Boxing Workouts to Shed Body Fat

Mario Lopez would spar all the time to burn body fat and keep his conditioning up. He would often fight with amateur fighters trying to make it in boxing. He claims to have sparred with Oscar De La Hoya, James Toney and Shane Mosley.

Lopez wrote a workout book called, Mario Lopez’s Knockout Fitness, obviously inspired by his boxing hobby. In his book, Mario admits the hard truth that getting in shape is hard work. If it were easy, everybody would have a killer bod.

Mario Lopez’s Workout Plan

The actor changes his workout approach constantly. The reason for this is that he is in ‘maintenance mode’ in regards to his muscle mass. Now he just trains to burn fat and keep the size of his muscles.

However, in order to build to this size, you need a balanced muscle gaining workout approach that is focused heavily on achieving a v-shaped body with a low body fat percentage. Here are two workouts that are specifically aimed at this look:

• Adonis Effect. The focus of this workout system is on achieving wide shoulders, chest and upper back and a small waist – the so-called v-shape body.
• Visual ImpactHere the emphasis is on achieving a balance between muscular development and muscular hardness and density. A cool trick that is revealed in the workout is how to make your skin super tight around your muscles.

You must also realize that he has two advantages. Mario has a natural v-shape frame (small hips) so he can focus on building up the chest and shoulders. He also has relatively short upper arms (he is 175 lbs and 5’10’’) so it is easy for him to build impressive looking arms.

What is the Diet that Mario Follows?

Mario Lopez published another non-fiction book, called Extra Lean. This one is a cookbook. The actor acknowledges the importance of diet when trying to achieve or maintain top shape. Attempting to lose body fat just through exercise alone, even if you workout as much as he does, is an uphill battle.

In his book, he has provided over 40 recipes as well as 1200-1300 calorie meal plans based on lean meats and vegetables. This is a solid diet approach – the reason being that we dramatically over estimate how little we can eat if we are to lose bodyfat.

Lopez admits that he likes to eat. In order to maintain a low body fat percentage we need to eat a very low calorie diet. Either that – or we can exercise a lot like Mario. Another way to decrease the weekly calories is to do one or two days of fasting per week. This approach is explained in nutritionist Brad Pilon’s book Eat Stop Eat. The cool thing about this book is that this is the only so-calledd ‘diet’ approach that allows you to eat every single one of your favorite foods and still lose weight.

Here’s Mario’s typical daily menu:

• Breakfast: Fruit, yogurt and Granola
• Lunch: Chicken and Rice
• Dinner: Sushi
• Splurge: Chocolate-chip cookies or Rocky-road ice cream

Spending a Lot of Time in the Sun

Whether he realizes it or not, he has struck gold by working out outdoors and spending time in the sun. Walking around shirtless is a great motivator to keep in top shape. This also works the other way around.

As you can see, he does some of his workouts, such as sprinting outside. Training outside of the gym, and especially at the beach, is simply way more fun. It doesn’t hurt to have a cute babe by your side too. Also, the natural vitamin D that is produced by the sun is responsible for our overall health. It is a mistake to avoid the sun altogether.

It’s a Lifestyle

In his own words, Mario is addicted to exercising. He’s been consistently in top shape ever since he starred in the TV show Saved by the Bell as a teenager. As you can see from the photo above, now (left) he’s maintaining the body that he used to have as a teenager (right). Staying active has enabled him to preserve a youthful appearance. Many people age themselves prematurely by getting fat as early as in their 20′s!

In order not to get bored he likes mix up his training. In addition to lifting weights and boxing three times per week, Mario would bike, run, swim, do yoga and also play basketball. This activity level adds up to a high level of caloric expenditure. So he’s able to maintain a very lean body.

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So yeah, the reason I am writing this quick little post is cause I got this great vid right here for you. There you go, Sly busting his ass in the gym for the upcoming movie The Expendables.

Here is some of the gut busting exercises he’s doing:

• Some kind of stroll or run lol
• Machine squats
• Machine lateral raises to burst those shoulders
• Full body core woodchop twists to kill the asb and obliques
• Shadow boxing
• Bodyweight stretches
• Machine ab curls
• Ab posing lol
• Triceps skull crushers
• Dumbbell hammer curls
• Some kind of machine based cycling HIIT down with the arms instead of the legs
• A bad ass goatie

[That's the real deal folks. This movie gets to be better and better.]

