Hugh Jackman Workout and Diet

Actor
Born: 1968

Hugh Jackman was born in Sydney, Australia and is the youngest of 5 children. He is a multi-talented actor, singer, dancer, producer, and he plays piano and guitar. After receiving a journalism degree in college, Jackman went on to study drama at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts. He was quickly offered a starring role in a TV drama called Correlli (where he also met his future wife). Jackman has been nominated for many awards and won several, including a Golden Globe, a Tony, and an Emmy. He was voted one of People magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People In the World in 2003 and Sexiest Man Alive in 2008. Jackman has millions of followers on social media. He is 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighs about 180 lbs.

Known For:

hugh jackman’s Diet

Summary

Jackman needed to pack on 30 lbs. fast to play the role of Wolverine and he even asked Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson for advice on how to bulk up. Jackman says The Rock told him to eat at least 7 times a day, taking in about 6,000 calories. Jackman ate protein and a vegetable along with rice in the morning only about every 2 hours. After gaining the necessary weight, Jackman’s trainer had him engage in intermittent fasting. He avoided eating 16 hours a day and ate in an 8-hour window. He said his three game-changers were carbohydrate and calorie cycling, and fasting. These improve insulin sensitivity and increase fat-burning and muscle gain.

Estimated Macros

  • Low Fat 10% 10%
  • Low Carbs 20% 20%
  • High Protein 80% 80%

Diet Details

\

Eat Up

Jackman had to eat a lot, but it was all lean and kind of boring. Lots of broccoli and chicken breast.

\

Dual Phase Approach

Phase 1 of Jackman’s diet was all about building mass so he ate tons of (lean) calories. In phase 2, his trainer had him do intermittent fasting. His eating window began after his grueling morning workout.

\

Carb Cycling

When Jackman would lift heavy, he’d alternate high carbs all day long with stopping the carbs at 4pm. When he did his low-intensity exercise or on Sunday, his only day off, he’d do green veggies only and eat more healthy fats instead, in the form of nuts, seeds and avocados

\

Steamy Secret

Jackman would often have steamed chicken breast to avoid adding fat for cooking.

What to Eat

R

Chicken Breasts

R

Steak

R

Fish

R

Nuts

R

Seeds

R

Avocados

R

Leafy greens (spinach, kale, etc.)

R

Broccoli

R

Sweet Potatoes

R

Brown Rice

R

Oatmeal

R

Quinoa

What to Avoid

Q

Sugar

Q

Refined Carbs

Q

Fruit

Q

Junk Food

Q

Fried Foods

Q

Soft Drinks

{

Jackman On His Wolverine Diet

‘There were times when I would literally eat with the mindset of working out. “One more mouthful, one more, come on, you’ve got to finish this meal.”’

{

Jackman On His Wolverine Diet, Take II

The Wolverine diet is strict…Not the fun calories…always protein, 6 times a day.’

{

Jackman On His Wolverine Diet, Take III

The most important thing of the training is the eating. In fact, 70% of how you look is how you eat.

{

Jackman On How The Wolverine Diet Ended

I got 30 pounds heavier, a little fatter, but kept strong underneath.

hugh jackman’s Workout Routine

Weekly Routine

Phased Approach

Jackman’s Wolverine workout routine had 3 phases. 1. Train for strength. 2. Train for muscle growth. 3. Train for fat loss.

Supersets For A Superhero

Supersets combine compound lifts with isolated exercises, such as doing a squat (compound) with a leg curl (isolated).

Jackman Got Jacked

By the time he finished his prep for X-Man: The Last Stand, Jackman could bench 315 lbs. and leg-press 1000 lbs

The Hard Life of A Prisoner

By the way, Jackman spent even more time in the gym for his role of Jean Valjean in Les Miserables. He also got to eat even fewer carbs so he would look emaciated but still built like an ox

Early Bird

To prepare for X-Men, Jackman would do his strength routine in the morning, along with a low-intensity cardio workout, on an empty stomach. Jackman might hit the gym at 4 am if necessary to get his first workout in before filming started.

Calculated Routine

After his trainer determined what his max for each exercise was, Jackman would lift a certain percentage to either increase strength or build bulk.

PM Cardio

Jackman would do a second, high-intensity cardio workout (HIIT) in the afternoon.

Exercise Style

Z

A Hugh Jackman Wolverine Routine

For the bench presses, squats, weighted pull-ups, and deadlifts, Jackman had a special routine. Your working max is 95% of a single rep of an exercise.

Week 1
Do 5 reps of each: 60% of working max, then 65, 70, 75%.
Week 2
Same 4 exercises as week 1: 4 reps at 60, 75, 85, 55%.
Week 3
Same exercises: 3 reps at 70, 80, 90, 90%.
Week 4
Same exercises: 10 reps at 40, 50, 60, 60%.

