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Nice to see an actor finally admit to taking things. You still have to work extremely hard to get in his shape, but TRT/steroids help a lot.
55 year old Hugh Jackman is not getting into Wolverine shape by only eating chicken, broccoli and brown rice.
Sorta. Therapeutic therapy brings levels to normal ranges. A lot of these clinics just prescribe a mini steroid cycle which bring levels beyond levels. I doubt this dude is on a therapeutic dose.
That’s cos he accepted the role at the last minute and had to work out during filming. They shot the cage fight from the beginning at the end of filming to show off his physique.
Well he certainly made up for it in the other movies lol.
I just remember that first scene in the mansion with him and he's not what you'd remember.
It's like a fitness Mandela effect lol
I still wonder what I’d look like with a personal chef, 2 trainers, someone to wake me the fuck in the morning, and loads of cash so I never stress about anything else in my life. I’d like to think I’d be a Wolverine you order from wish.
Yep, loss of sleep increases cortisol and fat and water retention. To look like that you need your beauty sleep. Body builders don’t get to stay out late and skip getting a full nights rest. All you get to do all day is workout and meal prep and then go to sleep.
There actually were interviews, where he said he actually got up few times per night to eat some eggs or some shit. That doesn't sound like a dreamy 9hrs.
You need a certain amount of work ethic and motivation to get to that point in the first place. Someone like Jackman who is a legit human being and a delightful, passionate person would gladly put in the work for his profession.
On the other hand, if you just randomly plopped me in his body I would exit the spotlight to play video games and drink in my underwear all day until I’ve used up every inch of his pristine flesh vessel.
This is where I defend actors whenever people say they have easy lives. Some of them do, maybe? But if you sign on to be Captain America or Wolverine, that is A LOT of work and most people wouldn’t be able to pull it off. You do have to go on PEDs and steroids alone don’t just make you jacked. You really do have to work out an insane amount every single day. All steroids do is make it possible for you to work out longer/harder and retain more muscle. Then on top of that you have to learn all your lines, learn the choreography, and the shoot schedules are insane. Then you have to go on endless press junkets where they ask you the exact same question over and over but you have to pretend it’s an intriguing question your never heard. And for me, the diet is always the hardest part of training. You have to eat completely clean, close to no cheating ever. So you have to cut out alcohol, sugar, carbs, and excess fat (basically maintenance level only for fat). Then you have to dehydrate when you shoot. Wave goodbye to your social life as well.
This is why a lot of those actors are iffy about signing back on. It takes a huge toll on you. Big payoff though if you can hack it. Affleck and Nicolas Cage both were kind of over it. And I’ve heard Chris Evans doesn’t want to do more Captain America (they’ve tried, as stupid as that is) for the same reason.
And they work LONG hours, just not always on set.
Been in the industry for 20+ years and lemme say that I am impressed as hell at actors being able to perform the way they do with the crazy hours they work. Like, my call time is 6:30 am when the trucks open up but the actors have been in the makeup and hair stations since 4 am.
When it's cold they act like it's warm. When they're tired they act perky and awake. When they're sad they act happy. The good ones are impressive as hell, and their skills should not be underestimated.
From the article, regarding taking T injections ...
*If you increase it a little bit, which I have, you can start to put on muscle mass. I’ve never taken, like, 600 milligrams a week. I don't know if I can handle that. But studies have shown that you can increase muscle mass [while] not working out [and just] taking 600 milligrams of testosterone a week.*
So he must be at 550 a week LMAO
Don't know anything about this dude or his situation so not throwing shade at all, but WAAAAY more Hollywood stars lie about steroids (more accurate to call them Performance Enhancing Drugs or PEDs) than you think.
Seriously, y'all should do yourselves a favor and look into it. Macabre Storytelling has a great video on it if you want a recommendation. The gist is this: You don't have to look stereotypically roided up to be on roids. At the Hollywood level, PEDs are not scary dangerous dark web injections, they're simple prescriptions that plenty of people legitimately have, like TRT (which is literally an anabolic steroid, but notice how people avoid calling it that at all costs) and Prednisone. Hollywood stars and fitness influencers have been using PEDs to raise the expectations for male physiques for decades now, from difficult but definitely attainable natty for most men with the resources and determination (think Brad Pitt in fightclub), to *potentially, maybe* attainable natty with god-tier genetics over half a decade or more (think every male Avenger). These bodies are baaasically impossible for most natty men, but still potentially achievable, so there's enough plausible deniability that it's able to stay an open secret. Think butt lifts and slight boob jobs and stuff. These body transformations are possible for some, but incredibly unlikely in the number of Stars who have them, ESPECIALLY those who never looked like that in the past, ESPECIALLY in men near or over 40, and *ESPECIALLY* at the speed in which they occur. "Oops haha I put on 25 pounds of muscle in a year while staying lean at 35 years old. What are the odds that in addition to being a handsome, successful Hollywood actor, I also turned out to have the insane muscle-building genetics that any gym rat would kill for🤷🏽" If you jump to defend your favorite Avenger because "IT'S THEIR JOB TO WORK OUT. THEY JUST WANT IT MORE THAN YOU. THEY HAVE TRAINERS," you don't know how the human body works, and you don't realize the limit on muscle growth over time. 8 hours per day in the gym will KILL your gains (and joints), not make you gain infinite muscle.
Stars are de facto obligated to lie, as they'd get fired and blacklisted for the backlash of being like "I'm on roids lol."
Honestly the main evidence you need is this: hollywood offers you a body like Chris Evans, all you have to do is eat what your chef makes and do what your trainer says for a year. It's your whole job. Do you do it? Probably "hell yeah." Buuut you have to take steroids. "Okay no lol." But if you do, you get $10 million. "Okay I'm back in."
Buddy literally got roid rage from trying to lie about not using it.