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[Sly hasn't looked this good the last 15 years. And, get this, he is 62 now. O, yeah!]

And If This Wasn’t Enough, Here Are Some of The Other Action Stars Who Signed Up For The Expendables

• Mickey Rourke. Nice. I loved him in Bullet – probably one of his best roles.
• Jason Statham. Hell yeah. I’m psyched for the new Transporter 3.
• Arnold Schwarzenegger. Rumored to play himself! Ha! This will be a second after Last Action Hero (sorta).
• Jet Li. This keeps getting better. I already recommended Fist of Legend. Probably his best.
• Dolph Lundgren. OK, wake me up, cuz I must be dreaming now. Him and Sly haven’t been together on screen since Rocky IV.
• Forest Whitaker. The dude is great. Have you seen
  Ghost Dog, Way of the Samurai?
• Eric Roberts. The All-American hero from Best of the Best.
• Randy Couture. Former UFC killing machine turned actor. You can check him out in The Scorpion King 2.
• Sandra Bullock. Speed. Nuff said lol.
• Danny Trejo. The ultimate Mexican bad-ass. Check him in the short Machete.

So yeah, this will be a crazy 80′s/90′s action extravaganza. Can’t wait. This will be like the Ocean’s 11 of action movies. Anybody else as excited about this as I am, or is it just me lol?

A Free Video Which Explains an Advanced Strategy to Get the Hollywood… “Shrink Wrapped” Abs Effect

Note: Click on the picture above and watch video #3 (it’s a cool technique)!

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[This is one of the coolest shows on the tube, at least the first couple of seasons will have you hooked. What is cool about the show is it gives a realistic image of getting a lean and attractive physique. That's what I always stress - get lean first!]

By the way, don’t watch it on cable. Just get the DVD’s. It’s way more fun this way cause you get to skip the cliffhangers and go directly to the next episode. And, it’s commercial free.

Fit, Young People Beautiful People And Basketball

I can’t ask for more from a show lol. Anyway, what inspired me to write this is that I wanted to emphasize my point once more – lean down fast. You will get tired of hearing this from me, no doubt. The fitness industry doesn’t seem to get it. Or they just don’t want you to know. Being trim is where it’s at folks – period.

Muscles Are Just An Embellishment

You see, young folks look good enough without having to train for years or whatever. They just have the right weight for their height. That’s it. So do what it takes to lean down. The easiest way in my opinion is to just eat less.

This Is What Ticks Me Off With The 6 Meals Per Day Thing

How can you lose weight by eating all the time. Isn’t it more logical to take a break from all that food once in a while?

It sure is. Check out my post on intermittent fasting

What they don’t tell you is that the 6 meals approach is for fitness competitors and body builders in order to get them to unnatural low levels of body fat so that they look the way the judges want them to look on stage.

It Is Not For Regular People

So find a way to consume less food and get trim. It can’t be that hard. Just give yourself a powerful reason why and you are set.

[Here is a way cool clip made from the show. Enjoy!]

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American History X
We got Edward Norton. Personal trainer Anthony Cortés got him so buff and the change was so dramatic, that Arnold Schwarzenegger himself supposedly thought Edward was on steroids. Norton’s comment – he says he just are like hell and trained like it was going out of style.

Terminator 2 – Judgment Day
We’ve got not one, but two actors in fantastic shape in this movie. Arnold Schwarzenegger is in his usual muscular top shape but the real surprize is Linda Hamilton. Having undergone a strict workout and diet regimen, she displays her rock hard body fighting the evil T-1000 and doing chinups in her room in a mental asylum.

Enter the Dragon
Bruce Lee’s last movie was also his most polished one. He trained vigorously so that his on screen appearance would be visually as impactful, as much the speed and accuracy of his punches and kicks were technically impressive. He looks like someone carved him out of a marble block. Plus, his on screen persona exudes raw and powerful charisma. Highly recommended.

Fight Club
Such a list can’t go without mentioning this one, right? Both Ed Norton and Brad Pitt are very lean in the movie. To match their characters, they have trained to enhance their movie persona. Edward Norton’s guy looks more like a weakling though – lean but not muscular, while Brad’s Tyler Durden is a Bruce Lee-like ripped bad ass. A note here – if you want to look muscular, get some muscle mass and then strip as much fat as possible. This is the secret to looking so muscular.

