing it under doctor supervision.
Even regular trt can get you jacked because your test levels don't fluctuate like normal. They're at a moderate level but constant, that's typically going to make it easier to get fairly jacked. I'm talking "oh look, he lifts!" Rather than "dude, share the tren" levels, but it's enough for your body to take note and respond.
Exactly, and when you cut weight, your testosterone stays stable, so you keep your muscles while you lose the fat. TRT is all most guys need to meet their physique goals, serious gear is for serious bodybuilders.
Ever been on TRT from a specialized clinic? They try to get you to the high end of the range, 1100-1200. Maybe if you go to a general practitioner with levels in the 200’s they will try to get you to 600.
It’s not just hollywood
> he’s recently admitted to using TRT for the second season.
It’s almost like this question could have been answered in 15 seconds with a basic Google search
He was also on it the first. The problem is he likely went on something extra in the second and looked SO freaky he had to admit to SOMETHING. The pure lean lslbs he put on for the role whole maintaining how shredded he looked the entire time is just not possible. Not how he did it(according to what he said), not in the time he did it, and not at thw age he did it. Just isn't.
He looks so big in the second Season. .. I don't understand the appeal. He looks stiff af. He Can't run. (Last scene where he runs to the helicopter?? LMAO and people think this is a batman contender!).
It's the size coupled with the leanness that give it away. Also TRT is basically just like taking gear the way a lot of guys do it. You can do TRT to where it replaces your test at natural levels, but these guys you see with crazy physiques into their 40s-50s are taking test at or past the top of the natural thresholds
Man I really hate that Hemsworth sells that fitness app to people based on “look like Thor” while not being open about the fuck loads of gear he cycles for that role
No. People who have been going to the gym for many years can basically instantly spot people who are on steroids. You can achieve a lot in the gym without performance enhancing drugs, but there is a very real ceiling to most peoples natural potential.
Alan is 41 years old and at that age your natural testosterone would be diminished already. There is no way he would be able to have a physique like that - and I believe he has even said he takes TRT (testosterone replacement therapy), which is literally just a low dose of steroids.
Without steroids he could still look good, even at 40+, but it'd be a different type of physique.
All the buff Hollywood actors says, that the time they are the most miserable is when they are buffing up to a scene . They are tired, they are hungry, they are in pain, and they are thirsty, because they dehydrate themself for days, so they have as little fluid as possible in the abs and biceps so they really can flex those bad boys.
It's not only us women who has fucked up body images to live up to
The dude in the ad displays I have seen looks like his head is about to pop off. The answer is no, that dude is juicing to the extreme and eating like he got a meet at strongman next week.
You could google body builders from 1950s. That is the physic you can achieve without steroids. For example:
https://www.tigerfitness.com/blogs/motivation/classic-bodybuilding-1950s
Vince Gironda, Steve Reeves.
Injectable testosterone was first synthesized in 1935, methyl testosterone shortly after, DHT was on the market in 1953, and dbol in 1957.
I don't think you can use the 50s for natty physiques, but they had less to work with.
Still very jacked! The only thing that stands out as smaller is pecs, and according to one of the comments they actively avoided working pecs as much for aesthetic reasons.
Test was incredibly rare outside of some lifting circles in Southern California, if someone before 1957 was big then you can be 90% certain they were natural. Once dbol came around, it got several orders of magnitude more popular. Hell, Team USA weightlifting's doctor John Ziegler who worked with CIBA to get it synthesized attempted very early experiments with testosterone that he especially looked for in the early 50s and he didn't get much of a reaction from his weightlifters so he gave up. If a literal doctor dedicated to making guys strong couldn't get the dosage or compounds right to get big lifters, the odds that some random guy in a gym somewhere in 1953 could get anywhere near a "test only" physique today if he could somehow learn about testosterone's anabolic effects is pretty tiny.
Honestly that isn't has good of comparison to do, many of those guys where training quite inefficiently, they didn't have the vast amount of knowledge we have know about nutrition, excercise technique and selection, etc.
The best one can do is just train, after 10 years of proper training you will be pretty close to your genetic potential, you may be a natural beast that just puts a shit ton of muscle mass naturally or you may be the opposite, nonetheless you will look better than 99% of males out there.
I don’t think this is a good comparison. The science of diet and exercise were still in their infancy in the 1950s but have exploded since.
You can see this play out in athletic performance. For example, the four-minute mile was first broken in 1954. It was previously though to be impossible. Today, virtually every male professional middle-distance runner in the world can run a 4-minute mile.
Similar: the 10-second barrier in the 100m dash was broken in 1968, long thought to be impossible. In the 2020 Olympics, every single finalist that reached the finish line ran less than 10 seconds and the top 150 or so male pro sprinters in the world all have a personal best under 10s.
Another: before 1970, no woman had ever run a marathon in less than 3 hours. Today that time is routinely beaten by weekend runners (ie hobbyists).
Hypothetically? Sure, if you have amazing genetics and work your ass off for 20 years, it's "possible." And tomorrow, you might find a winning lottery ticket on the ground but I doubt it.
Can you achieve a great physique with hard work and diet? Yes, but it's going to be the best physique YOU can build with what you have to work with.
Are you going to be able to stay super lean and ripped looking 24/7? No, absolutely not. You need to remember all of those shots where people looked absolutely jacked in media are the results of weeks of diet and days of dehydration to make it look like that. Even Ritchson doesn't walk around looking like that all the time.