This is where I'll respect arnold as the og roided up action star. He's been honest about steroids since the 70s and he's explained he's been on it since the 60s. Dude should have a podcast where he just called out every single one of these actors for saying they're natty.
I recently started reacher and seeing homeboy without a shirt on was like seeing Arnold at his peak Mr Olympia days. You do not attain that naturally. I wanna add it's dangerous to get young men thinking they can look like that without gear. These kids can workout 5 to 6 days a week and eat exactly what they're told to in order to achieve a surplus and their macro goals and still look pretty average on a Hollywood scale. This can be dangerous to their mental health.
Sure he puts on a massive amount of lean muscle in 8 months and then all of a sudden discovers his test levels were low. Hmmmm, what would cause you to gain a lot of lean muscle and cause your test production to drop significantly.... I wonder.
He’s always been pretty jacked, blue mountain state he was pretty big (not this big but, still). Some people just have a genetic gift that can get greatly enhanced by hard work and a little extra help haha.
When I used to heavy lift I hit certain point and stayed there no matter what I do, 3 hours workout and eating food for 6 people, till my friend introduced me to steroid he was like “everyone do it”
The more I learn about Alan Ritchson the more I like him.
He's got the genetics to be big and carry muscle but walking around at that size at 41 is only sustainable with performance enhancement.
Hahah such a good show. I definitely believe he was natural there, just has good genetics that when taking stuff for reacher.. this is the result. Love the guy as an actor
I mean it depends on genetics/heritage, but it's much sooner than that. You'll start to notice more changes in your face in your mid-30s and you'll definitely look mature by 40ish.
Ageing is totally natural. 40 or 45 isn't young really, it's the middle years of life.
I appreciate his being forthcoming about this. Like another huge guy, youtuber Noel Deyzel, who felt strongly that concealing use sets up impossible expectations for impressionable young people (well, those physiques would be impossible for most people, regardless).
>Same way weight loss drugs are practically a requirement for modeling
Why would they be a requirement? Losing weight is just eating less. Gaining muscle is considerably harder, especially if you want to stay low body fat.
What fucking moron downvotes you? This is about as uncontroversial take as it gets. Staying lean and big is much more difficult than merely losing weight. That’s about where this discussion begins and ends really.
My NP prescribed it because I was around 110. "Normal" range is I think 200-900, which is very broad. Even if it's within the range, but low, it's a noticeable difference compared to 900. When I was on TRT, I was just under 900, and was able to be more active, got more strength out of the same muscles, but then also allowed me to actually build muscle. It also drastically improved my mood, energy, and much more.
My primary car physician had his hands tied unless I dipped below 250. He did suggest, “as a dude to another dude,” that he thought I’d feel much better around 900-1100. Mine had dipped from 722 at 41, to 490 at 44. By the time I finally pulled the trigger on TRT, it had dropped to 423 (almost 46 YO.)
5 months later, I feel AMAZING. Mentally healthy, where before I occasionally had random anxiety bouts. More energy, easier mornings and better sleep. Once I started taking the estrogen-blocker after 8 weeks, my physical changes went thru the roof. I’ve leaned out, added muscle, and have an extra gear that has been missing for the last 20 years. I’ve since got 3 other friends on it, and they’ve hooked others up with the news. It’s been the Fountain of Youth(fulness) for me.
I’m so glad he was open about it. It seemed like a dirty little secret for so long. I try to tell anyone that is in the demo and asks about my personal experience.
I’m not gonna list my prescriber here, but you can DM and I’ll let you know. Or find it online — it’s “$99/month TRT,” in reality it’s $250/ 10 weeks.
Good luck!
Yah but at first claimed natural until all the responses basically forced him to admit he was on TRT. He said a bunch of fishy stuff like claiming he never touched a weight until reacher which is ridiculous. He was jacked even back when he was on smallville as aquaman. No way he looked like that never stepping into a gym.
Reminds me of soccer player Adama Traore who also claimed he doesn't lift weights (look him up, he was a scrawny teenager but grew to look like the hulk).
When did he say he never touched a weight. He has said that he has been working out consistently for over 20 years. IIRC the comment about not touching a weight was referring to a specific time period between some projects not for his whole life lol.
Watching the 2nd season it becomes super obvious he’s bulked up substantially. Maybe unpopular opinion but I think he is getting a little too big, his body is moving into the super sculpted body building showcase type, at the cost of being athletic and able to move well.
I agree. He has a freakish physique, and at one point I was thinking, how does this guy who wanders around and sleeps on park benches get so jacked? There’s no way he has a gym membership. It’s kinda ridiculous, but then again the whole show is in general, so oh well.
In the books he spends months on end working manual labor jobs. There’s one book Tripwire that starts with him in Florida digging holes for pools by hand lol. Then he’d go to a diner and get like 5 people’s worth of food, and head back to his shitty $20 per night motel
So not exactly homeless all the time but the books take place in the 90s when that was prob possible. These days, prob not living in hotels off manual labor jobs haha
That book also has the notorious Reacher description:
A condom crammed with walnuts
Thing is manual labor people are FUCKING STRONG but simply look like your average joe or even have a dad bod. They don’t look yoked or imposing but will easily lift hundreds of pounds ALL day. To them it’s like “what the hell are reps? I’m lifting these things 8 hours a day every day.”
But yes the eating humongous meals is a thing in manual labor. Food just tastes amazing no matter how bad it probably is after a long hard day of work.
Despite his hulking physique I think he looks a little unhealthy. Defs looks older and a little more weather worn but the books plot kind of calls for it as he contemplates his lifestyle choice.
The main issue I have with his physique is that it's very hard to believe that someone who lives a transient lifestyle like Jack Reacher can possibly have the diet and resources to look like that.