American Psycho
The self-obsessed and narcissistic psychopath played by Christian Bale takes great pride in every detail of his life. He is constantly on a diet and exercises religiously. The ironic thing is that although Christian Bale got into fantastic shape for the movie, the message of the film is that this level of body consciousness shows an unhealthy mind, obsessed with vanity. He is still a great physique role model though LOL.

I Am Legend
What better way to portray the solitude of the man dedicated to his training than to feature it against the backdrop of an empty city. Will Smith purposefully leaned down quite a bit in order to be convincing as a man fighting for his survival. Plus a real fun movie, folks.

Gladiator
A brilliant portrayal of honor and manhood. Russel Crowe’s character is powerful and stoic, exuding calmness and rage, resolution and obstinacy.

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin
I have featured numerous Kung Fu movies in the list. They represent the pinnacle of what the human body is capable in terms of movement and they showcase martial artists who sport top level physiques. This movie in particular is worth watching for the now classic scenario where a hero has to go through a series of training obstacles to achieve mastery. Boot camp Shaolin style – bring it on!

Blade – Trinity
First things first – this is the third installment of the series and as such is the worst one of the three Blade movies. In all three of them Wesley Snipes is in fantastic shape. The first movies is a good one overall, while the second one benefits from the gloomy imagery that only comes with a Guillermo del Toro flick. I chose the third movie because in addition to the bad ass Blade it has a (almost) no more wimpy looking Ryan Reynolds and a buff and sexy Jessica Biel. So there – style over substance lol.

Brotherhood of the Wolf
I can’t recommend this movie enough. First, Mark Dacascos gets to show off his fantastic fighting skills and top physique. Second, the movie is the perfect adventure story, if you happen to like these kinds of stories like I do. Third, but definitely not last, there are two VERY cute ladies right there – Émilie Dequenne and Monica Bellucci. Can’t lose with this flick.

Drunken Master 2
Even if you are not into martial arts movies, you’ve got to give it up to Jackie Chan. In his movies he demonstrates two things. The first one is how much abuse the human body can take. He does pretty much all of his stunts. The other thing is what fantastic feats and acrobatic a trained martial artist of this caliber is capable of.

Elektra
Most comic book movies turn out lame or corny, but I keep on watching them any way lol. This one is no exception (as in it is quite lame unfortunately). It made the list however, because it has a uber athletic looking Jennifer Gardner. Body Courtesy of celebrity trainer Valery Waters.

Fist of Legend
Jet Li, a martial artist, is surprisingly also a solid all around actor. He never got a big break in an English speaking movie. Unleashed (also known as Danny the Dog) is one of his best. Fist of Legend however is worth just for the martial arts – no acting accolades here. The action sequences, choreographed by Yuen Woo Ping, are so spectacular that they inspired the Wachowski brothers, to hire Yuen so he can bring this level of movie awesomeness to the Matrix series. Of course, Jet Li does it better than the white boys. Note that Fist of Legend is a remake of Bruce Lee’s hard hitting classic Chinese Connection.

Commando
A typical high-body count 80’s action extravaganza. Plus, can’t deny the fact Arnold’s arms look damn good while he harvests through wave after wave of baddies as if he was playing a video game. Gotta love the 80’s lol.

I, Robot
Every movie with Will Smith is worth watching so that you can nourish on some of his contagious energy. He always gives it all. Because of the physicality of the movie Will Smith opted to present a powerful looking physique. So he made the list.

Batman Begins
Christian bale is in quite a muscular state in this one. Well, when you play a super hero, I guess it’s a must to look the part. The remarkable thing is that prior to filming this movie, Christian Bale worked on another movie – The Machinist. For that one he purposefully lost a whopping 63 lbs by starving himself on a diet of a can of tuna and an apple a day. After the movie, he hired a UK celebrity trainer and quickly regained the lost muscle. Note that we are talking about muscle memory here. This means regaining your muscle mass as opposed to building size from scratch.

The Hurricane
This is the captivating story of the wrongfully accused boxer Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter. I feature it here for two reasons. First, this movie is the perfect example of the get in shape behind bars movie. Denzel is ripped. Second, this movie talks about one of my favorite concepts – inner strength. The Hurricane turns into a warrior/scholar in prison. He studies law books and trains like a madman for his fight outside.

