Cam Gigandet's "Never Back Down" Workout Aproach

Very cool post and its something people are yet to realize, there is no need for huge muscles to look and feel good. Your much better off just doing weight training a few times a week and focus on eating good foods the rest of the time. I find having an espresso before an early morning calisthenic workout (pullups, BW squats and dips) and then fasting for a while after will really help me get ripped up. In reality though to get a real conditioned physique I think participating in a martial arts or sports a few times a week makes all the difference….Like I'm sure the actors did in preparation for the film…..

Great insights, Rusty. I bet it took you quite a few years to get to these realizations. I know it took ME probably 8 years…

And you know what I realized? I realized I dig the look I wanted when I was in high school. I wanted to be lean, with abs, with some muscle, but def not huge…

Yavor

Great post Rusty,

I just want to say that this website is the best website for fitness i've ever come across. Im only 19(and a half) years old but on my 18th birthday i was 182lbs at 5 foot 8 and didn't do any sort of working out at all and i decided to workout to improve my fitness and after many month of serious training and diet i got down to 154lbs and 10% body fat all my friends said i looked great but i jsut wanted to cut up a bit more. I was really struggling to lose a bit more fat for around 6 months the only i really noticed was my skin tightening up around my chest mainly, it was really annoying me though that I couldn't lose any more fat. I then found your site only in August this year and since reading all the posts i have really improved I am now down to 6% and I am happier than ever. I reckon it was down to interval training since i never tried this before. I was pushing 10 reps of 5 sets not quite to failure but now i am just pushing 5 sets like you state in the Soviet Training i feel srtonger and look better. Thankyou Rusty my favourite website by far!!!

Adam

also ive never done the planks before and have been doing them for the past few months and now my stomach is tighter than ever!!

Hi Rusty,

Again your articles are very nice to read and I thank you for making this site a great place to visit. I wrote on your last article and I have been taking pictures of myself and noticed the weight loss and I have been able to wear tight shirts. I have been dieting and doing an hour cardio each day after hitting the weights of course, but I have been pretty skinny before, but never gotten a low body percentage. My question is, is that if I keep dieting and doing an hour cardio a day or trying to get to the gym and do that will I get to a lower body percentage 6-8% for the first time in my life?

Also I have been doing facial exercises and I wanted to know what you think of these? Cam Gigandet is what kind of body I am looking to get, but do you know if he does cardio everyday and how long does he do weights. Last question is about weights. Should I do heavy weights with low reps or lower weights with lower reps? I am still confused about that. Thanks!

hey how much do you think he weighs? I love your take on diet though! I like eating a low calorie and having a few meals out with friends and family during the week. Therefore I can keep my 6 ft 160 lbs 5-6 % bf all year round. Ive followed your advice for a year and have given me great results rusty. I am glad a went from 175-160. I felt like a twig at first but my muscle tone is unbelieveavble since ive switch to 3-5 reps. Dude have a happy thanksgiving and ill take another advice you always preach! live life and enjoy the food on thanksgiving!

Joggs

Rusty,

Right on man! I was amazed at how lean this dude was when I saw that movie (unfortunately, I spent the money to see it in theaters!)

But yeah, he's crazy ripped in that movie… and an article I read about the dude, he sounds like a cool guy too.

Definitely agree with your points on low volume resistance training and intervals to get that look… and of course low calories of food… although you can get away with eating a TON of food, if you do it IF style (and don't want to look "crazy lean" like that guy!)

Great post again Rusty!

– Caleb

Hey Rusty,

I totally gave you a heads up on this guy months ago, LOL.

Anyway I have been eating really healthy for about five months now. I decided to focus on what I was gonna add in to my diet rather than cut. I stopped eating all sugar, except fruit, and add as many different types of vegetables as possible. I also stopped drinking protein shakes.

The result? EXCELLENT definition! I had really low body fat anyway but I think it was actually the effect from the skin pulling in and tightening over the muscles that are already there, like you have mentioned in previous posts.

I aim to get stronger rather than bigger. So I am one happy chappy.

Thanks

Rusty,

All I've got to say is…. (cue the music)

"YOU'RE THE BEST!"

Hahaha, thanks for providing us all with very sound direction and information on how to get there. Oh, and great recommendation on Brad Pilon's book. Ever since you recommended it to me, I've used IF to really cut down that last bit of pesky body fat %.

Thanks for the post!

All the Best,

Andrew R

Hey Rusty, I haven't chimed in for a long time but I have been reading your articles. This was an awesome post. Lots of good information and motivation as usual.
I enjoyed my spring and summer of being very lean and fit. Like I mentioned in the past, this was going to be my first fall/winter season of not letting myself go, or bulking up. I have purposely let myself gain 10-12 pounds by relaxing my diet a bit, and cutting out a little bit of cardio. But I am definitely within striking distance of my lean summer weight. In the past I would be weighing in around 200-205 pounds and looking very sloppy. This time around I've kept my weight around 187ish. I have been able to do this by following much of your advice with my training and diet.
Anyways, good stuff as usual Rusty, hope you have a great Thanksgiving Holiday, take care!

HAHAHA. I commented on a "Never Back Down" clip on youtube and got flamed bad when I said it was just a horrible, idiotic movie. The acting sucked, except for Djimon, he did a pretty good job I think, and his character was the only remotely interesting one. And who names their kid Baja?
But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't thoroughly entertained and didn't watch it 4 or 5 times over two weeks (downloaded it… ). The training scenes were the best I've seen in a long time. Definitely can't top the "Kickboxer," taking coconuts falling from a tree to the gut action. Great post here, atleast someone agrees with me.

dude, i have to rent this movie right now. was it any good? looks like a good senseless guy movie.

when you are trying to maintain muscle mass, how much weight should you be losing a week?

Took me only 5 years. Actually getting "abs" was my first priority, but I was afraid I would just end up skinny if I didn't get some muscles so I went the bulk route for most of the time. But being 40-ish doesn't really help that much gaining muscles, so this year I decided to just maintain my workout weights and just diet down a bit untill abs. Since I'm taking it slow (like a pound or less per week) it is taking me a while (and had some rest/bulk periods as well), but at least my weights aren't plummeting, so I'm happy (and 13 kilo lighter and feeling much better). Abs are starting to come through and I must say it's even more rewarding than I thought. I don't do a lot of ab workouts though. I get sore abs from doing pushdowns and pullups.

Being fat sucks, but getting fat is kinda fun.
Being lean is great, getting lean is not that great, allthough I am having a lot of fun doing IF (intermittent fasting) and eating plenty in the afternoon and with the occasional refeed (first once per week, nowadays twice per week))

Hey Rusty,

I am 23.

5'9" and only about 148-150 lbs. I do cardio and strength training. If I got down to about 6-8 % body fat and keep up the same muscle maintaining, how light would I become? I would love to get to such a low body fat, but fear i might become frail looking. Please reassure me with some Rusty-sense so I can find the motivation to become chisled.

thanks for all your insight and have a nice holiday!

Mike

Rusty,

Another great post, thanks so much. Regarding upper pec development, I've been only working inclines now, per your advice in the "square pecs" post I take an adjustable incline bench and do a set from each interval. I'm one of those guys that ALWAYS used to start with the flat bench, and I ended up getting rounded lower pecs that I have problems getting rid of.

But you brought up a point in this article of spending less time on muscle development. Should I focus more on cardio and drop bench workouts entirely to slim down my pecs, or can I continue to do incline sets and still see a reduction in pec size?

Thanks man. Have a great Thanksgiving!

Hey Rusty. They just don't seem to make movies like this anymore do they? Kickboxer, Rocky and Roadhouse are all classic movies in the same vein as Never Back Down.

Got to agree it is a good look. However, for some people (such as myself) gaining even the amount of muscle Cam Gigandet has is a struggle so I can understand why some guys focus on building muscle mass over gettting lean.

Terrible movie but I enjoyed it enough to watch it twice. He looks great in the movie. Very fit and healthy look. Mixture between paul walker and brad pitt in fight club.