For Jackman’s other exercises, this was his plan:
For Strength
2-6 reps (to failure) of 4-6 sets. The weight should be high enough to bring you to failure by 6 reps. Jackman took no rest between exercises, but had a 2 min. rest between sets.

For Muscle Growth
8-12 reps for 3-5 sets. Lower weight, more reps. This medium weight should bring you to failure by the 12th rep. 1 min. rest between sets.

For Fat Loss
12-15 reps for 2-4 sets. This is high-intensity interval or HIIT training. Once again, medium weight. You should be close to failure at 12 reps. No rest between sets, unless you feel light-headed.

Z

Monday

Barbell squats
Superset with weighted walking lunges or split squats
Barbell deadlift
Superset with one-leg gym ball curl or alternating leg curls
Leg press
Superset with split leg box jump or calf raises
Cardio: Stair climbs
Cardio: Rowing 30 min

Z

Thursday

Back
Lat pulldowns
Superset with front shoulder raises & side shoulder raises
Standing cable rows
Superset with one-arm dumbbell bench rows
Jack knives
Superset with Swiss ball crunch
Cardio: stair climbs
Cardio: 30 min rowing

Z

Tuesday

Barbell squats
Superset with weighted walking lunges or split squats
Barbell deadlift
Superset with one-leg gym ball curl or alternating leg curls
Leg press
Superset with split leg box jump or calf raises
Cardio: Stair climbs
Cardio: Rowing 30 min

Z

Friday

Chest & Arms
Incline bench press
Superset with dumbbell chest flys
Decline bench press
Superset with decline dumbbell chest flys
Barbell seated shoulder military press
Superset with alternating dumbbell standing shoulder press
Paralllel bar dips
Cardio: Inch worms
Cardio: treadmill 30 min. 2% incline

Z

Wednesday

Skull crushers
Superset with cable triceps extensions
Straight bar curl
Superset with alternating dumbbell biceps curls
Close grip bar curls
Superset with one-arm preacher curls
Cardio: Inch worms
Cardio: Treadmill 30 min at 2% inclinee

{

Jackman On His Wolverine Workout

I workout 3 hours a day, 2 hours in the morning. Then, whenever I can during the day, I fit in another hour.’

{

Jackman On His Wolverine Workout, Take II

For Wolverine, I ramp it up. I do an hour and a half a day in the gym and eat 1,000 calories more than I would normally. And I train really hard.’

{

Jackman On Channeling Anger For Good

When I have 315 pounds above me, there’s that little breaking point…It’s that exact point when Wolverine gets pissed off. I try to reach that point every day in my workout, and then push through it.

hugh jackman’s Supplements

L-Carnitine

L-Carnitine

Before working out, Jackman would take the amino acid l-carnitine. L-carnitine can help reduce muscle soreness and aid in recovery.

Get it here  

Pre Workout

Vitamin Stacks

Jackman would also take a pre-workout vitamin stack called Animal Pump with creatine.

Get it here  

Multivitamin

Multivitamin

Because his diet was rather limited, Jackman would take a Because his diet was rather limited, Jackman would take a multivitamin with meals. with meals.

Get it here  

BCAA

BCAAs

Jackman would take 5-10g of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) both before and after working out, also to help with recovery.

Get it here  

Zinc

Zinc & Magnesium

With workouts as grueling as Jackman’s, he needed to be able to recover. Before bed, he would take a supplement called ZMA which contained a blend of zinc, magnesium and vitamin B6.

Get it here  

hugh jackman’s Lifestyle

Fate Intervenes

Jackman was a last-minute replacement for Dougray Scott who was originally cast as Wolverine but was injured in a motorcycle accident. Jackman said he struggled to find the appropriate amount of rage to suit the character.

Sorrow Leads To Sweet

Jackman and his wife suffered 2 miscarriages, at which point they decided to adopt

Just Say No To Smoking

Jackman doesn’t smoke in real life and says he finds it horrible when he has to play a character who does.

Blind Faith

Jackman is extremely near-sighted and memorized virtually everything he had to say when hosting Saturday Night Live and the Tony awards so he wouldn’t have to try to read his lines.

{

Jackman On Channeling his Inner Wolverine

I crank up the Godsmack and Metallica. I yell and scream, which helps me get into the character.

{

Jackman On Goals

I don’t set goals in life. We limit ourselves with goals. We have far more ability than we give ourselves credit for.’

{

Jackman On The Fear Of Failure

That fear holds all of us back. And that’s the toughest thing about aging. With age, you see people fail more. How do you keep that fearlessness of a kid? You keep going. I’m not afraid to make a fool of myself.

Recommended Products