Ali
I’ve got another boxing heavy weight of a movie right here. Prepping for the role, Will Smith decided not to try to look like a boxer, but to become a boxer. He ran the distances that Ali ran and sparred with hard hitting real boxers to bring believability to director Michael Mann’s movie. Incidentally, Robert De Niro also underwent real life boxing training for his award winning performance in raging bull some 20 years earlier.

Million Dollar Baby
These boxing movies just keep on coming. A fine, fine flick from another one of my favorite directors – Clint Eastwood. As an actor, he has a powerful and charismatic don’t-mess-with-me-punk presence. As a director he shines even more. In this movie Hilary Swank not only learned to move and box like a real fighter, but also dramatically altered her physique by adding significant muscle bulk via weight training and a protein rich diet. And, she got her Oscar.

G.I. Jane
At age 35 Demi Moore really started showing she was taking great care of her body. Ridley Scott cast her in the role of a woman training to be a navy seal. What follows are some of the best training sequences captured on film, including Demi doing one arm pushups. Note – Demi also shows off a fantastic physique in 2 other corny but fun movies – Charlie’s Angels 2 and Striptease.

Mad Monkey Kung Fu
I love martial arts movies and I couldn’t miss out on the chance to sneak in another one of those here. The spectacular thing about this movie is how the fighters flawlessly and fluidly execute the choreographed primate acrobatics. No substance here folks. Just a visual fest of the boundless potential of the human body.

Ong-Bak – The Thai Warrior
Tony Jaa, a stuntman, martial arts, actor and fight scene choreographer. This is his first big movie and he shines in it. Fantastic acrobatic skills, break dancing movies used to hurt the bad guys, bone cracking Muay Thai elbow and knee strikes. The movie has it all. This guy seems to take the best action parts from Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan. He still lacks Lee’s charisma but the future is ahead of him.

Rocky
The ultimate story of loss and redemption. It’s us against the world, ain’t that right Rock? The movie is choc full of so many memorable moments. If you can’t be motivated by a rocky movie, better check that pulse of yours lol.

Iron Man
Trainer Brad Bose got recovered addict Robert Downey Jr.’s less than trained body to an Iron Man – worthy level. Apart from this, the movie is one of the best super hero movies of all time. Just watch it for enjoyment’s sake if you haven’t done so.

Kung Fu Hustle (Axe-Kickin’ Edition)
I have made sure that the bulk of the movies I recommend in this list are not only highly motivational, but also of high quality and plain old fun. King Fu Hustle is no exception. Stephen Chow, aged 42 in this movie, puts most 20 something’s to shame when it comes to being in shape. Add to this the fact that his comedy style will make you piss your pants. Now top that off with the fact that he is a real-life martial artist (like Wesley Snipes) so his moves are authentic. And, his Bruce Lee impersonation is impeccable. You just gotta see this one folks – a killer flick.

And now I’d like to extend the challenge to Kaiser Serajuddin, Mark McManus, Chris McCombs, Rocco Castellano and Zach Even-Esh. Share 25 random things about yourself guys!

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[Ja Rule is not a big guy. He looks good because he has a decent amount of muscle and is naturally very lean.]

It doesn’t hurt that they have naturally lower levels of body fat. All that is left is to develop the muscles of the front of the body – biceps and chest and you’ve got yourself a beach physique.

Ja Rule is Not a Big Guy, But He Looks Big

This is all about low body fat percentage and proportions. Ja Rule is lean and well built in the shoulders, traps, upper back and arms. Now the way to achieve a body like this is first to get strong in the basic exercises like barbell deadlifts and barbell squats on a beginner strength training routine. Think of it like this – to carve a big statue you need a big rock. So you need some foundation of core muscles and strength.

A Free Video Which Explains an Advanced Strategy to Get the Hollywood… “Shrink Wrapped” Abs Effect

Note: Click on the picture above and watch video #3 (it’s a cool technique)!

If You Are Not Lean, First Get Lean Fast

This way you will look good or at least decent all the time and you will optimize your hormones for muscle building. If you are lean, your body is primed for muscle growth. Female hormones work best when you have more fat stored, while male (muscle building) hormones spike when you are lean. So get lean first.