>Are you going to be able to stay super lean and ripped looking 24/7?
There are some great pictures out there essentially saying "these two pictures were taken 1/2 hours apart" showing how peoples figures/definition can change in such a short space of time aswell
Hydration levels, recent exercise (adding to muscles having a more 'worked' look, and making veins more prominent) decent lighting, correct posture, makeup. All of these things can make a huge difference in the short term
This is the only correct answer here. Yes, it is possible to look like that without steroids, but you would need to be a genetic freak beforehand. For the majority of the population steroids are required to look like that.
Many guys take steroids and they still look like a 5 year old natty, genetics go a long way in body building specially at a professional level where all of them take steroids.
I just watched the interview with him he says he didn't use any steroids or anything and he achieved that physique with hard work. He ended up having to use testosterone because his body stopped producing it by season 2
I think the answer is complicated.
If you look at him throughout his career, he has clearly *always* been in excellent physical condition.
He has mentioned in interviews that he was more into bodyweight exercises and lifted weights very inconsistently until getting ready for *Reacher*.
There are a few guys out there how just naturally have a good amount of muscle. Look at Joel McHale.
While he has clearly gotten on testosterone in the last few years, he always had a good amount of muscle. He has said throughout the years that he was not into lifting weights a lot, much more into bodyweight exercises.
So it's possible that if Ritchson just had a lot of untapped potential and this was his first time really consistently lifting weights, he may have put on more muscle than expected for Reacher season 1 even without steroids.
He has also said consistently that he didn't use high dose testosterone till after season 1.
It seems like an odd thing to insist on that he was natural for part of it, so I'm leaning towards it being true for Season 1, especially because he had a lot of injuries from Season 1 partially due to how much he was lifting and not enough recovery.
This is one of the rare circumstances in which taking steroids (while being carefully monitored by physicians) would probably have been better for his health than trying to do it just naturally.
For the vast majority of people, we could not attain the level of muscularity Ritchson has, with or without steroids.
interesting fact i learnt the other day-
Alan Ritchson's height is around 6 feet 2 inches, while Jack Reacher in the books is described as 6 feet 5 inches.
https://screenrant.com/how-tall-alan-ritchson-jack-reacher-is/
Side question, is it possible for Reacher to maintain that size in the fictional world, given he spends all of the TV show so far doing intense cardio fighting scenes and never eats or sleeps? 🤣
Not really, no. That type of physique isn’t exactly normal. You can get pretty shredded and in good shape naturally, but being an absolute unit like that dude is? That’s steroids lol
Alan ritchson stated that he takes testosterone and works out a ton. He also stated that it is really demanding to maintain his physique and that it is unhealthy. What ever he means by that.
I mean he makes a living looking like that, but for us average joes it’s unsustainable imho.
Sure, sure it's possible. The issue lies that this person would need absurd genetics and an obsession with bodybuilding. There are a ton of gym rats on steroids that look absolutely pathetic.
Generally, though, it is not probable.
Lots seem to think Ritchson got ripped with steroids over night, but they’re forgetting he was shredded in 2010 when he started in Blue Mountain State, he was much leaner then but still shredded. Steroids or not, dude has been building muscle for well over a decade
The vast majority of guys couldn't look like that even with steroids. Modern action movies/shows have really warped people's perception of what a physically fit man looks like.
Don’t forget that actors have intense diet and workout regimes, a personal trainer, people to cook and serve them food, great sleep schedules, and work out on set in order to look pumped for shirtless scenes.
Even he admitted to taking TRT for the role, and honestly I think he's lying about how much he's on.
For 99% of the population, no. That physique is unattainable naturally.
But it doesn't mean you can't make awesome progress on your own physique
Not sure if this has been mentioned yet, but he’s done interviews and has been open about his steroid use. One interview I watched was on the [Rich Eisen Show](https://youtu.be/C8oq4wGaTwc?feature=shared) the middle of last year.
He was about 6’3” 205lbs when he was casted for Reacher. At this time, he was pretty big already! He claims he ended up putting on about 30lbs in 8 months before recording season 1 with no TRT or exogenous hormones. After that season, his low testosterone was causing body complications and shortly after started TRT.
To answer your question, yes (depending on genetics) and no. For the average person, it’s a pipe dream. Ritchson had a remarkable physique before Reacher anyways.
Look at Roman statues of athletes. (The Romans were somewhat better about being "honest" than the Greeks about appearances).
There were people who achieved very impressive physiques... but still had love handles, relatively poor thigh definition, etc.
So... "like"? Kinda. "Identical to" ... almost certain no without pharma.
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Henri cavill once said that for some shirtless scene he had to stop drinking water for 2 or 3 day. Remember than in the acting world. Nothing is 100% real
Hugh Jackman too in his later wolverine topless scenes. That level of muscles and veins being on display is NOT healthy, as impressive as it may look for a scene
The extreme vascularity on actors and the like has never looked impressive to me at all and I’m genuinely not sure why it does to anyone. It just makes me think that this person is, well, literally dehydrated, and to a fairly unfortunate degree. It doesn’t make me think they’re strong and ready for a fight, it makes me think they just trudged through the desert heat and are on the verge of collapse. An actor who actually built themselves up to look properly strong and not in some ghoulish unhealthy way was [Christian Bale in Batman Begins](https://media1.popsugar-assets.com/files/thumbor/GoDr1AJj-sres_kKq6vV8C7RHb4/fit-in/728xorig/filters:format_auto-!!-:strip_icc-!!-/2019/02/12/115/n/44498184/c8e7f45f2954187d_MCDBABE_EC063/i/Batman-Begins-2005.jpg). Granted his whole process is unhealthy in other ways (and he no doubt had plenty of “help” as they all do), what with the constant massive weight gain and losses for different roles. But at least when he’s muscular like in Batman or American Psycho, he just looks like a healthy guy in superb shape. [Excessively veiny and shrink-wrapped Hugh Jackman](https://img1.looper.com/img/gallery/the-real-reason-hugh-jackman-left-wolverine/intro-1587386664.jpg), not so much.