Good Post Rusty!

The SoG

watched the movie 2 months ago, bad guy in this movie has the perfect body. Will 3-5repsx3-5 sets + cardio do the trick? or should i implement some 1×25 and 1×50 like the 300 workout also?

yo rusty i read that cam is 6'1" on some website. how much do you think he weighs in that movie?

This is exaclty what i've been doing, and this is the way to go, i do sprints or rope jumping HIIT style, 2 or 3 days a week, and i do resistance training 2 times a week, 3 sets for body part and no more than 5 reps per set. I eat clean, and i feel fantastic. Excellent post and advice Rusty

My goal is to look as hot and fit as possible in April (my birthday!) Then, I am going to submit my pics to Playboy as per my friend's recommendations. I don't think I'll get in, but hey…you never know!!!
If I do I will list Fitness Black Book as my favorite place to be on the web!

I'm confused about the TT. Doesn't it conflict with Pavel's principal on muscle tone and no.of reps?

What should I follow?

Trygve,

you could substitute some of your cardio work for some 300 stuff. Work hard – that's the most important thing. Cardio/300/HIIT stuff should make you feel uncomfortable after workout. That's how you know you've created a metabolic disturbance in your bod.

Jennifer,

it's great you've set up a deadline. I did the same thing (Dec 31) so I know it works great as motivation.

3ller,

TT is all about creating disturbance in the body, making you feel fatigued. I you play sports, you could compare it to the fatigue you get after playing basketball or soccer, or sprinting to catch the bus… ten times Pavel is all about making your muscles harder and stronger. If you combine a program that makes you huff and puff and burn a lot of fat (TT, basketball, soccer, jumping rope, sprinting, martial arts, boxing, etc) + a program that makes your muscles hard (heavy low reps, planks, isometrics, ) = you get a lean + hard body

Train hard guys!

Yavor

Yavor,
thanks man. appreciate it

Haha, how funny. We were watching Never Back Down last week and the boys in the house has gone insane trying to reinvent their diets and training. Unfortunately one of them is aiming for "getting big"… I think I will send this site to him.
Also, as ripped and toned as Cam is is amazing and truly admirable but I personally prefer Sean. (Could be the fact that I dont really go for blondes, ever) So… Sean fit is fit (fit means really hot over in the UK). Cam fit is amazing but a little bit too scary for me =)
Thanks for keeping the site going Rusty, its as amazing as always.

Jenny,

really cool to learn some UK slang

Yavor

Yavor

Ok. I did 300 workout today, and i felt like total crap after. Fatigued etc. So i guess i did it right? But you forget it all when you look on your weight scale and see 79.9. Havent been this light in 5-6 years
3-5 more kg and my goal is reached and then ill be around 5-8% body fat.

Hi Rusty,

I'm a regular reader to your blog, it's great. Why don't you write a post on the diet it takes to get lean? I feel this is where most people fail and never see results no matter how hard they train. Just a thought.

ZAC that is a great idea, I would love to see a post on a get lean diet as well!

Chris,

It always pays to be active in a sport. Good point.

Yavor,

I think a lot of guys start out wanting to look like these guys, but their competitive nature kicks in…then it becomes how to get stronger and bigger than the next guy (which leads to a diferent look altogether).

Adam,

Thanks for the compliment. I think anywhere between 6-10% body fat is perfect for a guy. The longer you stay in this range (while gaining strength) the better you will look. And yes…planks are incredible.

Jason,

You will get lean with the program you outlined…keep at it. About rep ranges. I recommend to stick to low reps. On some days do light weights and on other days go heavier. The key is to contract the muscle as hard as possible regardless of the weight. As you gain ability to contract the muscle, the stronger you will get. And yes…you can actually gain strength by using light weights as long as you lift like the weight is heavy (advanced stuff that works well).

joggs,

He looks pretty darn light. He is the same height as Brad Pitt. Brad got down to 155 in Fight Club. I'm guessing Cam is closer to 145-150. Hard to say.

Caleb,

Sorry you had to pay full price for the movie. Not a bad rental though.

David,

I do remember you mentioning him. I just had to wait for the movie to come out on video before I could comment. Sounds like you are making great progress. The longer you stay lean the better you will look.

Andrew,

You know you love that song from Karate Kid! Eat Stop Eat is a great book. I recommend it to everyone.

Brad,

You will be able to get sharp this summer, since you are close to your ideal weight. You will never go back to the way you used to do it.

DownSouth,

The acting is terrible. Some of the worst I've seen. Right up there with Fast and Furious. Anybody who thinks it is good, is crazy!

BurritoKid,

Aim to lose 2 pounds per week until you are about 10 pounds out and then 1 pound a week for those last 10 pounds. Then spend another month and lose 1-3 more pounds to sharpen up (people typically underestimate how much they need to lose to get ripped).

Wazzup,

You don't need to do much direct ab work to get great abs. Keep doing what you are doing and you will get a six pack.

MikeyB,

You could get down to 135-140 and probably look more muscular than you do now. Getting lean creates an illusion of bigger muscles. Brad Pitt was 155 for Fight Club at 6 feet tall. That sounds light, but he looked great.

Sam,

You probably want to keep doing inclines while losing body fat. It will help you achieve that look a bit quicker than just losing body fat.

Tom,

For younger guys in particular, it doesn't hurt to spend a short period of time putting on a bit of muscle. The mistake they make is spending year after year gaining muscle and never getting lean and sharp.

Son of Grok,

I'm glad we all agree that the movie was terrible. It is funny doing a post on a movie that we all agree is terrible!

Trygve,

For muscle density you will want to do lower reps…for fat loss you can do a mix of HIIT and circuits like the 300 workout or Turbulence Training body-weight circuits.

Tom,

I have read he is 6 feet tall…which looks about right. He doesn't seem over 6 feet tall. Probably slightly lighter than Brad Pitt in Fight Club…145-150…possibly heavier. It is hard to tell unless I can see him in person, but he is light.

Helder,

That is similar to what I do most of the year as well. Right now I'm doing Turbulence Training circuits in my apartment as a replacement to HIIT sprints, but I hit the gym 2-3 times per week to do the lifting (followed by 20 minutes HIIT sprinting on those days). It doesn't take much time to stay lean if you know what you are doing. Sounds like you are getting great results!

Jennifer,

I'm rooting for you to make it into Playboy. I would dig the extra exposure for my site. Give me a bit of warning…I may need to upgrade to a bigger server to handle the traffic. Good luck!

3ller,

I do Pavel's low rep stuff in conjunction with TT. Same way of lifting and longer rest periods with low reps…but bodyweight circuits TT style as a way to get lean. I can actually do them in my apartment, which saves me 2-3 extra trips to the gym each week.

Jenny,

Yeah…I think the ladies like Sean Faris quite a bit. Tell your friend that he probably doesn't need to worry about adding much muscle if he wants this look. I know people dress in hip fashions in the UK, and he won't be able to pull off that look very well if he bulks up.

Trygve,

That is a brutal workout. I'm getting my butt handed to me with a few different TT bodyweight circuit variations. Tall guys like me typically suck at the bodyweight stuff…but it makes it an effective and challenging workout.

Zac,

I'm saving a lot more of the detailed stuff for a downloadable e-book. I will probably offe for free to RSS subscribers…not sure yet.

Great comments!

Rusty

I'm glad you mentioned that thing about evening out muscles rusty. I thought exactly what you mentioned. I thought my lower chest was bigger than my upper chest but i havent gotten to below 10% bofy fat so i couldnt tell if it was fat or un propotioned chest. I'm glad you cleared that up for me.

Ps- I'm glad to hear that brad pitt was only 150lbs in fight because that make my goal more acheivable, as i thought he was a lot heavier meaning it would be harder for me to look like him.

thanx for reply. i forgot to mention one thing. im 180cm, and around 80-81 kg now. And i want to loose fat only, i have enough muscles. I dont want to loose them either, how should my weekly approach to training look like? how many days of strenght training and how many of 300/HIIT workout type?

