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This 4-week progression strengthens your core while building your shoulders
Workout by: Carter Hays, Photographs by: Beth Bischoff

If your core is weak, pressing heavy weights overhead puts you at risk of lower-back injury. This 4-week progression strengthens your core while building your shoulders. Perform these core workouts 2 or 3 days a week. Do 12 repetitions of each move, resting 45 to 90 seconds after each set or superset.

The epic workout

In order for Brad Pitt to get ready for the role in the movie Troy, He dropped cigarettes and sharply cut back on beer and chips, although he did allow himself the occasional treat: McFlurry shakes from McDonald’s, “though it was more for a little taste of home, you know, a little Americana.”

Brad used a low-carb, high-protein diet during the training for his role. Physically, Pitt prepared for the role with a year of intense training. “The first three months were daunting and not fun at all.” His days included two to three hours in the gym, two additional hours of sword work and four high-protein, low-carb meals. As a result, he gained about 10 pounds of brawn.

Look like Tyler Durden
In order to get that muscular and shredded look for the movie Fight Club; Brad used an intense workout routine for amazing results. His workout was characterized by focusing on one muscle group up each day, then giving it the rest of the week to recover. This is very beneficial for adding muscle mass fast, because muscles grow during rest periods and not during the actual time in the gym.

Finally, at the end of the week, he finished off with a good cardio workout. This put his body in fat-burning mode, which served to shed any extra padding that covered his muscles, giving him that chiseled look.

Here are the exercises that made up his workout. He performed 3 sets, taking approximately 60 seconds to rest between each set. Also, he used a weight that is challenging enough that to complete 15 reps (with the exception of pushups and pullups), but be fatigued on the last rep. Remember, proper form is a must!

Intermediate Athlete:

(Vertical Leap 20-30 inches, Squat between 1.0 times - 1.5 times bodyweight, Less than 1 year training experience)

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Beginner Athlete:

(Vertical Leap less than 20 inches, Squat less than 1.0 times bodyweight, less than 6 months experience lifting weights)

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Description: Training regimen for the whole body.