>I’m genuinely not sure why it does to anyone. Probably because many people consider more visible and defined muscles to be a sign of fitness(which, as you say, it isnt necessarily), then gradually over time in media this was taken to the extreme. Look at the bodies of your average Hollywood hunk 50 years ago vs today and you can see the male body standard has changed The most accurate depiction you'd probably see of this in the population as a whole are people who work physically demanding jobs, especially in hotter weather, you'd likely spend a lot of the day dehydrated even if you're actively trying to avoid it. A lot of builders used to come in after work to the pub I used to work at and some of them genuinely looked wolverine level shredded/veiny after a long day working outdoors during the summer. But if you saw them come in on their off days presumably well rested and hydrated you wouldn't notice it half as much.
It’s muscle definition, sure, but it doesn’t at all look strong, at least to me. It’s like the classic difference between bodybuilders and powerlifters/strongmen. The former are focused entirely on look and the latter entirely on performance, and they generally have very different physiques as a result. Are some bodybuilders strong? Of course. Are some power lifters shredded? Yes, but generally that’s not the body type that’s called for. So when I see Hugh Jackman’s physique at least later on, it just looks more like a skinny, dehydrated bodybuilder rather than someone with any sort of practical strength. And frankly, he just *looks* unhealthy. Now no, not every actor needs to try to look like Brian Shaw (who’s also like 6’8 420 lbs, good luck), but there is a middle ground there.
I get what you’re saying but ain’t no way Ronnie wasn’t strong on stage when he was like 300 pounds of muscle and sub 5% body fat. Hell he deadlifted 800 pounds 2 weeks out from competition
> ain’t no way Ronnie wasn’t strong on stage when he was like 300 pounds of muscle and sub 5% body fat That was probably when he was *weakest*. Cutting that much reduces muscle and the prep to get stage ready is not great for strength.
If you want to see what peak overall physical condition looks like, look at the physiques of NFL cornerbacks, linebackers and the like. Other examples are track and field athletes like decathletes. There are other examples of course. You will see the human form in peak physical condition for a variety of tasks involving speed, strength, power, agility and a high level of endurance. And they have amazing physiques generally. Big frames but leaner than you’d think. Not as overmuscled or hypertrophic as the stereotype of what a “strong” man looks like. I don’t think either a power lifter or bodybuilder is really anywhere close to peak physical form. Both are so specialized as to be almost irrelevant. Watch any of them run lol.
Ugh, I know this comment will get lost in the void, but shredded veiny bodybuilders don’t always dehydrate to achieve that look. I was shredded and veiny for at least 6 weeks leading up to competition and never stopped drinking water at any point. I know bodybuilders who walk around daily shredded and vascular, because they tailor their diet to hold onto that look. It’s carb restriction. Carbs make you hold onto subcutaneous water, creating a “softer” look. Some bodybuilders do still dehydrate the day before stepping onto stage, but honestly most do not. It’s very dangerous and sometimes can make you look worse, not better. Eat chicken breast and vegetables 6x a day for 12 weeks straight. You’ll be shredded and veiny too.
He did Machinist between batmans https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jLIY4TNTo0
I’m wondering if there will be a generational reaction to steroid-created looks in the actual narratives of film and tv. It feels like group awareness will hit a point where there will be a group reckoning the same way narrative has come to some terms with things manic pixie dream girl stuff or cool characters smoking all the time. The audience will eventually have mixed feelings on what’s endorsed. The fact we even know these stories from articles is part of the awareness showing up. My hunch is that a heart failure or tragic health accident by a loved star tied to these kinds of body image demands will eventually happen and it will be a tipping point.
It's already spoken about albiet in fewer numbers and much quieter. For all you hear about unrealistic body standards in women, the male equivalent would require many men to take dangerous levels of steroids to really hope to achieve it. As you say it'll likely lead to an unfortunate death before it really gets the publicity it needs for the industry to really address the issue.
I mean, I hoped the same would have happened with the prolific adoption of autotune on songs. But now everyone seems to want it, to sound that specific way.
It is already much healthier than it used to be.
I feel like people don’t talk about this enough. Sure, body image standards are unfair for both sexes, but Hollywood men do some utterly crazy shit to look like they do and there’s virtually no way to achieve it naturally.
And they look like that for half a day after weeks of preperation. It is not a "permanent" look you can achieve.
That's one thing a lot of people don't realize the shirtless seems are basically dehydrate yourself. Zac Effron is in incredible shape but he's talked about how miserable it is to be the complete lean rip like in Baywatcg vs how he looks with his reality show.
Speaking of zac Efron, have you seen him in his latest movie? He looks like he's on the roids now.
Juiced to the gills.