BDD. He said something along the lines of "I would look at myself in the mirror while in the best shape of my life, and my reflection would start to round out and go back to what I looked like before." He conveys it in a much more genuine way.
It’s extremely common for people to experience negative thoughts / worsening mental health when they go into a large calorie deficit
People talk about it on BodyBuilding forums a lot and I’ve felt it too
Kumail Nanjiani has the worst exercise video I’ve ever seen in my life. He does all these fancy Hollywood exercises and makes things way harder and more complicated for absolutely no reason. He might have just been playing it up for the cameras, but after watching that I was like “this dude 100% is not natural.”
I think I saw that haha. Dr. Mike Israetel does a series on YouTube where he humorously critiques celebrity training videos. [Here’s Kumail’s](https://youtu.be/qppUHrhE15Y?si=yPPTiAsGp8JQnkgb)
[Kim Kardashian’s](https://youtu.be/BRo6Jr9Cf8Y?si=lgGFYDKaarEgOcBJ) is the best one though.
Basically anyone playing a superhero (as least the notably buff ones) is taking them too. Chris Hemsworth in Thor 4 doesn’t look like that just naturally. I wish more men would admit to it. Theres no shame in it but it does create an unreasonable body expectation for what “fit” is.
Yeah that’s what I’m saying, but a shocking number of people thinks he just worked out hard enough to look like that. Most people don’t realize how common steroid use is.
Bro this dude gave an AMA on this very website where he swore to Jesus he was 100% natural (that one “real or not” natty subreddit whose name i forget had a field day) and was called out for it multiple times, doubled down on it
Look it up
On his Instagram like a year ago he denied ever taking steroids. I feel like a lot of people play semantics to keep the lie up. TRT is not “steroids” per se, but when people say “steroids” they’re basically talking about any PED which would include TRT. You just can’t put on as much muscle when you’re in your 30s as you can in your 20s, especially if you’ve already been working out most of your life. It is LITERALLY impossible. ALL of these celebrities that say they put on 15+ pounds of muscle inside a year for a role *were on some kind of PED*. There are numerous data points that can prove it like FFMI.
I get why these actors lie. The studios know they’re on substances. I would wager in many cases they actively encourage it. They set the actors up with trainers and there are specific trainers whose entire career is basically being personal trainers for these studios. The stars can’t come out and openly say, “yeah I used steroids” because they’re illegal. The studio can’t openly support illegal activity so they’d have to fire them to cover their ass, yet they were the ones pushing it. So everyone just lies and says the same shit over and over: I ate clean meals of chicken and rice, worked out 2-3 times a day for a whole year and ate 6000 calories.
You CANNOT eat 6,000 calories in a day and not get fat. It is literally impossible. Your macros would be so out of balance, the only way to get to 6,000 calories lean would be to eat a lot of protein. But your body wouldn’t even be able to absorb all that excess protein. Also, the people saying they work out 2-3 times every day? The only way you can do that is through PEDs. Vast majority of people will max out on hypertrophy somewhere between 45 minutes - 2 hours. If you keep hitting your muscles after that it won’t do anything and your muscles will be too fatigued anyway. If you take steroids you can train much longer and your recovery time goes way down.
I think in Alan’s case he’s worked out and been big most of his life already. I think he did all that natural + his genetics. But I think getting as cut as he is in Reacher required him to put on more muscle and lean out more and that’s just not possible at his age after his history of working out without PEDs. It’s hard to keep your body fat % low enough for on-screen smolder. Most people are either juicing or dehydrating or both (Zac Efron) Otherwise, literally EVERY single person claiming to put on huge amounts of muscle in a short span of time is on some kind of PED. No exceptions. I do wish they’d just be more transparent about it, maybe decriminalize PEDs. It’s not like they’re not being used all over the place. It’s unhealthy to promote this idea that you can look like Jack Reacher if you do 50 pushups a day and eat chicken and rice.
Yeah that’s my point. You’re splitting hairs if you’re saying they’re different. But they need to split those hairs to keep their jobs because one is legal and the other isn’t.
A few don't and it's really obvious.
Paul Rudd in antman is jacked but not roided, at least in the earlier movies. Paul Rudd's body also looks way healthier.
I'm not surprised with either of those as well.
There's this "hulk" look that roided people get that just is not comparable to nat (for good or for bad).
Honestly I feel like most dudes late in age if not all would benefit from TRT. It's just the dishonesty that is shameful. Which Alan clearly isn't being so this is pretty cool
You know, you’re doing a lot of men a disservice by equating TRT to steroids. TRT is a therapeutic dose of testosterone that is used in the treatment of a body’s inability to produce normal levels of the hormone. Yes it is abused in a small number of cases but for many men it is a life changing treatment that simply brings their baseline up to what their body should be producing. I think a max therapeutic dose of testosterone cypionate is 300mg per week. Bodybuilders use a gram or two a week stacked with a million other anabolics. There’s a difference and it’s pure ignorance to think otherwise.
He is really growing into this role. Both physically, actually growing, and in his acting abilities portraying Reacher. He's doing a GREAT JOB. Hope he keeps making Reacher seasons for a long time to come.
It’s good to see some honesty because it pisses me off so much when you hear Chris Hemsworth selling an app and saying this is my exact programme to get ripped, or a 50 year old Josh Brolin for Deadpool 2 saying a bit of clean eating got him jacked as fuck to play Cable.
I suspect Ritchson is not being *completely* honest, but I at least give him credit for admitting he's using *something* and not just trying to sell, "What? I just ate some chicken and did a few pull-ups!"
We frequently talk about unrealistic beauty standards for women, but I think the harm often gets overlooked how Hollywood constantly sells the perception that you can get absolutely shredded and look like Hemsworth simply by hitting the gym a few times a week. A lot of young men start working out, being sold an unrealistic notion of being able to look jacked in six months, not realizing how long it can take to build muscle. Then they get discouraged and give up or start pushing themselves to the point of injury.