Hey Rusty,
Great post as always. Maintaining your target weight for a while definitely plays into looking sharp. Your skin is a stretchy organ and can handle a little weight gain or loss pretty well, but in cases of extreme fluctuation, you start to see either stretch marks or folds. Even if you didn't lose enough weight to get folds, it takes a while for your skin to tighten over your body, so you really have to stick to a low weight for a while to let your skin to close up around your lighter physique.

@MikeyB: I'm almost the exact same size as you. 5'9" @ 146ish at the moment. I was at 140 two years ago in high school and got up to almost 160 by the end of my freshman year. Now, at 146, I look much better than my old 140 since i've put on muscle. Don't worry too much about looking skinny, as long as you are at 150 without too much body fat. Even at my lowest recently [140] i could've lost a few more pounds without looking too big. Hope that helps.

that last sentence is supposed to be too **small** not big

Hey Rusty

I actually have a simlar physique to Cam (a little more body fat) but Im going the exact opposite route right now. I cant stand being this skinny so Im trying to bulk up as quick as possible.

Right now Im eating a ton and trying to drink 1/2 gallon of chocolate milk per day as well.

Keep up the good work, love the site man!

-Justin
http://www.gymjunkies.com

What do you think a good bf% is for a girl? To look fit and good in a bathing suit…

Trygve,

2-3 days of strength training and as much as possible HIIT, cardio, huff and puff stuff. Oh, and at least 1 day of rest.

Justin,

make sure you don't get much fatter, man. New fat cells stay with you forever. Your face will end up looking much worse – you will look older and uglier. If was starting over, I'd first get to my desired BF% and then focus on getting stronger, more muscular.

Alecia,

It depends, but below 11-13% you may lose your cycle. 13-15 you will look very good, but again, it depends on your hormonal profile (where you store fat, etc) and your muscle mass.

Hope that helps,

Yavor

Great site! I have an off topic question. You posted your workout recently and it appeared that it resembled a more traditional body building split with HIT Cardio. Is that your typical schedule or are you now on a 3 day per week full body Turbulance Training schedule?

Thanks! I'm always learning from this site and have just set myself targets for the refined look! Please keep the good stuffs coming!

Brilliant observation as usual Rusty. It really is true that flaws disapear at a low body fat level. Let's take Paul Walker for example. In this one website someone commented that his pecs were not in proportion to his waist. At Testosterone Nation they say that Brad Pitt in Fight Club had big arms and shoulders and everything else was scrawny. Some of my friends are very thin but because of weight training and low body fat, they look great even at lower weights. Case in point, some muscle is great, but we really do not need that much to look good.
And now for a question of my own, Rusty. While I have always admired that lean and toned look I have not quite reached it. It really struck a chord when you said most people underestimate how much weight someone needs to lose. I just came off of a 3-week low-calorie regime I learned about from your old ezine articles. Blasted off some fat, but the fat feels never ending! I was wondering, do you think that it is possible to slowly lean out over a period of several months? I have adopted a Paleo/ Mark Sisson's Primal/ Evolutionary Fitness etc. diet and don't plan on looking back. Thing is however, I don't want to diet anymore, but I do want to eat healthy. What do you think?

Baz,

Brad Pitt was really light in that movie. His low body fat made him look bigger with his shirt off, but he still was slim enough to fit in the funky clothes.

Yash,

Yep you are right about skin playing a large role in looking lean. I look my best after holding the exact same weight for 2 months.

Justin,

I just made a comment over on your blog. I want to hire the guy who customized your blog theme. It is outstanding…probably the best site design and user friendly navigation I have seen!

Alecia,

I don't like to put a goal body fat percentage for women, because it can drastically vary depending upon a woman's build. Women like Adriana Lima or Jessica Biel have a much lower body fat percentage than Kim Kardashian or Beyonce, but they are all stunning women.

Yavor,

Thanks for the help…exactly the advice I would give.

Bill,

You question gave me an idea for my newest post. I am trying to master 3 days per week body weight circuits right now, but will add in weight lifting again in mid to late January.

Frank,

Just keep at it and you will reach your goal. Thanks for reading (and commenting).

JE,

I actually think slow is the best way to go, once you only have 5-10 pounds to lose. Your approach sounds ideal. You quickly lost the major body fat…now give yourself 5-6 months to reach a new level of fitness. I stay within 5 pounds of being in "vacation weight". I give myself 2-3 months to lose those last 5 pounds and it works very well. The best thing is to never let yourself get more than 5 pounds over your ideal weight. This way you will have 6 pack abs year round and get in Fight Club shape for vacations and special events.

Great comments!

Rusty

Ha! Never Back Down…Amber Heard is in that. I used to have to tell her that it was time to go to makeup and ask what she wanted for breakfast and stuff like that.

Then I decided I wanted to BE the one being asked, rather than the one having to do the asking (In other words, I decided to become an actor).

The show was called "Hidden Palms," for those curious. Got canceled after only 8 episodes (1 season).

lu,
i have enough muscle weighing 165 at 5'8, and most people would already consider me jacked and ripped with a six pac etc. However i do not look like the guy in the movie obviously because i have more fat, i think it is around 9%. I eat healthy and touch up on every muscle at least once a week, lifting reasonably heavy but not maxing out. I also do some sort of cardio five times a week. I try to eliminate fat in my diet as much as possible, and will never eat carbs late at night, only during the day and before physical actvity. I consume more protein if anything because i do not want to lose muscle. As far as my calorie intake i pretty much eat enough to satisfy my hunger, but sometimes can be more then usual when my muscles are sore and my metabolism speeds up. Someone please help me with my diet and workout if i do not want to lose any muscle just fat. Thanks!

Now I have two movies to watch. I have to see Van Damme with Tbones and a Tri Tip latched onto to his thigh. That is cheese and I bet its good movie watchin.
Nice blog dude…
I'm pickin up what you're layin down here…

Hey, I just thought I'd share a chuckle with you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXRG-hTiw90

So what is a good diet to become lean? Puhlease help me!

Hey, i'm new to this site, but it seems like it is very informative. I'm a pretty skinny guy, about 5'8 and only 136 lbs. My friends say i'm already pretty lean, but i'm not to the extent of Cam. I would definently say i'm an ectomorph, so is it necessary for me to diet or do HIIT when i'm already light? Basically what i'm asking is, should my approach to achieving a body like Cam be different from the average approach, which is strict diet and weight training with light weight and high reps?

Thanks

Kev,

If you are already lean, then focus on strength training with low reps…the light weights aren't best for muscle definition (this is one of those myths that is still floating around in fitness circles).

Low reps with heavy weight cause strong contractions in the muscle which cause the muscles to remain slighty flexed in a relaxed state…this is what true musle tone is caused by.

Click the "Muscle Tone Strategies" under the "Categories" section of the right sidebar. I have a few articles explaining the best approach to muscle tone…I think it will work very well for you!

Rusty

hey mayn.. great site.. really appreciate it=) im looking to look like Cam Gigandet's in 6- 8 months… can you give me any feed back to which article is the best to use.. there are so many.. dont know where to start.. thx.

Rusty,
I watched that movie after reading this post, and a few things jumped out at me:

1. The dialogue and acting were unbelievably lame.
2. The plot is cliche.
3. That sidekick guy who films everything is extremely annoying.
but
4. Amber Heard is SMOKIN.

P.S. I do agree Cam Gigandet seems like he's got the look and routine down. Another source of inspiration provided by you man…. oh and amber heard too.

Marc,

I suggest you started by getting lean first. Decide something for diet – either fasting or some form of carbohydrate and calorie restriction.

For training to get lean – check out Rusty's free course http://fitnessblackbook.com/low-body-fat-percentage/ or some kind of huff-and-puff activity, anything you like really. I like jumping rope, martial arts, basketball and turbulence training body weight circuits at home.