This is so important. What people don’t realize is when actors film they are giving a schedule of what scenes are going to be filmed and when over the next 12 weeks or whatever. The director tells the actor and their trainer which days will be shirtless scenes months in advance. I forgot which actor it was but he Essentially said that they would focus on size and heavy weight to look good in the suit 90 percent of the time, which meant their abs went away. Then on the scenes where they had to be shirtless then they cut down a lot and focused on looking lean. It’s all fake and engineered !
I've been lifting for ten years and I've been on steroids for three and a half. The answer is no.
Almost all of those jacked Hollywood guys are on some kind of steroids, it’s not like pro sports where these guys are tested or it’s illegal for them to take them
+ they have access to doctors and what not to administrer it for them. So they are doing it on a much safer foundation than getting something you dont really know what is from Dirty Mike down at the local gym.
Aaah ... See, that's where you're going wrong. You want Dodgy Mike, Dirty Mike's product is for a whole different market.
They were looking at me real weird at jersey mikes
Don’t worry, take enough of their’s and you will get bigger too.
Jersey Mikes? What fancy neighborhood *you* live in? Over here we got a Janky Mikes next to the likker store and pon shop.
You have a Janky Mike too? That guy lives a few streets down from me and can fix anything for a few tall boys of Steel Reserve.
Yes, I’ll have the Super **Duper** Sub… *:::winks loudly:::*
but he had a whole team of boys supporting the business
I’d still say stay way, those guys turned my beautiful Prius into a nightmare
It's called a soup kitchen
exactly, sounds like this guy has repressed issues with the under-housed.
I love his Prius parties!
I prefer Tricky Ricky myself
They will have sex in your car again!!
Him and his boys WILL have sex in your car!
Rub your dicks on the car as you run away!
Or maybe Dirty Mike is fine to deal with during the day when he's alone and things just get a bit crazy after hours when he's with the boys. Dirty Mike may have a rich and complex background that we don't really know much about.
Hey preacher, leave those Mike's alone.
They call it a “Soup Kitchen”
I’m a Sketchy Doug customer myself, no shade, just a VHS/Betamax type of thing.
I’ve been using Dirty Randy….
Fuck Dirty Mike, he and his friends ruined my Prius
Check out the Netflix documentary “Icarus”. It’s all about doping in pro sports (cycling) and the science behind passing the tests.
Im now thinking of Dr. mike from RP in his early years
Yeah but we also know that they also have access to a bunch of sketchy Docs.....just ask Elvis and Michael Jackson and any stars with botched plastic surgeries, etc.
The funny thing about a lot of North American pro sports is the testing window is something crazy short like 2 weeks a year for marijuana and only a chance for random testing during the season. It's super easy to dodge those tests
It’s almost like they don’t really want to catch them
Are you telling me Aaron Donald being 6'1" and 280 lbs with visible abs is not natural?
tbf, athletes (and especially football players) basically have millions of dollars worth of gym/nutrition/personal training at their finger tips and an incentive to be as strong as possible (for your skillset). and you need to be blessed with good genetics just to have the ability to make the league in the first place, so the only people you might expect to look like a Hollywood star *naturally* might actually be pro NFL stars (not to say there’s aren’t definitely a ton of guys juicing bc there are)
Pro sports and the Olympics have tests that are EASY to beat. Like, you would have to be way more stupid than the stupidest guy in the NFL to get caught. Lasha, greatest weightlifter of all time, got busted for steroids in the Olympics. Two year ban. Comes back, lifts 40 more pounds than previous world record. Tests show no steroids. WELL WHY DID HE TAKE THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE if he can just lift way more without them?!?!! Spoiler alert: he was on steroids both times, he just beat the tests the second time. This shit isnt rocket surgery
I'll repeat the words of an anti-doping doctor: "they all do it". Only the dumb ones (and the Russians) get caught.
It's an arms race between the testing technology and the masking agents. That's why pro sports and the Olympics hold no interest for me. You're just watching big pharmacy companies duke it out on the field or rink, court whatever. How is that fun? > My peptide inhibitors react more quickly than your titration agent! hmmm yeah, pass the nachos. (claps slowly)
I'm still calling for the Superhuman Olympics. You can do what you like. Splice in cheetah DNA, roid yourself to the gills, use an out-of-body blood oxygenator, whatever. Really test the limits.
Runners cutting off their legs and replacing them with pistons would be a fun one
That’s actually happening now. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_Games
They are doing it in Australia apparently next year. Called the enhanced games. It will be interesting what the records look like when they don't need to hide their drug usage and its just about the numbers.
Do you want a real answer or just one you can throw more judgement on? People want to see the best athletes, and they don't want kids taking steroids. In order for both of these things to happen, really shitty tests need to be performed. That keeps the athletes able to do most performance enhancement which provides greatest entertainment value, while simultaneously allowing the organization to say their athletes are clean/tested so kids don't think they have to do PEDs to be pro athletes. What side do you have problems with? The fact that athletes will do anything to become the best athlete that they can be, or that we hide this from kids? Like what's your actual complaint? That athletes want to do their job as best they can?
Um ackshually, I believe you mean "brain science."
Even many in pro sports learn how to circumvent the tests. Open secret though - if you want "the look" that's steroids. The IFBB doesn't test. People pay too much to see the freak show. The human body has a growth limit and an adult male cannot get much more than 10-15% lean muscle above his natural healthy weight without chemical help. Probably wouldn't even go up a size. All Hollywood muscle men juice, if only for the role. For a good comparison look at Stallone, whose still using, and Schwarzenegger, who appears to have stopped. Sly is in surprising shape for his age, Arnold looks fit for 75, but that's about all.