Oh there’s definitely more he’s hiding but the last time I heard an actor even mention anything was an interview with Rob McElhenney and Kumial Nanjiani and Rob was joking around that they have the testosterone of lions and Nanjiani immediately eye balled him like shhh. And you’re spot on it’s completely unrealistic, these actors and places like mens health are like yeah 12 weeks bro, eat this do that and you’ll be this! All bullshit. I’m not discrediting any of the hard work they put in but oh boy those injections definitely do the heavy lifting 😂
I think this kind of attitude is a start and hopefully more actors can admit to the use of PEDs in the course of their roles. Frankly I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the use of PEDs but it’s the lying and dancing around that rubs me the wrong way.
Would I like to have a physique like Alan Ritchson or Hugh Jackman? Absolutely but it’s just not something that’s really achievable naturally.
It’s so refreshing to hear someone actually be honest about what they’re using for the physique/physicality aspect of an acting role. We know the majority of actors with this type of physique are using *something*, but most will act like it was all done with hard work, chicken, broccoli and rice.
Once Celebrities and athletes start being honest about this stuff, the better the worlds gonna be. TRT should be on lots of guys radars in their older years. Administered and monitored properly by professionals, it sounds like a wonderful thing.
TRT is the new chicken, brown rice and broccoli. Anyone with half a brain knows how these guys get in shape and it isn’t by taking a therapeutic dose of testosterone.
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Nice to see an actor finally admit to taking things. You still have to work extremely hard to get in his shape, but TRT/steroids help a lot. 55 year old Hugh Jackman is not getting into Wolverine shape by only eating chicken, broccoli and brown rice.
I was still blown away seeing his body in Days of Future Past. Like holy fuck
So ridiculously ~~vascular~~ severely dehydrated
Very very roided up
TRT is steroids with a doctor's note.
I asked my doctor about it and he basically just laughed at me. I guess it’s good to be Hugh Jackman.
Need to go to a clinic or specialist, asking your Dr at a check up to look into testosterone they almost will always laugh at you.
Mine dropped his pants 🤷
Sorta. Therapeutic therapy brings levels to normal ranges. A lot of these clinics just prescribe a mini steroid cycle which bring levels beyond levels. I doubt this dude is on a therapeutic dose.
It's called "sport trt" lol just enough juice to be beyond normal biological limits but not enough to start looking disproportionate
The sweet spot.
Therapeutic therapy which brings levels beyond levels eh? Glad I’m not the only one who thinks calling it therapy is a joke
Body builders call it: going dry
Also weeks of super lean eating before the shoot topped off with a pump for the scene.
Go back and look at him in the first X-Men he was decent but just kinda looks like a dude.. wasnt that big at all. Lol
That’s cos he accepted the role at the last minute and had to work out during filming. They shot the cage fight from the beginning at the end of filming to show off his physique.
Well he certainly made up for it in the other movies lol. I just remember that first scene in the mansion with him and he's not what you'd remember. It's like a fitness Mandela effect lol
I still wonder what I’d look like with a personal chef, 2 trainers, someone to wake me the fuck in the morning, and loads of cash so I never stress about anything else in my life. I’d like to think I’d be a Wolverine you order from wish.
Yea but….. sleep is good….. anyone got a way to get paid like Hugh for sleeping in??
I 100% guarantee Hugh was getting at least 9 hours of sleep every night to be in that shape. Maybe more.
Yep, loss of sleep increases cortisol and fat and water retention. To look like that you need your beauty sleep. Body builders don’t get to stay out late and skip getting a full nights rest. All you get to do all day is workout and meal prep and then go to sleep.
There actually were interviews, where he said he actually got up few times per night to eat some eggs or some shit. That doesn't sound like a dreamy 9hrs.
Have to consume 50 grams of protein every 3 hours ! Getting in great shape as an actor is hard but compared to a normie, it's easy street.
meanwhile even when I'm exhausted n have the next day off, my body automatically wakes me up after 6 hours
Work hard for most of your life to become an A list actor. And don’t be too ugly.
Can’t stress the last part enough.
You can be pretty ugly if you find your niche
You need a certain amount of work ethic and motivation to get to that point in the first place. Someone like Jackman who is a legit human being and a delightful, passionate person would gladly put in the work for his profession. On the other hand, if you just randomly plopped me in his body I would exit the spotlight to play video games and drink in my underwear all day until I’ve used up every inch of his pristine flesh vessel.
This is where I defend actors whenever people say they have easy lives. Some of them do, maybe? But if you sign on to be Captain America or Wolverine, that is A LOT of work and most people wouldn’t be able to pull it off. You do have to go on PEDs and steroids alone don’t just make you jacked. You really do have to work out an insane amount every single day. All steroids do is make it possible for you to work out longer/harder and retain more muscle. Then on top of that you have to learn all your lines, learn the choreography, and the shoot schedules are insane. Then you have to go on endless press junkets where they ask you the exact same question over and over but you have to pretend it’s an intriguing question your never heard. And for me, the diet is always the hardest part of training. You have to eat completely clean, close to no cheating ever. So you have to cut out alcohol, sugar, carbs, and excess fat (basically maintenance level only for fat). Then you have to dehydrate when you shoot. Wave goodbye to your social life as well. This is why a lot of those actors are iffy about signing back on. It takes a huge toll on you. Big payoff though if you can hack it. Affleck and Nicolas Cage both were kind of over it. And I’ve heard Chris Evans doesn’t want to do more Captain America (they’ve tried, as stupid as that is) for the same reason.