Now once you get lean, focus on building more muscle (if you need it) by doing 8-12 reps for 6-9 total sets per body part or just upping your strength with 3-5 sets of 3-5 reps.

Kind of general tips but I can write so much in a short reply

Yavor

Hey, really liked the article!
I would really like to look like Cam does in that photo. I am 5'9 140lbs and skinny/fat and 23yrs old. My bodyfat is about 15% probably.

I think I would need to put on a lot of muscle to look like Cam but also get a lot leaner so I am not sure what to do. I barely have any muscle so think I'd need to gain around 20lbs of muscle and cut around 10lbs of fat. I am not sure what to do. I don't want to get any skinnier to get leaner. I want to put on quite a lot of muscle but don't want to put on much fat. What would be the best thing for me to do?

Thanks
Ric

Excellent Article… Can anyone send me or give me a link so a full workout pertaining to this article? I would what to know what kind of workouts to do in the gym everyday and all that if anyone can help me out. That would be great. I am 6'1" and about 175 lbs and have been doing pretty much the same workouts day after day with high reps.

This is a great article!
What kind of training would you recomend, 1 bodypart a day, 3 full body workouts a week, or a 4 day upper/lower split to get this look?
Im 5'11 and 165 lbs with 8% bodyfat but would like to get around 3 or 4 cause id say thats where cam is at, but i would like to keep muscle, so if anybody has any suggetsions i would really appreciate it!
Hope everybody had a merry christmas

Ric,

To gain muscle, do a higher volume of lifting for each body part and blitz the muscle a bit and then give it adequate time to heal. To gain muscle you need to basically induce a small amount of damage and then give the muscle plenty of nutrients and rest to grow.

The way to blitz each muscle group is to do a 3 day split. You work less muscle groups each workout, so you have more time to devote to each muscle group. This also gives you more time to rest each muscle group, since there are more days in between each workout. (You gave me an idea for my post this week…I will expand upon this in my post…thanks for the idea).

Jared,

Both you and Ric gave me an idea for this week's post. It will give you an exact gameplan for what type of split to use.

Cheers,

Rusty

Hey Rusty,
Im 18 and in college and workout with a couple buddies 5 or 6 times a week working out different body parts everyday… shoulders, chest, abs, back, biceps and triceps… im 5'11 and weighed 215 pounds last summer and was really out of shape.. over the summer i lost 50 lbs and am now at 5'11 160… i lost alot of body fat but i want my body fat % to come down a few percent and get the more "ripped" look… i just ran alot to lose my weight like 4 miles a day but now i mainly just lift and ill run 3 miles 3 times a week… i just started lifting when i got to college in august and i can tell my muscles are getting slowly more defined but i want to lose weight and have more of a cam look rather than a sean look… i eat alot of chicken and dont eat snacks or cheese anymore… any ideas how i can bring my body fat % down as well as my weight… and what types of lifting should i be doing?

Hey Rusty,
I love this post. I love reading your ideas and I follow all of them because they have been working so well for me. My question is I want to start doing body weight circuits to get my body to look more like Cam's. I also want to do HIIT after. However I do my HIIT about 15 minutes after im done with the circuits because I have to drive down the street do that I can use the track. Is it alright to wait that long in between?

one point to make is that cam gigandet trains with a krav maga gym… krav maga is a style of israeli martial art, much like his fighting style in never back down. I'm sure that has something to do wth his body…

Rusty,
You mentiond body fat % quite a bit on your site. What is the best way to know where you are at if you are inexperienced with being able to estimate it? I would like to get under 10% and I have begun adding HIIT a couple of times a week (along with the current strength training) and cutting calories. I am also starting your method of lower reps while increasing time under tension AND not fatiguing the muscle. Anyway, I have a scale that can give body fat %, but it seams to jump around by over 2% from one day's reading to the next (reading at same time of day). I weigh about 168# and I'm 6 ft. Reading the article above and the one about Pitt in fight club, is it the best thing for me to target a range of 150 – 155?

Adam,

I would suggest a focus on fat loss cardio…a combination of HIIT followed by Steady State Cardio. You have been doing a bit of what I call "marathon cardio" which serves a different purpose. Click on the link at the bottom of my site that reads "Low Body Fat Percentage"…this is a great fat loss strategy.

Hunt,

It actually is perfect. You are giving your body adequate rest to be able to perform HIIT at full intensity, but aren't resting so long that your breathing slows down and muscles cool off. That will work very well.

jt,

Sports, fighting and any competitive athletic activity always improve a physique. I always encourage people to get out of the gym and play some type of sport or do physical activities they enjoy. Great point!

Jerdog,

Aiming for 150-155 would be a great goal depending upon the size of your frame. I prefer calipers over a body fat percentage scale. You can order cheap ones online. You sound like you have a great gameplan to hit your goal.

Rusty

Hey Rusty,
I'm just starting to lifts weights and exercise and im about 5'11 and 145 pounds at about 15% body fat. I've read most of your articles and i really don't know what type of exercises to be doing and how much cardio is enough. I'm really striving for Cam's body but i don't know where to begin. Could you help me out a little. Thanks

hey rusty
what can i do at 50? still got the bb muscle and do yoga, play softball and steady cardio for 30 minutes with a high rep circuit every other day.. a bit confused on the HIIT theory.. so what would you suggest for a HIIT WORKOUT? its abit harder as you had mentioned to get that body fat down when you get older but i still manage to turn a few heads still.. i put muscle and weight on very easily.. any suggestions?

I Rusty, wazzup?!

So.. I really enjoyed your blog, since for the last couple months I've been reading alot about improving my overall muscular build and just plain body look.

Unfortunately I've read lots of information and lots of "uninformation" and there is still a doubt I haven't been able to clear.

After calculating my medically recommended "ideal weight", I figured I was ok, being a 176cm, 23 yr old male, I should weight around 72Kg, which I do.
However, my body fat % is over 15%, which is something I can't really understand couse I don't look fat (lol), I can see the contour of my ribs just below my chest (laterally), and most of the fat seems to be accumulated on my belly, but then again, I have no "love handles", I can see my obliques.
My chest looks fine, I don't have much volume couse I never worked it out consistently though.

I understand that muscle definition only becomes visible when one gets his body fat % below 10 (for males), and thats something I would have to work on but my doubt is about the ideal weight relation with a body constitution that allows me to achieve a "fit look". How to balance those two things is my problem.

I'm naturally thin and my weight oscilates very little, since I've started a basic dumbell routine at home for my arms and shoulders my weight went up 2kg but I don't know to interpret that since I had no prior records of my body fat % and BMI.

Hope you can help with that.

Another thing, about your blog, I see many posts and information, but I see very little or none "workout routines". I see turbulence training, fat loss strategies, cardio advices, but inexperienced readers feel the need for some routine examples where the proper exercises for muscle definition and cardio are put together to create a consisten weekly program like most websites have.

Anyway, great blog, great effort. Keep up!!

ps: if its too many questions I'd love to hear your advices on my email, feel free to do so.

Ricky,

My goal is to make a full-blown ebook later this year. I promise it will cover everything you need to get in amazing shape.

nino,

This will help:
Low Body Fat Percentage Mini-Course

Yugo,

I'm overdue to come out with an ebook, explaining a detailed step-by-step workout and diet plan. I'll get that done this year for sure. I wouldn't worry about target weight…it doesn't mean much. Aim for a lower body fat percentage. It sounds like you will probably look pretty lean at around 10%…some people need to go lower, but it all depends upon the person.

Rusty

Hey Rusty!

First off, great site! I've been coming on here almost everyday for a month now, and love all the new tips!

Im 19, 5"8 and 133lbs.

Ive always been slim, but am trying to get that lean look. I dont go to a gym but everyday i do planks, push ups and pull ups. Im at 11% and cant seem to get the look im after.

Im now doing the intermitent fasting and its great! So I'm assuming i need to do loads of cardio and diet abit better as i think maybe im going to have to get my body fat right down to achieve my ideal look. I just want to see if im on the right path!