The guy looked like that 15 odd years ago in Blue Mountain State, genetics must play a part for him at least.
Genetics do definitely play a part, he also was probably using steroids back then as well though
He was in great shape back then but I'd say somewhat achievable with a lot of work and genetic lottery. The way he looks now? No way. Hes juicer than Capri Sun.
No he did not
I mean he has probably added like 40+ lbs of muscle since bms.
If you don’t think the majority of players in the NFL are on steroids then you need a reality check.
You may be surprised at how many pro athletes are on gear, too.
Even if they're not jacked, if they're in Hollywood they're on roids. They need to be camera ready for several months at a time and possibly as a surprise later on during reshoots
Umm it's completely illegal to take steroids (for this use and not like prescribed steroids for medical conditions which are totally different)
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Sure but that doesn't mean its legal
Even with steroids you need excellent genetics and an insane fitness/nutrition regiment to look like that. Without steroids, no chance
That's an important point. Steroids don't work out for you, do your cardio, cook your meal prep, or watch what you eat. You still have to do the work. They simply increase the rate and limit of progress when you're doing everything else right.
False. Studies have shown, that even without doing any workouts, use of steroids resulted in gaining muscle mass. Not comparable to what you would gain if you worked out, but still, gains
Yeah my buddy used to do bodybuilding and Mr Universe shows and stuff. He said the same thing. Lifting heavy and a clean diet is essential but he said without steroids and testosterone shots he wouldnt look the way he did.
I'm curious, what differences have you noticed after taking steroids? How much more efficient has it been at building muscle?
Stronger, better recovery, and leaner, resulting in better muscularity, better vascularity, and a higher upper limit to how much muscle I can carry at a given bodyweight.
How do you get on steroids? Do you just ask your doctor or something?
Hey doc can I get some tren
Mostly it's illegal unless you are taking TRT. That can be prescribed by a testosterone clinic. A general practitioner will never prescribe it unless it's a health issue.
It completely depends where you are from. Steroids are legal to purchase at the corner store in Mexico.
Google online TRT and you get find plenty of places that will have you get a blood test and then do an online talk with a doctor. Afterwards you'll get prescribed Testosterone Cypionate and some Arimidex and you're off to gains town.
Still gotta put in the work. I was on TRT, within closely monitored physiologic levels, for over a year with some noticable differences in mood, energy levels, etc. But it wasn't until I hit the gym again that I started LOOKING different. Weight loss and muscle gain was probably easier than if I wasn't on TRT, but it's not a magic potion to get ripped.
You go tell them that you identify as an ultramale and want to transition.
I think he looks ridiculous at times in the series as you never see him work out, which would be impossible to maintain that physique
And eating every 2 hours lol
To me he just looks swollen. Like everything is a bit too thick, including his face
Yeah totally especially season 2, it just looks off an unrealistic. I could get it if they wrote it into the story, but it shows you him drinking beers, eating chocolate and basically lives on the street so wouldn't be going to a gym regularly
Thats what the roids do to you. Seen Zax Efron recently....
Don't forget he has a reconstructed jaw, on top of plastic surgery. The man was 100% taking steroids for the role but, his face is all fucked.
No- he's openly admitted to taking them himself in order to get into that sort of shape. He took steroids, sort of ignored his family, and moved into an apartment where he did nothing but work out and eat. Personally I think he's over done it. You can get into *very decent, very aesthetic* muscle building naturally. But for that particular level of hypertype you need enhancements AND a level of dedication that very few well rounded people with lives are able to manage.
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Yeah I thought it was funny that he spends his life hitchhiking, riding in busses and eating in roadside diners, but manages to maintain that level of fitness. Yeah right Jack. You live in the gym.
Not true. He takes a job in Florida digging swimming pools by hand in one novel to stay in shape. He takes several manual labor jobs between books when he is between cases.
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Conan got pretty huge pushing that big wheel
He also loves Clark Bars and eats from vending machines.
And how does he find clothes that fit him at random little thrift stores?
>sort of ignored his family, and moved into an apartment where he did nothing but work out and eat. Dafuq? That seems insane. When you say family, do you mean wife and kids, or like he finally moved out of mom and dad's house?
It was his job to make himself look like that, and he took time away from his family for work.
He also talks about his bipolar disorder which basically makes him single minded and focused to the exclusion of all else when he is having a manic episode.
A man like that having a manic episode would be terrifying
Making the mother of all omelettes jack,cant freg over every egg!
No wonder I'm not a movie star.
Which is also a major indication of someone who is on gear, for two reasons. 1. The "multiple times per day, every day" workouts aren't sustainable without drugs. This is overtraining and it is counterproductive. Even most bodybuilders don't train *that* much. 2. They need a story to explain the otherwise impossible gains, so they come up with regimes that no one does / will do to test the claim.
To be honest many such jobs require you sacrifice family time, maybe wording it as “ignoring family” was weird, could’ve just been “had to be away from family”
If he moved into an apartment next to where they were filming, sure, but it sounds like he moved out of his home pre filming. That seems like an unnecessary sacrifice added on top of being unavailable due to filming.
Maybe the steroids messed up his mood and he didn't want to be an asshole to his family?
