Devlin Brown at the water cooler: It takes more than pharmaceuticals help to look ‘ripped’

I was watching Reacher recently and realised that since I turned 30 more than a decade ago, a body like Alan Ritchson’s is what I’ve tried to attain, yet the harder I try the more I look like Adam Sandler in Happy Gilmore. I blame the beer but what else am I doing wrong?

You are describing most people’s reality. For the record, there is nothing wrong with an average build like Sandler’s. However, unlike Sandler, who is in it for a laugh, this question will send us down a serious rabbit hole.

Your health, including your blood pressure and organs, is far more important than aesthetics. And, importantly, don’t ever assume that a beautiful-looking body is an indicator of inner health. The world, and internet, is awash with horror stories of influencers with “dream bodies” suddenly dying from complications that were directly caused by their efforts to look a certain way.

Of course, there’s no harm in trying to lose fat or gain muscle if you do it the right way. However, even when many of us think we are doing it the right way, we aren’t.

Let’s tackle Reacher head on. If you are observant, you would have noticed a significant difference in Ritchson’s physique between season 1 and later seasons. There is absolutely no way the actor would have attained the body he had in the later seasons had he not had pharmaceutical help, courtesy of his personal doctor.

This is not a typical “well, I can’t do it and I don’t look that way, so he must be taking anabolics” comment. Ritchson himself said that he found it incredibly demanding, if not impossible, to hold onto his muscular physique during season 1. So, he went and had his testosterone levels checked and was subsequently placed on testosterone replacement therapy (TRT).

This, he says, has helped him build even more muscle (which he clearly did) and, importantly, hold onto it. Don’t think you can rush off to the nearest men’s health clinic and end up looking like Reacher in a few months. There is no doubt this actor has a perfect diet and is being trained by professionals. It isn’t just the injections that have transformed his body, it is also the absolute precision in his lifestyle and training.

What then of TRT? Certainly, in the US many younger people seem to be taking this route for aesthetic reasons when they would probably have improved their natural testosterone levels through healthy lifestyle choices.

Hormone replacement therapy is a big deal, and it comes with a whole host of considerations, not least around cardiovascular and prostate health. It’s a decision that should never be taken lightly or without the guidance and care of a doctor. If intervention is required, a medical professional will design a protocol in your own best interests. The point is, this is a personal health issue and not a simple supplement decision.

Where does this leave you? It leaves you where most of us are. While averages are really just indicators of broad ranges, if your diet, training and health are spot on, a man in his 40s should generally be able to gain somewhere between 0.2kg and 0.9kg naturally in a month.

Honestly, in my personal experience, it is probably wishful thinking to think that top-end range of muscle gain can be achieved regularly. Even so, it requires eating enough protein, training properly and getting enough rest. Besides that, this growth is finite. It slows down and the closer you get to your maximum potential. The more experienced you are with weight training, the slower the gains will come. To look less like Sandler and more like a Ritchson-lite, you need to be in good shape (think cardio and diet) and not carry excess body fat.

The emerging picture is clear: when you see someone who is in shape and “ripped”, you are looking at someone who is incredibly disciplined and hard working — in the gym and in the kitchen, and for far longer than just a few months. People don’t get into that kind of shape by popping into the gym three times a week while carrying on as normal with fast food, too little sleep and excess alcohol.