Once You Have Your Basic Strength, Go For A Split

Think beach muscles. Train each muscle once a week for 6-9 sets of 8-12 reps. That’s 2-3 exercises per muscle. Divide up the body so that you train 1-2 muscle groups per workout. So you are going to be in the gym 3-5 days per week. Here is a typical split breakdown:

Workout 1 Chest and triceps
Workout 2 Biceps
Workout 3 Back and legs
Workout 4 Shoulders

Put priority on the muscles you want to build faster. The way to do it is to train only them this day.

Let’s Examine His Workout Video

[Ja Rule's workout - he's messing around in the gym for the photo shoot. Even tries to push his supplement line lol. Nevertheless, he's a good role model for an aesthetic physique.]

Clearly Ja Rule Is at the Third Stage – Split Routine

He is lean enough and big enough and only works for the size of the small muscles. For his chest – he does machine flies, barbell bench presses, pushups, and incline dumbbell presses. For the biceps – preacher stand curls and concentration curls. He trains his back very little – just some reverse machine flies and lat pull downs. The shoulders get a beating with alternating dumbbell shoulder presses. Ja Rule focuses on his abs with exercise ball prone (face down) jack knives and ball crunches.

To sum up, here’s the way to get a body like this. Get lean first. At the same time build a basic strength level. Then work on a split routine and grow the small muscles – chest, arms and shoulders.

Remember, getting lean is what makes you look proportionate and muscular.

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So, it was a big surprise to see him so well built in the movie Into the Blue. I think that he now has a physique that looks just right. He is not too big, but definitely has a decent amount of muscle.

Plus he’s super lean and that accentuates his proportions. In fact, I think his transformation is comparable to what Edward Norton did for American History X. But I digress…

How Paul Walker Build His Muscles Mass

For his movie Varsity Blues he had to put size because he was playing the role of an action guy. He started lifting weights, took creatine and got up to 205lbs / 92kg. Now if you follow a progressive overload full body workout for as long as it allows you to gain quickly and then follow it up with a split workout for a while you will get big.

The way to do the split workout is to divide the whole body up in 3 to 5 workouts. Like so:

Workout 1 – Chest and Triceps
Workout 2 – Shoulders
Workout 3 – Back
Workout 4 – Biceps
Workout 5 – Legs and Abs

[Walker looked like a skinny geek in the Fast and Furious movies compared to all the other dudes. Yeah, I know that was on purpose - he was playing the underdog.]

You can choose whether to train 1 or 2 muscle groups per day depending on how many days per week you can go to the gym and how much priority you want to put on each muscle group. This kind of workout is based on fatiguing the muscle – breaking it down a bit in fact, and letting it rest and grow a little bit bigger.

For each workout, train 1-2 muscle groups for 6-9 sets per muscle group and 9-12 total sets. In each set, do 8-12 repetitions. When you can get 12 reps on most sets of an exercise, it’s time to up the poundage next time you train.

A Free Video Which Explains an Advanced Strategy to Get the Hollywood… “Shrink Wrapped” Abs Effect

Note: Click on the picture above and watch video #3 (it’s a cool technique)!

Paul Walker’s Secrets to Getting Ripped and Staying Lean

After he bulked up he went on a surf trip to El Salvador. He discovered that the extra weight was slowing him down and killing his endurance. When he came back from the trip, he was down to 180 lbs – the excess mass was gone.

He was left with just the right amount of muscle by practicing different sports. Walker is big on surfing and is also into martial arts – Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai kickboxing.

He says he tries to play a sport a day – besides surfing and beating people up, he also plays basketball and volleyball and also skates. The hard contractions from surfing, kickboxing and grappling sports preserve the exact amount of muscle you need for them.

Plus, the qualities developed by different sports complement each other.

“It’s the best way to live,” Paul says, and I couldn’t agree more.

Paul Walker Is a big Believer in the Paleo Diet

Like many in the fitness world, Paul believes at least 75 percent of staying lean is how you eat. Well, I don’t know the exact percentage – some say 70, some say 90, whatever. The point is – your diet is key. As fat loss expert Craig Ballantyne said in an interview he gave for Relative Strength Advantage, you can’t out train a bad diet. Which means it is easier to eat the right foods and not try to compensate your excessive food consumption with exercise.

Paul Walker avoids the white grain foods – breads and sugars. He is also cautious with his salt consumption because salt tends to retain water under the skin and makes you look puffy.