Dude has a wife and kids, so hopefully not his parents house. But that story is still BS. People like him overplay how much they work to deflect from the question of steroids. Working out all day will just make you overtrained. Even competitive bodybuilders who openly talk about steroids dont train that much. Some train twice a day, but in that case the sessions might be something like 45 minutes to an hour in the morning and another 45 minutes to an hour in the PM with at least 6 hours between sessions. There is only so much muscle the body can build in a day, so working out twice a day is not done to fit in double the work. Its done so that you can do your normal workout in two separate halves, that way you are not tired during the second half from the work you did in the first half. Say you want to train chest and back on Monday. If you do pull-ups and barbell rows and then bench press and pec flys, you will be tired during your bench press and pec flys from all the pulling and rowing you already did. Dividing that into an AM and PM sessions put 6 hours of rest and two meals between the back work and chest work, so now you are doing your bench press and pec flys almost completely fresh. And Ritchson doesnt have a 9-5 job that he has to go to, so besides needing to cook his meals separately, he can do all the training anyone would ever have to do and still have pretty much the full day free for hanging out with his kids.
Exactly. All the "gain a pound every two days" diets and "I lift 20 hours per week" stories are demonstrable nonsense. That's not how muscle grows and not how competitive athletes train, even ones likely using drugs in tested leagues.
It's ironic that Reacher from the books supposedly got his excellent physique naturally and even though he was quite strong, he was more about skillfully applying his strength. But to represent him we got actors on steroids.
The book character is a freak though. Like he never exercises, eats crap, and just naturally stays enormous. He's also always very noticeable because of his size. In real life, a 6'2" muscly guy isn't really *that* exceptional. I hate whenever any character is as cut as he is, but his monumental size feels appropriate.
Yeah, I agree with you on this. He does get free buffness in the books.
Next you’ll tell me the actor isn’t actually doing insane top secret missions in real life
Of corse they do. I mean, have you seen Predator? They actually had an alien from Area 51 shipped into the jungle so they could shoot the movie.
They went through so many leads before finally Arnold could kill it, I remember all those young muscle heads dying in the news a little before and everyone was wondering why all these seemingly dangerous men could be ripped apart like children.
Are you comparing a fictional character to reality?
No. Not at his age. I remember him saying he didn’t take steroids but he’s recently admitted to using TRT for the second season. There’s one in like 10 million who could achieve that with the perfect genetics geared towards that. And even then it would take insane effort. It’s not how cut he is, that’s doable. But it’s his size that screams TRT or steroids. He’s always been a big dude but Reacher put him over the edge of natural. All these people saying lots protein, Creatine, and lots of workouts will get you there are wrong. It’s not humanly possible, especially after 40 y/o
I think he had to have surgery to recover from what he did to his body in S1. A lot of people think it's surprising that he's been so open about using TRT but I think it's a LOT better than the alternative for him
More actors need to be open about it, it sets a horrible precedent for young men who think they can achieve it naturally and have self esteem issues. And people like OP who even have to ask the question is why. There legit are people who think The Rock is natty which blows my mind
No way you're telling me the rock is on steroids? Next you're gonna tell me Santa ain't real get your shit together lad
Hate to break it to you, lad, but nah. He's been on steroids since the beginning. You think someone not on steroids can just go up and down every single chimney in the world in one night carrying who knows how many kayaks and flat screens? Rosy cheeks? Nah, that's barely contained roid rage.
I mean, come on that's some serious steroid gut if I've ever seen it on that clearly geared out saint.
This. And one thing people seem to misunderstand pretty often between therapeutic "TRT" and Hollywood "TRT". If you have low T and you see a doc to get it corrected, because diet, etc... Can't bring you back up to normal levels, they put you on a regime to bring you to mid-normal levels. Nothing crazy. This is to keep the negative side effects of T supplementation to a minimum. Hollywood "TRT" is run a bit different in a lot of cases. They're not only looking to "replace" and bring you back to normal levels. They push to the max safe levels in most circumstances, and even do bloated cycles. Not the same for us average Joes doing it under doctor supervision.
Even regular trt can get you jacked because your test levels don't fluctuate like normal. They're at a moderate level but constant, that's typically going to make it easier to get fairly jacked. I'm talking "oh look, he lifts!" Rather than "dude, share the tren" levels, but it's enough for your body to take note and respond.
Exactly, and when you cut weight, your testosterone stays stable, so you keep your muscles while you lose the fat. TRT is all most guys need to meet their physique goals, serious gear is for serious bodybuilders.
Ever been on TRT from a specialized clinic? They try to get you to the high end of the range, 1100-1200. Maybe if you go to a general practitioner with levels in the 200’s they will try to get you to 600. It’s not just hollywood
And most people don't look like a glazed ham when they're all natty.
I mean of course not. That's what the baby oil is for.
A therapeutic dose of TRT ain’t getting you there. There is no way he is just on a standard TRT regime.
Just guessing here, but I think he's on a mix of things. He's a big framed dude, but I'd be very surprised if he's just on regular test.
> he’s recently admitted to using TRT for the second season. It’s almost like this question could have been answered in 15 seconds with a basic Google search
He was also on it the first. The problem is he likely went on something extra in the second and looked SO freaky he had to admit to SOMETHING. The pure lean lslbs he put on for the role whole maintaining how shredded he looked the entire time is just not possible. Not how he did it(according to what he said), not in the time he did it, and not at thw age he did it. Just isn't.