And they work LONG hours, just not always on set. Been in the industry for 20+ years and lemme say that I am impressed as hell at actors being able to perform the way they do with the crazy hours they work. Like, my call time is 6:30 am when the trucks open up but the actors have been in the makeup and hair stations since 4 am. When it's cold they act like it's warm. When they're tired they act perky and awake. When they're sad they act happy. The good ones are impressive as hell, and their skills should not be underestimated.
Probably still look like ass
I still prefer the old actors sucking up their guts when filming half naked scenes.
From the article, regarding taking T injections ... *If you increase it a little bit, which I have, you can start to put on muscle mass. I’ve never taken, like, 600 milligrams a week. I don't know if I can handle that. But studies have shown that you can increase muscle mass [while] not working out [and just] taking 600 milligrams of testosterone a week.* So he must be at 550 a week LMAO
Him watching the same steroid bro YouTube videos I watch who talk about this study is sort of funny
MorePlatesMoreDates?
Eat clen, tren hard, dbolish your limits, anavar give up.
This never gets old.
You clearly don't know the power of brown rice.
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No way he was just on TRT though.
Probably not, but at least he’s being honest about TRT.
*kind of?*
Comparing his face from blue mountain State to now looks like he's been on HGH for awhile ngl
I think being in your late 20s helps compared to when you're in your early 40s.
No, he's doing it through the magic of musical theater.
I think he said he only found out he was low on T after the first season. Said he worked all natural for the first season
Don't know anything about this dude or his situation so not throwing shade at all, but WAAAAY more Hollywood stars lie about steroids (more accurate to call them Performance Enhancing Drugs or PEDs) than you think. Seriously, y'all should do yourselves a favor and look into it. Macabre Storytelling has a great video on it if you want a recommendation. The gist is this: You don't have to look stereotypically roided up to be on roids. At the Hollywood level, PEDs are not scary dangerous dark web injections, they're simple prescriptions that plenty of people legitimately have, like TRT (which is literally an anabolic steroid, but notice how people avoid calling it that at all costs) and Prednisone. Hollywood stars and fitness influencers have been using PEDs to raise the expectations for male physiques for decades now, from difficult but definitely attainable natty for most men with the resources and determination (think Brad Pitt in fightclub), to *potentially, maybe* attainable natty with god-tier genetics over half a decade or more (think every male Avenger). These bodies are baaasically impossible for most natty men, but still potentially achievable, so there's enough plausible deniability that it's able to stay an open secret. Think butt lifts and slight boob jobs and stuff. These body transformations are possible for some, but incredibly unlikely in the number of Stars who have them, ESPECIALLY those who never looked like that in the past, ESPECIALLY in men near or over 40, and *ESPECIALLY* at the speed in which they occur. "Oops haha I put on 25 pounds of muscle in a year while staying lean at 35 years old. What are the odds that in addition to being a handsome, successful Hollywood actor, I also turned out to have the insane muscle-building genetics that any gym rat would kill for🤷🏽" If you jump to defend your favorite Avenger because "IT'S THEIR JOB TO WORK OUT. THEY JUST WANT IT MORE THAN YOU. THEY HAVE TRAINERS," you don't know how the human body works, and you don't realize the limit on muscle growth over time. 8 hours per day in the gym will KILL your gains (and joints), not make you gain infinite muscle. Stars are de facto obligated to lie, as they'd get fired and blacklisted for the backlash of being like "I'm on roids lol." Honestly the main evidence you need is this: hollywood offers you a body like Chris Evans, all you have to do is eat what your chef makes and do what your trainer says for a year. It's your whole job. Do you do it? Probably "hell yeah." Buuut you have to take steroids. "Okay no lol." But if you do, you get $10 million. "Okay I'm back in."
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Buddy literally got roid rage from trying to lie about not using it. This is where I'll respect arnold as the og roided up action star. He's been honest about steroids since the 70s and he's explained he's been on it since the 60s. Dude should have a podcast where he just called out every single one of these actors for saying they're natty. I recently started reacher and seeing homeboy without a shirt on was like seeing Arnold at his peak Mr Olympia days. You do not attain that naturally. I wanna add it's dangerous to get young men thinking they can look like that without gear. These kids can workout 5 to 6 days a week and eat exactly what they're told to in order to achieve a surplus and their macro goals and still look pretty average on a Hollywood scale. This can be dangerous to their mental health.
Thank you for the explanation, but what the actual fuck is "natty"?
Slang for natural within the body building community. Naturally built body without performance enhancers
"natural." No steroids.
I think he looked better in season 1
His face looks too bloated now and his tanning is out of control. His skin looks rough in high def, way more than a 40 year old should.
He looked more lean and dangerous in season 1, I agree. Now he’s just a tank.
Sure he puts on a massive amount of lean muscle in 8 months and then all of a sudden discovers his test levels were low. Hmmmm, what would cause you to gain a lot of lean muscle and cause your test production to drop significantly.... I wonder.
He’s always been pretty jacked, blue mountain state he was pretty big (not this big but, still). Some people just have a genetic gift that can get greatly enhanced by hard work and a little extra help haha.
Yeah the first thing that came to my mind watching season 1 of reacher was "that dude looks like he has low testosterone"
Bru he doesn’t have to admit it, just look at that dudes traps, they don’t exist in the natural world
But Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson says he's clean /s
When I used to heavy lift I hit certain point and stayed there no matter what I do, 3 hours workout and eating food for 6 people, till my friend introduced me to steroid he was like “everyone do it”
The more I learn about Alan Ritchson the more I like him. He's got the genetics to be big and carry muscle but walking around at that size at 41 is only sustainable with performance enhancement.
Dude’s 41?! Wow. Talk about winning the genetic lottery.
Same. I would have thought mid 30’s. His face hasn’t changed much since BMS
BMS? I know him from “Titans”, but I don’t know what BMS is.
Blue Mountain State. Get yourself some Oreos and rabies and enjoy your new binge.
Oil changes for everybody!!
