Hugh Jackman's weight training for Wolverine

Since the year 2000 and his first interpretation of Wolverine in the film X-Men, Hugh Jackman has never stopped playing this mythical character on the big screen. But to shine in this demanding role, the Australian actor had to undergo an incredible physical transformation. Discover the diet and weight training program followed by Hugh Jackman to put on the costume of the superhero with adamantium claws.

Who is Hugh Jackman?

Born in 1968 in Sydney, Australia, Hugh Jackman first studied journalism at university.

He then migrated to the southwest of the country, to Perth, to learn acting at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts.

This training allowed him to land his first role in 1995, in a television series entitled Correlli. Hugh Jackman was then 27 years old.

His first appearance in the cinema takes place 4 years later, in Paperback Heroan Australian romantic comedy.

But it is in 2000 that Hugh Jackman reveals himself to the public. He played for the first time Logan, aka Wolverineone of the Marvel superheroes in the movie X-Men by Bryan Singer.

For the little anecdote, the role of Wolverine was to be entrusted to the actor Dougray Scott. The latter having been injured on a previous shooting, it is finally Hugh Jackman who was chosen at the last moment. More than 20 years later, we have to admit that this little helping hand of destiny has rather succeeded to the Australian actor and to the franchise Marvel.

He once again takes on the role of the bestial mutant in X-Men 2 (2003), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) and X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009).

He then returned to the character in 2013 in Wolverine: The Fight of the Immortalin 2014 in X-Men: Days of Future Pastand in 2017 in Loganone of the biggest successes of the saga.

Meanwhile, Hugh Jackman was nominated for Best Actor at the 2013 Academy Awards for his portrayal of Jean Valjean in Les Misérables by Tom Hooper.

Hugh Jackman's physical transformation

In the Marvel universe, Logan is a charismatic, wild and beastly character. To draw the Wolverine's silhouetteHugh Jackman followed a weight-training program intense. This allowed him to have a dry and muscular body.

In nearly 20 years, over the course of the films, the physical evolution is moreover impressive.

In the first X-Men movie in 2000, the Australian actor weighed about 85 kilos. He gained 10 kilos for the second movie in 2003, before losing fat mass for the following movies.

In the opinion of all observers, it is for Wolverine: The Fight of the Immortalin 2013, that the actor has built the best physique. In particular, he has approached Dwayne Johnson, The Rockto develop 95 kilos of dry muscle and perfectly sculpted abs. At over 40 years old, Hugh Jackman is proof that achieving your goals is only a matter of discipline and will.

For increase muscle massThe actor has followed a sports and dietary program of a high-level athlete. He surrounded himself with a sports coach in order to develop his muscles.

He usually started his weight training sessions 3 months before the shooting. But for the last few movies, Hugh Jackman started to build muscle almost 18 months before going to the sets, because he didn't think he was muscular enough.

Hugh Jackman's training and diet

Hugh Jackman's training

As for weight training, Hugh Jackman did 5 to 6 workouts per week.

For gain muscle masshe did intense workouts and worked a lot in superset. This intensification technique aims to link two exercises involving different muscle groups, an agonist muscle and its antagonist.

In each training, Wolverine always included at least one basic exercise (bench press, squat, deadlift, pull-ups, etc.). He evolved in cycles of strength by increasing the loads and reducing the number of repetitions over the weeks.

The week of Hugh Jackman working out was as follows.

Monday (pectorals and shoulders):

• bench press,
• Dumbbell shoulder press,
• developed in Cuba,
• dips and extensions at the high pulley (in super-set),
• lateral elevations, frontal elevations, bird with leaning bust and military development (in giant-set).

Tuesday (legs and abs):

• back squat,
• front squat,
• thigh press,
• calf raises and leg raises (in super set),
• abdominal wheel,
• sit-up declined.

Wednesday (cardio):

• 2 sessions of 45 minutes of low intensity cardio.

Thursday (back and biceps):

• weighted pull-ups,
• barbell rowing,
• Reverse rowing with body weight,
• inclined curl with dumbbells,
• Zottman curl, cross body curls and pronation curls (in tri-set).

Friday (pectorals and arms):

• Inclined bench press at the bar,
• decline bench press, inclined bench press and dumbbell bench press (in super set),
• spread at the pulley,
• bench press with tight grip,
• triceps extensions, dips and diamond push-ups (in tri-set).

Saturday (legs and abs):

• deadlift,
• deadlift with outstretched legs,
• zercher squat,
• sit-up declined,
• landmine press.

Sunday: rest

Hugh Jackman's diet

To achieve such results, weight training is, of course, not enough.

Hugh Jackman adopted a special diet to optimize his muscle development. He consumed daily between 4,000 and 5,000 calories. This caloric intake was based on 5 daily meals.

The particularity of the Hugh Jackman's diet is that he practiced intermittent fasting. All his meals were to be grouped in a short period of 8 hours, the remaining 16 hours being devoted to fasting.

I tested her diet in the video below. Honestly, to make a mass gain with this eating method is extremely difficult. The meals are copious and very close together, which forces you to eat without hunger. Personally, I would find it difficult to adopt this diet for long!

The actor favored the healthy foods and natural. He consumed a lot of proteins (300 grams per day), far from the recommended amounts for gaining muscle. He concentrated his intake in carbohydrates around the training sessions.

Here are Hugh Jackman's meals on a typical day.

Breakfast (1,200 calories):

• 6 whole eggs,
• 2 slices of rye bread, with peanut butter,
• 100 grams of oatmeal with blueberries.

Pre-workout meal (850 calories):

• 180 grams of chicken breast,
• 300 grams of basmati rice,
• 200 grams of broccoli,
• 1/2 avocado.

Post Workout Meal (900 calories):

• 200 grams of salmon,
• 400 grams of sweet potato,
• green salad.

Snack (850 calories):

• 50 grams of whey protein,
• 100 grams of oilseeds (nuts, hazelnuts, etc.).

Last meal of the day (750 calories of protein and fat):

• 200 grams of broccoli,
• 1/2 avocado with olive oil,
• a piece of ribeye.

Conclusion

You now know everything about preparation of Hugh Jackman to draw Wolverine's muscles. You can of course try to test his diet, but I don't recommend adopting it in the long run. Keep in mind that Hollywood stars tend to exaggerate the figures in their programs to accentuate the superhuman aspect of their characters.