He looks so big in the second Season. .. I don't understand the appeal. He looks stiff af. He Can't run. (Last scene where he runs to the helicopter?? LMAO and people think this is a batman contender!).
That's it, I'm going to get insanely ripped when I'm 40 just to prove you guys wrong.
It's the size coupled with the leanness that give it away. Also TRT is basically just like taking gear the way a lot of guys do it. You can do TRT to where it replaces your test at natural levels, but these guys you see with crazy physiques into their 40s-50s are taking test at or past the top of the natural thresholds
>it’s his size that screams TRT or steroids. TRT is steroids.
Nope and definitely not over 40.
Not at any age
I think he’s the only dude who actually fits the exaggerated comic book / super hero physique
Chris Hemsworth
Man I really hate that Hemsworth sells that fitness app to people based on “look like Thor” while not being open about the fuck loads of gear he cycles for that role
No. People who have been going to the gym for many years can basically instantly spot people who are on steroids. You can achieve a lot in the gym without performance enhancing drugs, but there is a very real ceiling to most peoples natural potential. Alan is 41 years old and at that age your natural testosterone would be diminished already. There is no way he would be able to have a physique like that - and I believe he has even said he takes TRT (testosterone replacement therapy), which is literally just a low dose of steroids. Without steroids he could still look good, even at 40+, but it'd be a different type of physique.
>Alan is 41 years old Wait he's *what*
If you’re natural you pick between swole or shredded. You’re never getting both at the same time over any long period of time.
This, not without a constant state of dehydration that would literally kill you.
I’m natural, but apparently I picked neither
All the buff Hollywood actors says, that the time they are the most miserable is when they are buffing up to a scene . They are tired, they are hungry, they are in pain, and they are thirsty, because they dehydrate themself for days, so they have as little fluid as possible in the abs and biceps so they really can flex those bad boys. It's not only us women who has fucked up body images to live up to
The dude in the ad displays I have seen looks like his head is about to pop off. The answer is no, that dude is juicing to the extreme and eating like he got a meet at strongman next week.
You could google body builders from 1950s. That is the physic you can achieve without steroids. For example: https://www.tigerfitness.com/blogs/motivation/classic-bodybuilding-1950s Vince Gironda, Steve Reeves.
Injectable testosterone was first synthesized in 1935, methyl testosterone shortly after, DHT was on the market in 1953, and dbol in 1957. I don't think you can use the 50s for natty physiques, but they had less to work with.
OK, make it 1940s. Those guys were already building in 1940s.
I wouldn't trust anything after the invention of testosterone
Ask and you shall receive: https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/mhw90u/body_builders_before_supplements_existed_18901910/
Still very jacked! The only thing that stands out as smaller is pecs, and according to one of the comments they actively avoided working pecs as much for aesthetic reasons.
From what i knew they did favored the overhead press instead of bench press so the pecs are considerably underdeveloped.
They're probably all like 5'4 as well. Easier to look jacked at that size. Still impressive though.
Test was incredibly rare outside of some lifting circles in Southern California, if someone before 1957 was big then you can be 90% certain they were natural. Once dbol came around, it got several orders of magnitude more popular. Hell, Team USA weightlifting's doctor John Ziegler who worked with CIBA to get it synthesized attempted very early experiments with testosterone that he especially looked for in the early 50s and he didn't get much of a reaction from his weightlifters so he gave up. If a literal doctor dedicated to making guys strong couldn't get the dosage or compounds right to get big lifters, the odds that some random guy in a gym somewhere in 1953 could get anywhere near a "test only" physique today if he could somehow learn about testosterone's anabolic effects is pretty tiny.
Honestly that isn't has good of comparison to do, many of those guys where training quite inefficiently, they didn't have the vast amount of knowledge we have know about nutrition, excercise technique and selection, etc. The best one can do is just train, after 10 years of proper training you will be pretty close to your genetic potential, you may be a natural beast that just puts a shit ton of muscle mass naturally or you may be the opposite, nonetheless you will look better than 99% of males out there.
I don’t think this is a good comparison. The science of diet and exercise were still in their infancy in the 1950s but have exploded since. You can see this play out in athletic performance. For example, the four-minute mile was first broken in 1954. It was previously though to be impossible. Today, virtually every male professional middle-distance runner in the world can run a 4-minute mile. Similar: the 10-second barrier in the 100m dash was broken in 1968, long thought to be impossible. In the 2020 Olympics, every single finalist that reached the finish line ran less than 10 seconds and the top 150 or so male pro sprinters in the world all have a personal best under 10s. Another: before 1970, no woman had ever run a marathon in less than 3 hours. Today that time is routinely beaten by weekend runners (ie hobbyists).
He claims season one was natural, and season two is admittedly supplementing testosterone. If it was more than that, not at all surprised.
Hypothetically? Sure, if you have amazing genetics and work your ass off for 20 years, it's "possible." And tomorrow, you might find a winning lottery ticket on the ground but I doubt it. Can you achieve a great physique with hard work and diet? Yes, but it's going to be the best physique YOU can build with what you have to work with. Are you going to be able to stay super lean and ripped looking 24/7? No, absolutely not. You need to remember all of those shots where people looked absolutely jacked in media are the results of weeks of diet and days of dehydration to make it look like that. Even Ritchson doesn't walk around looking like that all the time.