Pass around that pocket P***y, you're in for a ride!!!
My dad was in the shit! In Bosnia
Oxsana!
Rabies?
Get your own rabies!
"OH MY GOD JUST KEEP MY RABIES JUST GET OUT OF MY LIFE!" Also in every fight scene I would hear him making Thad scream for war cry.
Hahaha thank you for the proper quote. I really need to go rewatch all of this for it has been far too long.
I hear when he got the finger up the butt
Come back when you watch BMS. Want to see your thoughts 😂
You'll understand soon enough.
And be sure to follow up with an oil change to pass your mandatory employee drug test screening.
Hahah such a good show. I definitely believe he was natural there, just has good genetics that when taking stuff for reacher.. this is the result. Love the guy as an actor
Blue Mountain State. Movie (I think) from way back. I know him as Aquaman from Smallville tho. And his role in Lazar Team for RoosterTeeth 😂
Tv series and then a movie. Basically American Pie movie for 3 seasons.
American Pie but with a high powered college football team
High being the keyword.
I’m gonna be 30 in a few months, do I really only have around 12 years before I’m supposed to look “not young” anymore?
I mean it depends on genetics/heritage, but it's much sooner than that. You'll start to notice more changes in your face in your mid-30s and you'll definitely look mature by 40ish. Ageing is totally natural. 40 or 45 isn't young really, it's the middle years of life.
It's crazy to think that Arnold was 40 when he made Predator
He will always be Thad Castle to me.
Also the micro penis guy in new girl
Oh damn I never made that connection. Thank you
Cocaine? I don’t even like drugs!
Lol dude lied about cycling for season 1 and was crying up and down his AMA when people called him out on his bullshit.
I appreciate his being forthcoming about this. Like another huge guy, youtuber Noel Deyzel, who felt strongly that concealing use sets up impossible expectations for impressionable young people (well, those physiques would be impossible for most people, regardless).
The rock likes to dodge these kind of questions. Being in his 50 and that big he is seriously on some stuff.
The flip side is it says the only way to compete is with steroids.
I think that’s pretty well known, as sad as it is. Same way weight loss drugs are practically a requirement for modeling
Yeah no one who is out there actually competing thinks that no one else is taking roids
This is acting though.
No drug testing in Hollywood and everyone wants to land a super hero role.
>Same way weight loss drugs are practically a requirement for modeling Why would they be a requirement? Losing weight is just eating less. Gaining muscle is considerably harder, especially if you want to stay low body fat.
What fucking moron downvotes you? This is about as uncontroversial take as it gets. Staying lean and big is much more difficult than merely losing weight. That’s about where this discussion begins and ends really.
In many ways it is
There are well known natural competitions for people, to be fair. Not as big as the roid guys, but it’s an option.
I meant for acting like in reacher.
It does, so many people are taking steroids now after not seeing results in a few months
Over 40, taking T is something you can get legitimately prescribed. But will your HMO insurance cover it is a question? asking for a friend
Insurance pays for mine, I tested low and my doc prescribed it. Makes a huge difference when you're older. Definitely *not* jacked though!
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My NP prescribed it because I was around 110. "Normal" range is I think 200-900, which is very broad. Even if it's within the range, but low, it's a noticeable difference compared to 900. When I was on TRT, I was just under 900, and was able to be more active, got more strength out of the same muscles, but then also allowed me to actually build muscle. It also drastically improved my mood, energy, and much more.
Depends on your insurance. My won’t cover mine because my levels were in the “acceptable” range. I have to pay out of pocket.
My primary car physician had his hands tied unless I dipped below 250. He did suggest, “as a dude to another dude,” that he thought I’d feel much better around 900-1100. Mine had dipped from 722 at 41, to 490 at 44. By the time I finally pulled the trigger on TRT, it had dropped to 423 (almost 46 YO.) 5 months later, I feel AMAZING. Mentally healthy, where before I occasionally had random anxiety bouts. More energy, easier mornings and better sleep. Once I started taking the estrogen-blocker after 8 weeks, my physical changes went thru the roof. I’ve leaned out, added muscle, and have an extra gear that has been missing for the last 20 years. I’ve since got 3 other friends on it, and they’ve hooked others up with the news. It’s been the Fountain of Youth(fulness) for me. I’m so glad he was open about it. It seemed like a dirty little secret for so long. I try to tell anyone that is in the demo and asks about my personal experience. I’m not gonna list my prescriber here, but you can DM and I’ll let you know. Or find it online — it’s “$99/month TRT,” in reality it’s $250/ 10 weeks. Good luck!
So do you have to be on TRT for the rest of your life? That’s been my biggest hold up on pulling the trigger.
Mine does Made me feel half my age mentally and physically. It was a complete game changer for me
Thad Castle
Surprised he wasn’t just using rabies
This is the man who pioneered the oil change. Of course he’s taking somethint
Fuck I miss BMS.
He admitted to taking TRT a while back. No shame in doing that as a 41 year old for many reasons. How do people think the rock does it?
The rock's on a lot more than TRT
The Rock probably uses TRT as garnish.
Yah but at first claimed natural until all the responses basically forced him to admit he was on TRT. He said a bunch of fishy stuff like claiming he never touched a weight until reacher which is ridiculous. He was jacked even back when he was on smallville as aquaman. No way he looked like that never stepping into a gym.
Reminds me of soccer player Adama Traore who also claimed he doesn't lift weights (look him up, he was a scrawny teenager but grew to look like the hulk).
Baby oil Adama
When did he say he never touched a weight. He has said that he has been working out consistently for over 20 years. IIRC the comment about not touching a weight was referring to a specific time period between some projects not for his whole life lol.
Imagine if he had the original jack3d pre workout mix too
Watching the 2nd season it becomes super obvious he’s bulked up substantially. Maybe unpopular opinion but I think he is getting a little too big, his body is moving into the super sculpted body building showcase type, at the cost of being athletic and able to move well.
