Hugh Jackman…and now that I have your attention…used a form of Intermittent Fasting and/or LeanGains to bulk up while staying lean for his upcoming role as Wolverine in his new film “The Wolverine.”  In an interview, Jackman discusses his LeanGains eating style to pack on the mass for his role.  Though he technically calls it by the more popular name of the “16-8 diet,” a diet where one fasts for 16 hours and eats for 8 hours a day, this “16-8 diet” is EXACTLY THE LEANGAINS PROTOCOL.  To see one of the workout plans that got him ready for Wolverine check out this post.

This is actually a pretty big deal, and no, not because the LeanGains approach may start to become even more popular,but because the myths surrounding The American lifestyles (i.e., to lose weight you have to eat small meals every 2-3 hours, or fats and carbs are bad for you, or breakfast is the most important meal of the day, or you shouldn’t workout fasted, or….there are countless more) may be one day closer to being debunked…which is what the creator of the LeanGains eating style has been trying to do all along.

This is a huge deal because you guys wouldn’t believe how hard it is to get people to start thinking differently…to forget about The-American-Brain-Washing-Marketing Machine we have all fallen victim to.  As previously noted on this site, I for one did not believe one of my best friends, someone I’ve trusted since the 3rd grade, when he told me about LeanGains.  Fasting for 16 hours a day just seemed counterintuitive to everything I had ever read about losing weight and/or gaining muscle (and I had read over 15 years worth of health and fitness magazines, articles, papers, etc.).  But, when I started researching LeanGains and Intermittent Fasting, it started to sound like it might actually work and when the day finally came to give it a go…well, the results speak for themselves…though I still have a some ways to go, the LeanGains eating style completely changed my life.

I won’t lie, it was very tough in the beginning but it eventually just became part of my everyday lifestyle (more on this at a later post)….a lifestyle that required, believe it or not, more eating than I was normally used to.  This may seem a bit counterintuitive, I mean I was eating for only 6 hours a day as opposed to throughout the entire day, but I had to consume anywhere from 3,500 – 5,000 in a 6 hour period as opposed to 2,000 calories throughout the whole day…and that my friends can be pretty tough.  Hugh Jackman himself notes in his interview that he had to eat a “disgusting amount of food” to bulk up while staying lean for the new movie.

Hugh Jackman was actually eating about 5,000 calories in an 8-hour period and working out 3 hours a day to get ready for his role in “The Wolverine.”

His food intake was primarily made up of a ton of steamed chicken breasts, which he says is the leading contributor to his current physique and abs…not to mention his Intermittent Fasting and 3-hour-a-day workout schedule:

  1. Wake up and workout FASTED in the morning
  2. Eat lunch/breakfast at 10 am (break fast)
  3. Workout again in the afternoon
  4. End his feed state at 6 pm with dinner.
  5. Fast from 6 pm to 10 am.

So, whether you’ve been on the fence about trying LeanGains or Intermittent Fasting, I think now might be the time to start…I mean, all the cool kids are doing it…at least I think Hugh Jackman is a cool kid.

 

Hugh Jackman Before and After Intermittent Fasting…?