I am a man in my 40s who decided to turn things around and become as fit as I could and get into the best shape of my life. I can’t help but feel Hollywood exaggerates what is possible. How do these actors get into such incredible shape?
Hollywood exaggerates? Are you for real? If you can stomach watching Fast & Furious, you’ll know the answer to that question.
Films can, and often do, provide an opportunity to explore life through the eyes of well-developed and mostly flawed characters. Yet even these movies have actors who remove their clothes and earn another generation of cult-like stardom.
On the other hand, Hollywood provides an escape to another reality, where superheroes and mythical gods and monsters collide in a hodgepodge of noise, lights, colours and “perfect” physiques. When Wolverine meets Deadpool, even though he’s a man in his mid-50s, he must be every bit as chiselled and muscular as the role demands.
Let’s put digital capabilities aside and assume what you see is what walked onto the set. Yes, Hollywood exaggerates, but actors such as Hugh Jackman, 56, Chris Hemsworth, 41, Alan Ritchson, 42, Frank Grillo, 59, Dwayne Johnson, 52, and Kumail Nanjiani, 46, really did transform their bodies.
The reason this attracts attention is because people spend years trying to achieve certain types of physiques and get moderate results, yet an actor like Hemsworth claims to have gained 18kg of muscle in five months for Thor only by following a strict training regimen and diet.
No wonder “natty or not?” videos or articles such as one called “‘It’s all one giant charade: Steroids and Hollywood’s drive for super(hero)-perfection”, which first appeared on TheWrap before being syndicated onto Yahoo.com, gain so much traction.
I won’t be drawn into the “natty or not” (natty means training without performance-enhancing drugs) game as it is a slippery slope into the gutter of gossip. Every one of those actors listed deny steroid use. If you had a contract worth millions, and the risk of being cancelled and having your career flushed down the toilet, would you discuss something like steroids with media intent on sensation? On the other hand, many of them, due to their age, openly discuss being on testosterone replacement therapy (TRT), which is seen as a lifestyle medical intervention.
There’s no hard and fast rule around when TRT is prescribed, and the average level of the hormone varies greatly in men. However, it is accepted that natural testosterone levels decline as a man ages, resulting in a number of unfavourable symptoms, and some men prefer to see doctors to have those levels increased under medical supervision. Google “TRT safety”. There are risks and benefits and this is a private discussion between a man and his doctor.
Why does this matter? In the article mentioned, an expert is asked about Jackman, who unlike Grillo or Rickson, has not “admitted” to TRT. When asked if there was any chance the actor could have become as ripped as he was at his age, without the use of performance enhancers, Jay Campbell, best-selling author of The Testosterone Optimization Therapy Bible told TheWrap: “There’s zero chance. He has the chiselled appearance of an intelligent androgen user.”
If TRT is a private medical matter, should Jackman be pressured into discussing it? TRT on its own won’t bring out Wolverine. Nothing that impressive is achievable without a superhuman work ethic and diet, and enough time to train under the supervision of the best trainers in the world.
On the other hand, younger, elite athletes like Jesse Kriel, Makazole Mapimpi, Damien Willemse and Cheslin Kolbe prove just how “jacked” a drug-tested athlete can be. Eben Etzebeth could easily pull off Wolverine. Imagine it for a second.
But what does any of this mean for you, me and every other man? Nothing. Some people look up photos of strongmen and circus performers before testosterone was synthesised to give examples of what a real, natural physique looks like. However, those men did not have the diet and training knowledge we have today, nor did they have a gym with every conceivable weight and machine.
While it may be fun to speculate or important to discuss the ethics of performance-enhancing drugs in entertainment, it has no bearing on how you train, eat and live. Control what you can and take accountability for your choices.
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