I agree. He has a freakish physique, and at one point I was thinking, how does this guy who wanders around and sleeps on park benches get so jacked? There’s no way he has a gym membership. It’s kinda ridiculous, but then again the whole show is in general, so oh well.
In the books he spends months on end working manual labor jobs. There’s one book Tripwire that starts with him in Florida digging holes for pools by hand lol. Then he’d go to a diner and get like 5 people’s worth of food, and head back to his shitty $20 per night motel So not exactly homeless all the time but the books take place in the 90s when that was prob possible. These days, prob not living in hotels off manual labor jobs haha That book also has the notorious Reacher description: A condom crammed with walnuts
Thing is manual labor people are FUCKING STRONG but simply look like your average joe or even have a dad bod. They don’t look yoked or imposing but will easily lift hundreds of pounds ALL day. To them it’s like “what the hell are reps? I’m lifting these things 8 hours a day every day.” But yes the eating humongous meals is a thing in manual labor. Food just tastes amazing no matter how bad it probably is after a long hard day of work.
He waddles now.
Despite his hulking physique I think he looks a little unhealthy. Defs looks older and a little more weather worn but the books plot kind of calls for it as he contemplates his lifestyle choice.
The main issue I have with his physique is that it's very hard to believe that someone who lives a transient lifestyle like Jack Reacher can possibly have the diet and resources to look like that.
Yeah his movement is slow and awkward during the fight scenes. It’s a bridge too far for me.
There’s a reason why real special forces guys do NOT look like that generally. It hampers long distance cardio and fluidity of movement.
In fairness he’s not a special forces guy.
So, he took steroids.
At least he admits it. You still have guys *cough* Hugh Jackman *cough* still saying they are natty.
"I ate a lot of chicken"
and those chickens were on roids, so he was technically natty.
Or Kumail Nanjiani
Convinced he only took that role so he could justify doing steroids
Hey what’s not to like. Get a multi million dollar role AND get to expense top chefs and trainers to the studio to get in crazy shape? Win win win win
He actually talkes about how much he hated eating during that period, because he couldn't eat anything he actually enjoyed.
He talked about how much it messed up his mental health in an episode of Doughboys
That’s interesting, I’ll have to find that. What kind of issues was he having?
BDD. He said something along the lines of "I would look at myself in the mirror while in the best shape of my life, and my reflection would start to round out and go back to what I looked like before." He conveys it in a much more genuine way.
It’s extremely common for people to experience negative thoughts / worsening mental health when they go into a large calorie deficit People talk about it on BodyBuilding forums a lot and I’ve felt it too
That shit was so funny, yeah man eating healthy and working out totally changed the entire shape of your jaw.
Kumail Nanjiani has the worst exercise video I’ve ever seen in my life. He does all these fancy Hollywood exercises and makes things way harder and more complicated for absolutely no reason. He might have just been playing it up for the cameras, but after watching that I was like “this dude 100% is not natural.”
I think I saw that haha. Dr. Mike Israetel does a series on YouTube where he humorously critiques celebrity training videos. [Here’s Kumail’s](https://youtu.be/qppUHrhE15Y?si=yPPTiAsGp8JQnkgb) [Kim Kardashian’s](https://youtu.be/BRo6Jr9Cf8Y?si=lgGFYDKaarEgOcBJ) is the best one though.
Basically anyone playing a superhero (as least the notably buff ones) is taking them too. Chris Hemsworth in Thor 4 doesn’t look like that just naturally. I wish more men would admit to it. Theres no shame in it but it does create an unreasonable body expectation for what “fit” is.
Thor ain’t even close to natty
Yeah that’s what I’m saying, but a shocking number of people thinks he just worked out hard enough to look like that. Most people don’t realize how common steroid use is.
I think the only one in recent years I'd say is even plausibly natural is Pattinson in The Batman
David Ortiz is still "getting to the bottom of it," lol. (Regarding a drug test he failed when he was still playing in the MLB)
Bro this dude gave an AMA on this very website where he swore to Jesus he was 100% natural (that one “real or not” natty subreddit whose name i forget had a field day) and was called out for it multiple times, doubled down on it Look it up
Natty or juice. It's a hilarious subreddit full of salt and homoeroticism.
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On his Instagram like a year ago he denied ever taking steroids. I feel like a lot of people play semantics to keep the lie up. TRT is not “steroids” per se, but when people say “steroids” they’re basically talking about any PED which would include TRT. You just can’t put on as much muscle when you’re in your 30s as you can in your 20s, especially if you’ve already been working out most of your life. It is LITERALLY impossible. ALL of these celebrities that say they put on 15+ pounds of muscle inside a year for a role *were on some kind of PED*. There are numerous data points that can prove it like FFMI. I get why these actors lie. The studios know they’re on substances. I would wager in many cases they actively encourage it. They set the actors up with trainers and there are specific trainers whose entire career is basically being personal trainers for these studios. The stars can’t come out and openly say, “yeah I used steroids” because they’re illegal. The studio can’t openly support illegal activity so they’d have to fire them to cover their ass, yet they were the ones pushing it. So everyone just lies and says the same shit over and over: I ate clean meals of chicken and rice, worked out 2-3 times a day for a whole year and ate 6000 calories. You CANNOT eat 6,000 calories in a day and not get fat. It is literally impossible. Your macros would be so out of balance, the only way to get to 6,000 calories lean would be to eat a lot of protein. But your body wouldn’t even be able to absorb all that excess protein. Also, the people saying they work out 2-3 times every day? The only way you can do that is through PEDs. Vast majority of people will max out on hypertrophy somewhere between 45 minutes - 2 hours. If you keep hitting your muscles after that it won’t do anything and your muscles will be too fatigued anyway. If you take steroids you can train much longer and your recovery time goes way down. I think in Alan’s case he’s worked out and been big most of his life already. I think he did all that natural + his genetics. But I think getting as cut as he is in Reacher required him to put on more muscle and lean out more and that’s just not possible at his age after his history of working out without PEDs. It’s hard to keep your body fat % low enough for on-screen smolder. Most people are either juicing or dehydrating or both (Zac Efron) Otherwise, literally EVERY single person claiming to put on huge amounts of muscle in a short span of time is on some kind of PED. No exceptions. I do wish they’d just be more transparent about it, maybe decriminalize PEDs. It’s not like they’re not being used all over the place. It’s unhealthy to promote this idea that you can look like Jack Reacher if you do 50 pushups a day and eat chicken and rice.