Walker says he eats lots of fish and enjoys read meat. He basically follows the paleo diet – fruits, veggies, and meat while avoiding processed flour and sugar.

Now, I have a few suggestions depending on were you are at right now. If you are lean, but lack muscle mass, you should go do the strength and size full body workout.

Once you reach the strength training milestones there, you should be pretty muscular, but if you need more, check out my buddy Mark McManus’ free muscle building book to train specifically for muscle size. Alternating training for strength and training for size is the best strategy to get a body of this caliber.

Finally, if you are not lean to start with, still do these workouts in this order, but also try to decrease the amount of food you eat in some way. Intermittent fasting works great for me.

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Just got back from a nice walk in the snow with my lab Lucky. It was so refreshing in the park – the cold air cleared my head up.

So anyway, a few days ago I recommended a movie with Mark Dacascos – Instinct to Kill. It is a a straight up cheesy B-Movie guy’s flick.

Mark Dacascos in The Brotherhood of the Wolf

Well, yesterday I watched another Mark Dacascos movie – The Brotherhood of the Wolf. This one was NOT cheesy. It has awesome fight sequences like Instinct to Kill but it also is a fully enjoyable adventure movie. If I had to describe it, it would a sort of mix between Pirates of the Caribbean, The Hound of Bascerville (haven’t seen a movie adaptation of it but I guess one must exist), the French comic book Rahan and Tony Jaa’s Ong Bak (Which has sick fighting sequences. Actually pretty much the whole movie is a fight sequence. I’m not complaining though lol.). Probably its only drawback is that it’s kind of longish.

Mark Dacascos Trains Like A Bodybuilder…

[Here is a video that shows some of the training Mark did for another movie, Only the Strong, which I'm going to write about soon too. Notice how he executes the movements with perfect form - he was trained by an accomplished bodybuilder.]

… As Well As Like An Athlete

[Part 2 of the training series. Dacascos practicing capoeira, jumping rope, hitting the heavy bag, kick boxing and gymnastics. The guy is the real deal.]

So What’s My Point Exactly

I wanted to briefly mention two things. The first one is the us vs. them mentality that marketers use. Many fitness products and doctrines also use this in order to engage us. In reality successful people do not divide themselves in bodybuilders vs. athletes, heavy lifters vs. pumpers, etc. This is just a gimmick made up by clever salesmen.

Training for Strenght Vs. Training for Muscle

The other thing I wanted to mention stems from the first. Because of the successful marketing brainwash, many people are stuck in their old ways and fail to progress. Most people want to look like celebs, actors from movies, athletes, etc. But they either train only for strength or only for muscle mass. After a certain point on, you cannot gain more strength without getting bigger. You can’t flex bone. The same goes with mass. You need to train for strength at least some of the time so that your working weight, with which you make your muscles grow, is bigger.

The truth is, the body is like a vessel. You can fill that vessel up with strength but it can hold only so much. To progress even more, build yourself a bigger vessel by gaining muscle mass.

I want to ask you, are you stuck in a fitness dogma and how is that working for you?

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[The guy's been one of my favorite actors ever since I saw Transporter. He seems to play almost the same type of character in all of his movies - an ass kicking driver/hitman/former spec ops guy. I don't mind it all lol. Speaking of Transporter, can't wait for the third installment.]

Anyway, I saw another cool movie last night – Crank, starring Amy Smart and Jason Statham.

[Amy Smart. Just a class-A beautiful woman. The world needs more of these, no?]

Amy has been one of my favorite pieces of screen eye candy ever since I saw Road Trip with my best friend. He insisted that he showed me this movie that supposedly took place in his college. Well they changed it for the movie to Ithaca University instead of Ithaca College but still I guess it counts. Or was it the other way around?

But I digress. So, the movie’s got Amy. She has an incredible smile and sweet voice. This can’t hurt a movie, right?

[Watch this hilarious interview. Jason is not only an on screen bad ass, but also sports a great sense of humor.]

It reminds me of another adrenalin infused roller coaster of a movie – the German flick Run, Lola, Run. They both share blood pumping, heart racing fast paced action where the protagonist has to rush in order to save a life.

Speaking Of Heart Racing Action

Crank reminds me of an episode of one of my favorite TV shows – Fastlane. In it Van, one of the protagonists, has been poisoned with an unknown substance and must find out what it is. The same happens in Crank. Jason Statham’s character has been injected in his sleep with some nasty Chinese synthetic stuff and needs to punish his enemies for that.