Thanks, Kane.

Hey Rusty,

First off, thank you for taking the time to write all this and give all this free information to us. I am already naturally slim but I want to lose the fat in my stomach to get a six-pack, this will definetly help me.

I'm just a little confused when it comes to the diet, what do you mean by intervals exactly? Basically, from what I understand I should eat lots of vegetables like carrots and celery sticks, and lean meat (portions being the size of a deck of cards) and protein shakes and basically avoid fat and don't have too much carbs..would this be correct?

Thanks heaps,
Stef

A quick p.s…

I just bought one of those nifty body analyser scales…

I'm actually at 9.8% body, 70.1% muscle and 68% water.

so now im think the reason im not showing muscle in the abs is that i need to develop them more. Also do you think my water percentage is too high?

Thanks again!

-Kane

Rusty,

"the longer you stay lean (bf 6% – 10%) the better you will look" you said?
i'm new to all this, and i hope i'm not too late to get fit for summer!
what exactly is resistance workout? do i have to keep doing it while i lose my body fat?
and is it true that you would get better results if you work out switching between lighter weights and heavier weights?
your stuff is GREAT! i'm looking forward to more of your articles!
thanks!

Hey Rusty,

Just stumbled across your site and I absolutely love it.

Anyways, I saw this movie when it first came out and walked out swearing my allegiance to a disciplined diet/workout that would give me Cam's results.

The good thing for me is that I am already in very good shape and honestly, without trying to sounds like a cocky ass, look very similar to Cam already, just not as toned.

I am 23, 155 lb, 5'11 and have the surfer look going where it looks like I tan too much.

My goal was obviously to tone up so more. So I started the P90X workout and the eating small meals 6 times a day.

Everything was going great and I my abs were looking flawless, but then I started losing weight eventually I assume because of my diet and workout (which had very few weights involved)

So then after way too many anorexic comments, I went back to my normal workout(majority strength training with heavy weights) and got back up to 155ish but lost the tone I had.

So what I am asking of you is your opinion on what I personally should do. I took a look at the HIIT and am going to start that, but the problem is I am already at my idea weight and do not want to shift a pound, but want the Cam look.

Most workouts and diets are all for the people who want to lose weight or are out of shape. I want to maintain weight while slimming my stomach and increasing strength still

Thanks in advance for any comment or email and consider me a weekly reader from now on.

Hey Rusty! so I have a question. Im 23, 5"9 and weigh 150 lbs and have recently switched from my mass building workout to your advice to get my body back to where i really felt happy. I used to weigh 140, but was ripped. After trying to get big for a year, I realized I dont wanna look like that anyways and dont know why I have been pushing myself to look like something thats not realistic. I look better lean. So I started the warrior type diet and since I already know what foods to eat, the diet comes easy…. just wondering if it is necessary because im afraid of looking to skinny. I used to always eat breakfast ( small meal) before morning routine at gym but now trying the empty stomach. My body is kind of like cam gigandet's but I lost a lot of definition…… what kind of advice could you give me to achieve this look more to the extreme. Thanks Rusty

Kane

It sounds like you are on the right path. Probably just reduce the calories a bit and push the intensity when you do HIIT or circuits. Also…be patient…fat loss progress really slows when you are about 5-10 pounds out.

Stef,

Enter "Interval Training" into the search bar in the upper right hand corner of my site and you will see several articles I wrote on the subject. It is basically a way to do cardio where you puch hard for a period of time and then back off a bit. You alternate high and low intensity training to jack up your metabolism in a way that burns calories long after you are done working out (known as EPOC). Also…you can and should eat "natural fats"…my friend, Scott Kustes has the best blog on this type of diet… modernforager.com

Kane,

Don't worry too much about your water percentage. As summer approaches, just drink more water to flush out excess sodium that makes you hold too much water. Water retention is a short term deal with a quick and easy fix. Work your abs hard…I have too many abs posts to list here. Type in "abs" into the search bar in the upper right hand corner of my site and a bunch will come up. Hope that helps…you sound like you are close to your goal.

Edward,

Resistance training is weight lifting or bodyweight exercises (pullups, pushups, etc.) that challenge the muscles. You will want to do this when you are on a low calorie diet, so you maintain your muscle mass when dieiting hard for fat loss. I prefer heavy weights for the most part for your resistance training.

Mike,

What you will want to do is focus on getting stronger in all the major lifts without adding weight. When a muscle gets stronger without getting larger, it builds density (a hard defined looking muscle). Nothing wrong with being around 155 at your height. Brad pit, who is an inch taller was at 155 in Fight Club. So now, just focus on gaining strength…and add in some HIIT as well.

Matt,

If you are naturally slim, no need to do The Warrior diet everyday. Maybe just do what Brad Pilon in Eat Stop Eat recommends. Just do this way of eating 1-2 times per week. It will probably work better in your case.

Rusty

Rusty,

Thanks for the advice.

So I will start aiming for strength.

Should I, on chest day for example, rather than working my way up to 225 and pumping out only 1 or 2 reps, stay at 185 and go for max reps there?

I figured I would do that with all of the muscle groups and twice a week pump out some HIIT.

thanks Rusy… well I felt great doing the warrior diet, just wasnt as hard as i thought it be. Now for eat stop eat, you go 24 hrs… so could it start form the time i sleep till that time the next night.

hey rusty
great post, iv been seraching for ages to find out how cam gtes that body. what kind of diet do i need? im bulking at moment. im 5"10 and 11st 8lbs, i want to get as ripped and lean as cam.
thanks

Hey Rusty,
I am a 5'8 1/2 19 yr old male weighing approx 174 lbs. I am around 9.3 % Bf, but have a large upper body. I have abs but not to defined especially the lower 2. I really need a workout that will get me Ripped to shreds. I would like to get around 7.5% bf. I am currently on this workout focusing on one body part a day doing 3 sets of 15 with one min breaks in between. Also, I am trying to eat much more healthy. Do you think this workout is good enough to get cut to shreds? I also do my cardio a bit. Would really appreciate some of your advice on how to get more toned. I would like to especially get chest bi's and abs crazy cut.
Thanks Rusty.

Great, motivational article. The "never give up,""never back down" mentality works great for life in general, so it makes sense that it – and a long-term commitment – is the way to get lean and stay fit! Keep the great information coming…!

Great post Rusty!

I've always concentrated on getting bigger because i thought it would be better looking. But i realize staying lean and fit is a better look for me. I just turned 17 and i'm about 5"10 and weigh 150lbs. I run alot and play basketball alot. People say i'm lean and ripped already, but i want that cam gigandet body. i just started taking working out seriously and got on a diet and do less weight but more reps. how long do you think it would take to get like cam if i continue this diet and working out?

Hello, I just found your site… very insiring… love the movie clip… i love inspirational montages… i am 32 (yesterday was my birthday)… 250 pounds… and trying to turn over a new leaf… thanks for all the honesty…

o, and i really read over quit a bit of your site… at first i thought you were going to tell me how to get that "hard" looking face… i don't think women look good with angular faces… but as i read on i really agreed with your views… and i want to loose weight, and still keep that soft look to my face…

thanks again, and GOD bless, Lori

Mike,

I would go heavier for less reps and stop short of failure. So instead of 185 to failure, work up to 225…but don't max out the reps there either…if you can easily do three reps then stick to 1-2 reps.

Matt,

Eat Stop Eat is a more flexible approach and it would work fine doing it in that way.

Kyle,

It just requires much less calories than most of the fitness magazines talk about. I have a post called "Maintain Muscle Mass on 800 Calories Per Day" look it up on my site…it will explain how you can go really low-cal for a while to rapidly lose body fat.

Kg,

You will get better results if you work each muscle group more often than that. The one body part per day approach is more of a high level bodybuilding approach (that works best with pharmaceuticals…if you catch my drift). Do a 2 day split or at most a 3 days split and work each muscle group 2-3 times per week. Do less reps when you lift and aim for gaining strength, but try to gain strength while eating less calories than you are currently eating…and save the really intense effort for interval cardio. That will do the trick.