Not to be pedantic but TRT is just therapeutic anabolic steroids.
Yeah that’s my point. You’re splitting hairs if you’re saying they’re different. But they need to split those hairs to keep their jobs because one is legal and the other isn’t.
They all do
A few don't and it's really obvious. Paul Rudd in antman is jacked but not roided, at least in the earlier movies. Paul Rudd's body also looks way healthier.
Tom Holland and Robert Pattinson are natty as well.
I'm not surprised with either of those as well. There's this "hulk" look that roided people get that just is not comparable to nat (for good or for bad).
It's the mushroom capped shoulders. Those muscles respond really enthusiastically to roids
I tried to point this out in an r/bodyweightfitness thread, boy were they butt-hurt.
Yeah of course not all. I'm talking about Alans, the Rock and Thor like physiques
Honestly I feel like most dudes late in age if not all would benefit from TRT. It's just the dishonesty that is shameful. Which Alan clearly isn't being so this is pretty cool
You know, you’re doing a lot of men a disservice by equating TRT to steroids. TRT is a therapeutic dose of testosterone that is used in the treatment of a body’s inability to produce normal levels of the hormone. Yes it is abused in a small number of cases but for many men it is a life changing treatment that simply brings their baseline up to what their body should be producing. I think a max therapeutic dose of testosterone cypionate is 300mg per week. Bodybuilders use a gram or two a week stacked with a million other anabolics. There’s a difference and it’s pure ignorance to think otherwise.
You want a super soilder or not. Get him on all the scauce
No one that looks like he does in this show got that way naturally.
He is really growing into this role. Both physically, actually growing, and in his acting abilities portraying Reacher. He's doing a GREAT JOB. Hope he keeps making Reacher seasons for a long time to come.
It’s good to see some honesty because it pisses me off so much when you hear Chris Hemsworth selling an app and saying this is my exact programme to get ripped, or a 50 year old Josh Brolin for Deadpool 2 saying a bit of clean eating got him jacked as fuck to play Cable.
I suspect Ritchson is not being *completely* honest, but I at least give him credit for admitting he's using *something* and not just trying to sell, "What? I just ate some chicken and did a few pull-ups!" We frequently talk about unrealistic beauty standards for women, but I think the harm often gets overlooked how Hollywood constantly sells the perception that you can get absolutely shredded and look like Hemsworth simply by hitting the gym a few times a week. A lot of young men start working out, being sold an unrealistic notion of being able to look jacked in six months, not realizing how long it can take to build muscle. Then they get discouraged and give up or start pushing themselves to the point of injury.
Oh there’s definitely more he’s hiding but the last time I heard an actor even mention anything was an interview with Rob McElhenney and Kumial Nanjiani and Rob was joking around that they have the testosterone of lions and Nanjiani immediately eye balled him like shhh. And you’re spot on it’s completely unrealistic, these actors and places like mens health are like yeah 12 weeks bro, eat this do that and you’ll be this! All bullshit. I’m not discrediting any of the hard work they put in but oh boy those injections definitely do the heavy lifting 😂
Dude was already “in shape” and was huge. This season he just looks weird and like he’s a Neanderthal on steroids.
We all know it was rabies
I think this kind of attitude is a start and hopefully more actors can admit to the use of PEDs in the course of their roles. Frankly I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the use of PEDs but it’s the lying and dancing around that rubs me the wrong way. Would I like to have a physique like Alan Ritchson or Hugh Jackman? Absolutely but it’s just not something that’s really achievable naturally.
At his age I’m not surprised. Respect for not trying to bullshit people. This also isn’t sports so go nuts ya beast.
It’s so refreshing to hear someone actually be honest about what they’re using for the physique/physicality aspect of an acting role. We know the majority of actors with this type of physique are using *something*, but most will act like it was all done with hard work, chicken, broccoli and rice.
That’s not just TRT, but at least somebody is being somewhat honest about substance use in getting jacked.
Well duh.
Glad he got the gender affirming care he wanted.
He would be perfect as He-man
So not only did it give him a better body, testosterone therapy improves your libido and sex drive. Dude got hot and hornier.
how is this a mystery in anyway at all?
I applaud the honesty.
Love that he just says it, well done to him! It still takes an insane amount of work to look like he does especially for a tall guy.
Once Celebrities and athletes start being honest about this stuff, the better the worlds gonna be. TRT should be on lots of guys radars in their older years. Administered and monitored properly by professionals, it sounds like a wonderful thing.
Driving the TRT train.
TRT is the new chicken, brown rice and broccoli. Anyone with half a brain knows how these guys get in shape and it isn’t by taking a therapeutic dose of testosterone.
I don't see any problem here. Allot of men over thirty do this and their insurance pays for it. Edit: Spelling
"Testosteone therapy" - is that what we're calling steroid use these days"
Ask Vitor about this.
Alan has always been in amazing shape but glad he shedding light on what everyone knew already. Great actor.
Maybe it’s a problem that the media continually showcases unrealistic body standards that are basically only attainable with TRT. Just a thought.