Brawling, fighting, car chases, beautiful women, sex, more beautiful women with less clothing. You get the picture. So in a way Crank is Fastlane on steroids.

Which is ironic really because Fastlane was Miami Vice (do you remember that) on steroids.

By the way, the movie is not PC at all and I liked it for that.

Any other Jason Statham or Amy smart fans out there?

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Guy’s Movie Checklist

Ass-kickery – check. Lots of brawling and fight scenes, including a classic bar fight – check. Master and pupil training sequence – check. Shooting, explosions and scantily clad pretty ladies – check, check and double check.

This was the kind of movie I would enjoy back in 1991 when my family got a VCR for the first time. I’d rent out 2 video tapes every weekend and sink myself in the action heaven. I know those movies were simplistic but I also know great entertainment when I see it and still enjoy my corny B-movie action flicks.

Mark Dacascos is an accomplished martial artist

He is fast, strong and agile without being huge. It seems martial artists are great role models for functional and attractive physiques.

I am definetely going to see more movies with Mark Dacascos. He exemplifies the relative strength advantage look. He looks buff and ripped with tank tops, t-shirts, etc. and at the same time has a normal look in street clothes. I believe this is the best look to go for.

Fitness lessons from Mark Dacascos

Mark says that his daily workouts vary. When he’s working a twelve- to fourteen-hour day, he usually doesn’t have a lot of time to sweat for an ideal two to three hours. He has to be content with push-ups, leg-lifts, crunches and handstands — things he can do in his hotel room without needing equipment. He tries to stretch before and after work.

On the set, he can usually find something he can hang from to do pull-ups and leg-lifts on. When Mark’s not working, he tries to see his Kung Fu teacher three to four times a week. On the other days, he prefers to tumble or run or surf. He needs to do something every day. Even on a rest day, he likes to at least do a stomach exercise. When he’s working on a film, he tries to eat as healthy as possible.

[I stumbled upon a cool fan video of Mark doing what he does best. Ass kickery!]

Have you got any other b-movie recommendations for me?

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Her Terminator 2 Workout.

Linda was working with personal trainer Anthony Cortés who also helped Edward Norton beef up for American History X. Apparently she shed 12 pounds of fat with diet and exercise. Her routine included running, biking, swimming, climbing stairs as well as free weights, mini-trampoline drills, walking lunges and abdominal work. They trained six days a week for 3 hours. The thing is she got into amazing shape after giving birth just 20 months ago.

Linda Goes Crazy with Military Style Training

It seems that in order to provide authenticity for the film, Linda hired an Israeli commando to prep her for the action scenes. She says, she did “judo and heavy duty military training.” Linda adds that she “learned to load clips, change mags, check out a room upon entry, verify kills.” She was all show – all go.

Linda Hamilton’s Feats of Strength

She could easily bench press 85 pounds for reps, run eight miles and pump load a 12-gauge shotgun with one arm. We all saw her kicking ass in the movie. Apparently it was not all movie magic, but she was tough for real. She relaxed her regimen after the movie. After shooting the movie, Linda relaxed her diet a bit and also trained less frequently – just five workouts a week. You can not go at such intensity for too long. Even Olympic level athletes relax after a major competition.

A Routine That Linda Hamilton’s Trainer Recommends

Four times a week – 4 sets of 8 to 12 reps per exercise:

Mondays, Thursdays – Chest, shoulders, triceps

• Dumbbell bench press
• Inclined flies
• Lateral raises
• Front raises
• Kickbacks

Tuesdays, Fridays – Back, biceps

• One-arm rows
• Bent-over rows
• Standing curls

When I watched the movie for the first time, I couldn’t even do one chin up. Later, I started going to the gym and found a way to train for pull-up & chin-up mastery.

[Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2 - check her out doing chin-ups at 0:43]

Films Like These Never Cease To Motivate Me

Big time! What do you guys think about movies that feature actors and actresses in great shape? Do you get motivated? What are your favorite Hollywood underdog fitness movies? Oh, and go watch Terminator 2 if you haven’t done so!

A Free Video Which Explains How Hollywood Actresses Get in Action Hero Babe Shape

Note: Click on the picture above and watch the video (Rachel is cute)!

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