Kris,

Unlike a lot of people, I would suggest to continue to train heavy and gaining strength while dropping body fat. You can do higher reps if you are doing a circuit style workout as a replacement for interval cardio, but you should train for strength at least part of the week.

Lori,

The good news is that you are still young and your skin is elastic, so when you lose that weight your skin will rebound and you will look great at your target weight. What you should do is just methodically work your way down to your target weight within the next year or so. It is just a decision away. Thanks for reading and commenting.

Rusty

hey rusty i posted one previous time but ive lost 60 lbs in the past 8 months and right now am at 5'10 165 and would really like to get down to about a lean 155-158 by spring break which is the first week in april. Right now i am eating 5 small meals a day with alot of vegetables protein and cutting all bad types of foods out of my diet. I am starting to take protein shakes after my workouts and normally twice a day. I do cardio everyday and have started doing the HIIT for about a week and a half… i also lift everyday doing chest/shoulders mon, biceps/triceps/alot of cardio tues, back wed, biceps/triceps/chest thurs, all cardio/legs fri… i do cardio everyday and do abs about 3-4 times a week… is there any other advice you could give me to accomplish my goal?

Hey! Rusty i have been reading your posts like a couple of weeks ago, i was searching in google for ways to get the body that cam gigandet got for never back down, would you mind giving me a diet and a exercise plan?? the diet watever you think will help me more, and the exercise plan i was thinking in cardio but i was reading and i read about the intensive cardio stuff, can u give me a routine were it contains that?? Im a 16 year old boy that have suffered from obesity like half of my life so i was in a diet and i dropped like 20 pounds, my height is 6'2 and weight like 170-180 pounds. If you could answer me it would be very helpful, appreciate it, ty for your time reading this.

dear rusty,
first of all, i'd like to thank you for creating this website its inspirational to know that not everyone is an arnold wannabe. (no offense to arnie).
I'd like to know if there's anything i can do to avoid looking small in clothes? I'm about 172cm and 60kg. I've always been a slim person and used to feel very insecure in the past with people remarks on how im too thin, so i decided to to do a lot of weights but i more or less ended up looking rather fat. so then i decided to take up muay thai and came back to about 60kg from 64, (i was about 58kg before gym and all this over a course of about 6 months). currently, i look fine topless with good muscle definition, although i'm missing a part of my lower abs (its visible but no where near as toned as my upper abs).
so i was wondering if you have any advice on how i could still remain this tone if not more but also bigger so that i wouldn't look small with my top on?
thank you for your time.
p.s. i really appreciate planks as i had a bad lower back problem when i was younger from tennis as i used to compete at an international level. (by the way im 21).
thanks again

forgot to say my BD% is around 6-7%

I LOVED Never Back Down and i know of a lot of other people who love it to.
I hated karate kid, because come you have a better chance of founding a man like the man in NBD to train you. And that movie was just KARATE ths is MMA. much better in fighting. I thought that CAM GIGANDET did an amazing job and is a get actor. ANd damn CAM GIGANDET had the best damn body. but i've noticed he changes up his body, while always being amazing and sexy.

Cam is an amazing actor. And Never Back Down was a good movie. I've got the 2-disc DVD. NBD is more in touch with teenagers of today. That my opinion. but NBD does have a fan group following.

I dont think you need to lose weight to get abs. I am currently 5'7 to 5'8 and im 165 and I am ripped. i dont know how much fat percentage I have but trust me I am just muscle and i think you can be ripped with muscle. I just think he is too skinny because without shirt he looks good but with shirt he looks to skinny. It is always good to look good in both ways.

Hey Rusty..

a have found cam's workout on another web site:
http://www.abs-for-life.com/cam_gigandet_workout.html
I am an ectomorph like cam, and have had a hard time putting on muscle.
do you think this program would be good for me? i have been training in 1,5 years.

i adore cam gigadent i think he looks amazinggg and most of all his abs or the best thing on his body he is everything a gril wants :] lets not start on his eyes there r amazingggggggggg mannnn he is hot

all the commments r cool tht u guys have left but i would def love to read one a good diet,its ok training hard but if your not eatin the correct foods etc to blend in wit your training then its not gonna work..so if anyone has a good diet wit things to stay away form tht would be good??

Hey im trying to get a body very similar to Cam Gigandet, but im not sure exactly what to do. How much should i run a day and i also have a problem eating. I eat so much will this really stop me from getting his kind of physique?

Hey Rusty

Thanks for this post, its really useful. I was just wondering if you could help me out with toning up in the gym? I have read a lot of your posts and i agree that the athletic and toned look is what to go for as opposed to just putting on lots of bulk.

I am a long distance runner and do not have a lot of body fat on me. I have done a lot of HIIT in terms of aerobic exercise and am currently training for a half marathon in May. Over the last two years i have been lifting weights once or twice a week but mainly doing 4 sets of 8 repetitions on bench, push down, bicep curl, just focusing on arms.

Following this half marathon in May my aim is to combine my HIIT with low volume resistance training so i can start to define my abs and chest muscles, and hopefully push towards the Cam Gigandet look.

However where i am confused is as to what low volume resistance training is exactly? Is this lifting heavier weights with a low amount of sets and reps to keep tension high? Would you be able to tell me what i should be doing to make the most of my time in the gym as i am going to start going a lot more. I have looked at Cam's workout as Mathias pointed out above. Should i aim for these sort of exercises and if so how many sets and reps should i be doing?

If you could help me out here that would be great because i have a lot of self-motivation but am just confused as to how many sets/reps i should be doing in the gym

Thanks very much,

Max

The real question is… "Fight Club Brad Pitt or Never Back Down Cam Gigandet?"

How many reps and sets do i have to perform to get lean like him?

file:///Users/colemanword/Desktop/IMG_0436.JPG
any suggestions on how to achieve a body like this?
I am 6ft 149 and have lost 17 pounds on a low caarb diet with interval and weight training

To open the picture above you have to right click and select open in new window. Thanks

Hey,

Just came across your site and I gotta say it's pretty good stuff. Def don't need to be the guy in the gym huffing and puffing with a gallon of water tied to their hip in order to look and feel great. Keep it coming!

Hey Rusty,

I tried some HIIT excersises today and almost died (not literally). I'm not unfit and am quite slim but I was doing 30 second sprints followed by 30 seconds of jogging and then sprinting for 30 seconds again and so on. I repeated this 8 times and really felt exhausted so I think I could get good results with tis method.

Thanks for your help in this as I wanted to know how to get this body so I asked on bodybuilding forums I was told all I had to do was not eat and i'd look like him. Good post I think it can really help me.

hey man i have some questions about working out. I wanna know what kind of things i should eat through out the day. Im about 5'7 and i weigh 150. I wanna get stronger and not bigger, but like i work out every day and never see a difference in how much i lift.

Hi Rusty, thanks for all of the great tips.

I am 16 years old and exactly six feet tall.
I workout nearly every day of the week and am currently 146 lbs.

Now, since Cam is about six feet tall, and had to get DOWN to 150 lbs. for this movie, what exactly am I supposed to do?
I'm a bit confused since I am underweight.

Help would be terrific. XD

Yunior,

I don't think it is bad to look slim with a shirt on. That is kind of the GQ look that many women enjoy. I would rather have a slim build that has great definition without a bunch of excess muscle size. Cam is a great example of this.

Mathias,

There are many better techniques to add muscle on your frame if that is what you are after. If you want to look similar to Cam, you really shouldn't have to add much muscle…it is all about leaning out.

fergy,

Read any diet article on my blog…it is all about slimming down while maintaining muscle. I have dozens of diet articles that will assist you.

Pete,

Diet is the biggest factor in achieving this type of look. You must have a calorie deficit over time. Too much food and you won't have a chance to get this lean…unless you are extremely genetically blessed.

