With over 57 million followers on Instagram, Zac Efron is one of the most popular actors of his generation. But since his debut in High School Musicalthe young American has changed a lot. He has undergone a real physical transformation for his roles in Baywatch: Baywatch and in The Iron ClawHe is a very impressive muscular mass. Discover the backstage of the preparation of Zac Efron.
A debut in High School Musical
Zachary David Alexander Efron was born in 1987 in California. Passionate about theater from an early age, he also took singing lessons.
After numerous appearances in musicals and TV shows, Zac Efron became a household name in 2006. He played Troy Belton, the most popular player of the East High basketball team in the saga High School Musicalproduced by Disney.
His talent as an actor and his devastating smile brought him immediate success. His career is definitely launched.
He has successfully played roles in many feature films : 17 years old again (2009), The Lucky One (2012), Our worst neighbors (2014), The Greatest Showman (2018) or Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019).
But it was in 2017 that he revealed his first real physical metamorphosis in the film Baywatch: Baywatch by Seth Gordon. Alongside Dwayne Johnson "The Rock"He is discovered as Matt Brody, a lifeguard with bulging abs.
An impressive first physical transformation for Baywatch
In BaywatchZac Efron sports flayed muscles and a body fat percentage extremely low (certainly around 6 %).
But to achieve such a result, the actor had to inflict on himself a physical preparation worthy of a high level athlete. He did 5 to 6 weight training sessions per week and used a lot of the superset technique.
He also monitored his power supply very closely.
Indeed, the implementation of a calibrated diet is essential to achieve a goal of own weight gain. Chicken, turkey, eggs, vegetables, brown rice and oatmeal were the rhythm of her daily life for several months, providing a controlled intake of proteins, carbohydrates and lipids.
Recently, Zac Efron confided in an interview to have suffered particularly during this period. In addition to his training program intensive and his strict diet plan, the actor consumed powerful diuretic products to better dry. A technique which is unfortunately not without danger...
The lack of water led the body of Zac Efron to enter in survival mode. Victim of regular insomnia, the actor admitted to have lived a phase of depression for many months.
Based on this experience, the Californian has expressed his desire to focus on his mental health in search of the perfect body.
But a new cinematographic challenge seems to have pushed the actor to rework his physical condition to better embody his character.
Zac Efron's weight gain to play a wrestler
The true story of the Von Erich curse
Scheduled for release in 2023, the biographical film The Iron Claw is directed by Canadian Sean Durkin. It tells the true story of a family of wrestlers.
Zac Efron plays Kevin Von Erich, alongside actors such as Holt McCallany, Harris Dickinson, Lily James or Jeremy Allen White.
Kevin Von Erich is a famous professional wrestler from the 1980s who was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment), the largest wrestling organization in the world.
Kevin Von Erich worked for many years in the federation of which his father, Fritz Von Erich, was owner: the World Class Championship Wrestling.
But if the Von Erich family (Adkisson, of their real name) is so well known, it is also and especially because it was struck by several tragedies. At only 65 years old, Kevin is today the only survivor of a sibling group of 6 children, marked by terrible deaths.
The film traces their journey from the greatest successes of World Class Championship Wrestling to the fall of this empire.
An incredible metamorphosis
On pictures of the shooting revealed by the British newspaper The Daily MailWe see Zac Efron shirtless, a simple towel around the waist, more than a few muscular than ever. And the least we can say is that he is unrecognizable! The photos have also quickly made the tour of the web.
In addition to its detonating bowl haircut, it is especially its muscle volume and his prominent belly that impress. A body worthy of a bodybuilder that the actor had to patiently build to look like Kevin Von Erich.
It does indeed seem much more massive than in Baywatch: Baywatch. This was all it took for the first suspicions to arise.
On social networks, some have even gone so far as to talk about "bubble gut". Well known in the world of bodybuilding, this expression means an abnormally distended stomach. This is indeed the impression that can give the photo of Zac Efron shirtless.
But this phenomenon of "bubble gut" is generally the result of an abusive use of growth hormones (GH). Personally, I don't think that Zac Efron has used this type of product.
For the time being, few factual elements have been revealed about the physical preparation of Zac Efron for this new role. One thing is certain, the native of San Luis Obispo has again pushed his body to the extreme to achieve such an appearance.
To conclude
Zac Efron is used to physical transformations. To prepare his roles, he does not hesitate to spend hours at the weight room and to take care of his diet. A model of determination and perseverance, Zac Efron always seems ready to take on new challenges to best embody his characters.