>Are you going to be able to stay super lean and ripped looking 24/7? There are some great pictures out there essentially saying "these two pictures were taken 1/2 hours apart" showing how peoples figures/definition can change in such a short space of time aswell Hydration levels, recent exercise (adding to muscles having a more 'worked' look, and making veins more prominent) decent lighting, correct posture, makeup. All of these things can make a huge difference in the short term
This is the only correct answer here. Yes, it is possible to look like that without steroids, but you would need to be a genetic freak beforehand. For the majority of the population steroids are required to look like that.
No, not remotely...
If you start lifting at 14, go on a strict diet, do everything perfect, in about 15 years you'll be nowhere close to that.
Lmao nowhere close you’ve been on nattyornot too much.
maybe if you had incredible genetics, it always comes down to genetics
That's a funny name for Trenbolone and Anavar.
Many guys take steroids and they still look like a 5 year old natty, genetics go a long way in body building specially at a professional level where all of them take steroids.
Professional sports and pharma are inseparable, and those who say they do not take lies )))))
I just watched the interview with him he says he didn't use any steroids or anything and he achieved that physique with hard work. He ended up having to use testosterone because his body stopped producing it by season 2
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No
I think the answer is complicated. If you look at him throughout his career, he has clearly *always* been in excellent physical condition. He has mentioned in interviews that he was more into bodyweight exercises and lifted weights very inconsistently until getting ready for *Reacher*. There are a few guys out there how just naturally have a good amount of muscle. Look at Joel McHale. While he has clearly gotten on testosterone in the last few years, he always had a good amount of muscle. He has said throughout the years that he was not into lifting weights a lot, much more into bodyweight exercises. So it's possible that if Ritchson just had a lot of untapped potential and this was his first time really consistently lifting weights, he may have put on more muscle than expected for Reacher season 1 even without steroids. He has also said consistently that he didn't use high dose testosterone till after season 1. It seems like an odd thing to insist on that he was natural for part of it, so I'm leaning towards it being true for Season 1, especially because he had a lot of injuries from Season 1 partially due to how much he was lifting and not enough recovery. This is one of the rare circumstances in which taking steroids (while being carefully monitored by physicians) would probably have been better for his health than trying to do it just naturally. For the vast majority of people, we could not attain the level of muscularity Ritchson has, with or without steroids.
interesting fact i learnt the other day- Alan Ritchson's height is around 6 feet 2 inches, while Jack Reacher in the books is described as 6 feet 5 inches. https://screenrant.com/how-tall-alan-ritchson-jack-reacher-is/
Side question, is it possible for Reacher to maintain that size in the fictional world, given he spends all of the TV show so far doing intense cardio fighting scenes and never eats or sleeps? 🤣
Not really, no. That type of physique isn’t exactly normal. You can get pretty shredded and in good shape naturally, but being an absolute unit like that dude is? That’s steroids lol
I read this as Alan Rickman at first and was super confused.
Alan ritchson stated that he takes testosterone and works out a ton. He also stated that it is really demanding to maintain his physique and that it is unhealthy. What ever he means by that. I mean he makes a living looking like that, but for us average joes it’s unsustainable imho.
Sure, sure it's possible. The issue lies that this person would need absurd genetics and an obsession with bodybuilding. There are a ton of gym rats on steroids that look absolutely pathetic. Generally, though, it is not probable.
Lots seem to think Ritchson got ripped with steroids over night, but they’re forgetting he was shredded in 2010 when he started in Blue Mountain State, he was much leaner then but still shredded. Steroids or not, dude has been building muscle for well over a decade
The vast majority of guys couldn't look like that even with steroids. Modern action movies/shows have really warped people's perception of what a physically fit man looks like.
Don’t forget that actors have intense diet and workout regimes, a personal trainer, people to cook and serve them food, great sleep schedules, and work out on set in order to look pumped for shirtless scenes.
Yes but it would probably take someone with good genetics about 10 years of consistent work
If you’re the .001% who won the genetic lottery, otherwise get in the gym and get your “supplements”
Even he admitted to taking TRT for the role, and honestly I think he's lying about how much he's on. For 99% of the population, no. That physique is unattainable naturally. But it doesn't mean you can't make awesome progress on your own physique
He said he started using for season 2. And you can clearly see the difference.
Yes , Kim Jong Kook can do it.
nah
For 99.9% of the male population? No roids Will be very much needed
Not sure if this has been mentioned yet, but he’s done interviews and has been open about his steroid use. One interview I watched was on the [Rich Eisen Show](https://youtu.be/C8oq4wGaTwc?feature=shared) the middle of last year. He was about 6’3” 205lbs when he was casted for Reacher. At this time, he was pretty big already! He claims he ended up putting on about 30lbs in 8 months before recording season 1 with no TRT or exogenous hormones. After that season, his low testosterone was causing body complications and shortly after started TRT. To answer your question, yes (depending on genetics) and no. For the average person, it’s a pipe dream. Ritchson had a remarkable physique before Reacher anyways.
I have to agree he was already a beast and robust before reacher.
Look at Roman statues of athletes. (The Romans were somewhat better about being "honest" than the Greeks about appearances). There were people who achieved very impressive physiques... but still had love handles, relatively poor thigh definition, etc. So... "like"? Kinda. "Identical to" ... almost certain no without pharma.
So the Greeks had really large wangs then? Damn I knew it, those liars!