Max,

What I would recommend is 3 days of lifting each week, mixed with 2-3 days of some type of interval work. If you go to the top of my site you will see a link "Body Weight Training for Fat Loss". I like to do that 2 times per week in summer and go to the gym 2-3 times per week. This is what I would recommend. The lifting is just 3-5 sets of 3-5 reps…two exercises per body part. I have a recent post titled "Get in Shape for Summer – My Detailed Spring Workout Routine" this will give you an idea of what I mean by low volume. You can even reduce the sets a bit if you want. The big key to this look is diet…I can't emphasize that enough.

anonymous,

They both are in tremendous shape, but Brad Pitt gets my vote since he was approaching 40 when Fight Club was filmed. Just less guys at that age who are in decent shape.

David,

There is way more to this equation than reps. Diet, rest, training volume, etc..all play a huge role. My advice is to gain or maintain strength while creating a strong calorie deficit over a long enough period of time. Include Interval type training to increase HGH (your body's natural fat burning hormone).

Ned,

Yeah…the bodybuilding guys don't like Cam's physique, but women do…so I guess it depends upon who you are trying to relate to. Cam's physique is definitely the way to go. The guys on the forum have it right to an extent. You do have to create a calorie deficit. Just make sure you do resistance training 2-3 times per week to make sure that you don't lose muscle. The HIIT is going to skyrocket your HGH levels and will help you get extra shredded, as long as you are following a solid eating plan.

Nick,

To gain strength without size, you need to lower the lifting volume and lift quite a few sets of low reps. Don't go to failure…don't train for the pump, etc. If you go to the right hand side of my site, you will see a categories section. Click strength training and read every post slowly. You will wind up knowing more about gaining strength without size than 90%+ of personal trainers.

David,

I would work on staying lean while gaining strength. Part of what makes Cam's physique nice is that he has muscle maturity to a certain extent. He is young but has a few solid years of working out behind him. You just need to put in more time, get stronger, etc. Realistically, that type of definition doesn't happen until a guy reaches his late teens or early 20's. You can get close and over time develop all the extra details as you gain more experience.

Rusty

hey everyone,
my name is josh im 15 years of age and a semi-professional soccer player, ive been playing since i was 4 and i love any sport and i hate losing simple, i play overseas and have been since i was 11, all i wanted to know is if anyone could give me a diet plan or routine i could try to get like cam, im 5ft11 and 3 cm of being 6ft im not your average size 15 year old, ive already have the side delts and sharp and strong abdominals and the v's down to the groin, all i wanted to know if could improve this by any chance and would love to give a shot as his workout and what he eats, for me he looks absoulutely fit and great and healthy none of this big body builder stuff, lean, skinny and muscle is the best so please if any can suggest anything to me at all would be really appreciated catch me on basara4life@hotmail
josh

and if anyone could tell me a good diet to stay lean which will benefit me in soccer thanks
josh

Its specifically Cam Gigandet in this film that turned me off traditional bodybuilding for good. Its about as peeled and shredded as Ive ever seen anybody and whats cool is the fact that he still looks strong and fit and healthy. He also looks great in clothes as well, and his leaness makes his face very chiseled and masculine. Ironically he looks ten times more manly that the average bodybuilder, most of which carry a bit of a gut, have a fatter face and some have an "hour glass" shape – big chest, wide waist and hips, and a huge butt and thighs. If they're not in contest shape its not a good look.

Rusty –

This guy's physique is my current fitness goal and I feel like I'm within reach of being there.. I'm not sure if my pic will show up on this post or not, but I still have work to do.. anyways I'm very determined and motivated, just a bit confused..

I don't know how accurate the electronic body fat monitors are at my gym, they are new but are they accurate? Because I have been leaning out noticably within the past 2 months following your site, it's like my second bible! Thank you by the way! Everything here is so useful and I visit this site at least twice a day. But anyways those devices are showing me at 4.1% BF on a constant basis, which at that number should be as lean as Cam, but I still feel like i have too much fat and not enough definition. Maybe because I just got this lean I need to wait for the skin to tighten up? Or is it something else? More muscle? I'm not sure what I should be focusing on right now.

I hope my pic comes up so you can compare Cam to myself. If it does, any info on attaining that last bit of definition would be greatly appreciated, from anyone on this site. Thanks and keep up the helpful posts Rusty!

Craig, 22

i got this look…………..
all i had to do wz just gain a little weight…..
coz i used to be slim and lean already

Hey rusty,

first off love the site!

so like most, i am trying to obtain the cam gigandet look. i started working out to get bigger, i was 6 feet 135 pounds, and now i am at almost 160 pounds with 7 percent body fat. I am still lacking the definition and size that cam has though. i feel like i am still maybe a little to small. should i continue to get bigger while keeping a low body fat percentage? maybe say 170 pounds? or should i stay at my current weight and gain strength? another issue is that i have a small waist, which i think gives off the illusion of being skinny. i have pretty good definition, i just dont want to look like a stick. any help would be very much appreciated.

thanks rusty.

oh and craig, i think i saw your pick on your profile thing, do you think i can get your email and ask you a few questions or something?

as above craig – is that you taking the pic in the mirror with the phone? you look awesome. How much more ripped do you want to be?? how long did it take you to get like that and whats your current routine?

thanks

I also have a small waist
don't know what to do with it
and Ii want to gain size for my waist
any ideas………….?plz help

Hey! Im John, im just 15 years old, my weight is only around 55 kilos, i have problem with my body, a year ago i had a weight about 65 kilos, but i lost weight during winter and im trying to get back but it's so hard! First, whats the best i should eat to gain as much weight as possible, is there something special? I dislike my body, was way better before but now im just skinny.

Rusty, when you said that losing weight evens out your physique, does that include ribs that "Jut out" too far?

I am lean with about 12% body fat. (Still working on it)

But my ribs still come too far out, is that just my natural build or is it fat pushing them out?

Hi Rusty, a question about HIIT.

Since HIIT is all about burning calories, and I hate performing HIIT, I have a quick question.

Would a guy who eats 1500 calories a day but performs HIIT to burn 400 of those calories benefit more than a guy who ate just 1100 calories a day? Or would they have equal fat-loss benefits?

I'm ok with eating less, but I'm not a big fan of HIIT.

Help would be appreciated!

Hi Rusty,

I am 6' 0' with about 12% body fat and have been that way for awhile.
I work out 5 days a week and do HIIT on Mondays and Wednesdays, but I have yet to get a six pack.
I've been on a very strict diet and am naturally pretty lean, so what should I do other than dieting and HIIT for a six pack?
Help would be much appreciated!

Is it possible to gain muscle/size/definition while trying to get ripped and slim like this?

dude anything is ossible with the right workout

How would one go about getting a body like the picture in the "Body weight training for fat loss" link?
(Mainly the pecs)

Gabriel and Daniel:

Thanks for the compliments guys! And of course I'll share any information you might be able to use to help you reach your goals. You can email me at craigcalicoffee@msn.com

Thanks!

Daniel:

My workout follows much of what Rusty recommends in this article. Mon Wed and Fri I do resistance training. I am only focusing on chest and back right now, so I'll do supersets of 5 reps Incline dumbell press followed by 6 pullups. Then I'll do a 1 minute plank and immediately jump into incline dumbell fly for 8-10 reps, supersetted with neutral grip pullups for 6 reps. I repeat this entire routine 5 times total.

Tues Thurs and Saturday I do HIIT circuits, 8 100 yard sprints with about 2 min rest inbetween each set. Sometimes I'll throw in a set of 25 pushups inbetween sets. Then after all 8 sprints I jog a mile and that's it for the day.

Sunday I do the Crazy 8 bodyweight circuit through three times, it's in another article on this site and thats it.. kinda my rest day but I still like to do something.

Planks I try and do every night for about 10 minutes, 2 forward, 2 right, 2 left, 2 forward, 1 right, 1 left all in a row. But I slack on those sometimes.

Diet wise I eat clean for the most part, mostly eggs, broccoli, fruit, almonds and meat. I never eat before workouts and my workout is usually around 10 am. Planks I do at night around 8 or 9.

Anything I forgot, email me and I'll clear it up

craigcalicoffee@msn.com

Hey Rusty i just had a quick question about kinda losing the last little pooch on my stomach… i have a clean diet and work out 5 times a week alternating two different workouts… i run about 2 miles a day some days a little more and do HIIT tuesday and thursday as well as play pickup basketball mon wed and fri… ive lost 70 lbs in the past year and am finallly getting that six pack ive wanted but i have a feeling with how hard ive been working i could even get closer to a little more… people can see six abs on me but i can tell i got a tiny bit of fat at the bottom of my abs as well as my sides to get rid of still… any tips on how i might be able to do that and get a little closer to cam's look?? also i just started taking protein shakes looking to build a little more muscle and get toward Taylor Lautner's look… i know those are a couple different looks but i wanna try to get more ripped abs as well as gain muscle at the same time
thanks alot
Adam

I read something on Brad Pitt getting in shape for Fight Club, and it said that keeping 5-6% body fat is unhealthy. Is that true?

Hey Rusty, i read this article, it's great and with much information.
But, i watched the movie…and to be honest i want to look like Cam…my body constitution is like hes….
I do swiming one time per week and do some sprints 3 times a week….
Now i have a little question and i hope you have time to answer it please please please ^_^
I have 60kg….and I am 18 years old…like i said i play sports and stuff but i have a little little fat on my abs…
Well, i'm not that slim as cam but i wanna be…
So what should i do…i mean for the gym part….i want to start to go to the gym to workout….?
And about the food…?
By the way…i only eat chicken breast and fish(meat) and in the rest many vegetables and egs with potatos…..
I need some advices please to be slim and ripped
Cheers and thanks in advance.
Gabriel.

This movie was fantastic, I've been looking everywhere for a way to get this type of body, and I'm happy I've found this site, though you only explain things vaguely, or it seems that way to me atleast, I was hoping you could help me in attaining this kind of body, if you have the time.

I'm 16 slim build, and I wouldnt even know how to begin going to get this body, the only exercise equipment I have available are a pair of dumbelss and a very old bowflex machine with one part missing, if you can help, please reply

i like your suggestions, your site, your warming text haha. ill take your advice on everything ive read on this site and hopefully ill show great improvement. im 15, gonna turn 16 on the 5th of sept. and i hope to get teh body i wont before the end of the year, i doubt it will happen but its a goal to push for.

Sorry Dude, but at points here your wrong. Number1. This is a god damn good film. 2. I can almost guarantee supplements were taken here. This is for James, take steroids..nah im kidding, reasearch into creatine. There is a current product on the market called N-Gorge look it up, it is a blend of creatine and nitric oxide. Ive been taking this for a month and am already noticing big differences. Creatine not only builds muscle mass its helps keep you slim aswell. Creatine is not a muscle booster it is an energy booster but not in the sense of a red bull. Creatine is something that naturally occurs in the body in your creatine phosphate system, it provides you with energy when you need it, for example those extra couple of reps at the end of a set when you are struggling you will push it to the max. Nitric Oxide open up your cappilaroes and gives you a longer feeling of "pump". This is just my input but james this will make your goal alot more realistic. It has no bad side affects is a completely legal supplemet just as legal as a protein shake its harmless.

Ah thnx for the advice, i actually hadn't posted that, a friend of mine did for me, and after reading that i'm not trusting him again to do stuff for me lol. But no thanks, i'm not really into using any kind of supplement, I want to get a good body like this the old fashioned way, even though I don't have any proper weight machines or any gyms, I'd still rather do it the original way.

Hey if anybody has any ideas for me it would be great…. i lost about 75 lbs the past year pretty much the old fashioned way… i went from 225 down to 150 but was real skinny… now im gaining muscle and im back to 160… im tryin to get down to about 155 but with solid muscle and a body fat percentage of about 5-6%… right now im at about 9ish%… i have a very clean low carb diet and always make sure to have vegetables and protein with every meal and also eat 6 times a day in small portions (some meals consisting of just an apple or something to keep me goin).. ive been doin a workout like cam's in the sense of reps but throwing a few of my own exercises in there… i do HIIT training 5 days a week as well as lift 5 days a week…. i can see six abs but i dont look quite as ripped and defined as cam.. any ideas how i could drop these last couple percentage points and finally accomplish my goal ive been following for a long time?

From what I remember of a previous story Rusty did, you should work out on a empty stomach to get rid of some of that last hard body fat, and he said that he would go a day without eating anything or much atleast, a protien shake or two i think he said.

And then one big meal at night, he then gave a post from some other guy about how were we made to eat at night or something, I'll try and find the post if you're interested?

yea man for sure im interested… i tried the 24 hour fast thing and i didnt think it was really for me… but i have been not eatin within 4 hours of my workout which is quite a while with the 6 meal a day diet im on so my stomach is pretty empty at the time

hey just wondering when doing the day fasting are you meant to have a morning protein shake or strictly nothing at all! thanks alot

Creatine is water weight….you lose it days after you stop working out….Sad to say the best thing out there, all though it is one of the most unhealthy things out there, is testosterone producing supplements. You can purchase them legally at GNC and they work wonders. I was 132 pounds as a senior in highschool skinny as it gets, and I worked my ass off taking 6-OXO and another test supplement for 4 months and got up to 170 after a 4 month period of being on the supplement. If you don't want to waste your time, and are willing to sacrafice the "risk" that everyone says is there (which I think is total bs) then take a test booster. I have seen 0 side effects and I took it 3 years ago and have not lost a single pound that I gained from the supplement. Trust me, don't waste your time. Do it right;)

I'm a thin guy, i've 66kg weight and 180 height. Should I use your recomendations of HIIT, diet plan etc. to build a tioned phisique? or I should try to earn more weight before?

thanks alot… from brazil

Creatine is mostly water weight when you first start taking it. However Creatine let you push harder and heaver allowing you to work out longer and better, stimulating muscle growth.

The main 2 things people need if they want to get bigger is Creatine and a good whey protien.

I have a question for anyone who will listen/answer… i got down to 155 and 6.5% body fat but then recently decided i wanted to put a little more muscle on… its not like im real scrony i just wanted to add a little more because i feel cam has a little more than me.. i decided that for the next 2 months until like end of january i will pack on the pounds with good foods! that way i can gain muscle mass and then it will give me 7 weeks before spring break to get cut back down… do you guys believe this is the right way to go about gaining a little muscle and then cutting up if i want to gain a little more muscle to look like cam?

Is it better to just lean out even if you don't have the size to look like Cam? Should you just lean out then build up strength to try to achieve this look?

This was an eye opening post when I read it about a month ago. For years myself(started workingout at the age of 13,I'm almost 21 now ) I focused primarily on building muscle with a limited amount of cardio involved. While I have gotten excellent results from building a pretty great amount of muscle mass over the years something was to be desired still. I wanted better abs. This post along with the beta fitness book has helped me to acheive that and still getting even more defined all over. I have taken up the 800 calorie a day diet, I fast twice a week. I have spartin diet days( props to the post by Rusty for that)which consists of nothing but fruit and veggies, along with sprints and jog interval runs and all around ab workouts my core is steadily and rappidly getting the look I wish for it to have.
I found it to be that lifting weights to increase strength and mass along with resistance rope to gain and maintain definition and cardio for shaving and burning fat also with hiit as well is the best way to go if you are trying to build muscle and get defined as well and it builds strength.
All it takes is a few days a week along with fasting to get awesome results. If u overworkout your muscles don't get to rebuild as effectively so do not try to over compinsate with 5 6 wrkouts a week. Only a few times a week will work. If you are already skinny,focus on building muscle, if you are a little flabby,focus on shaving pounds and fat first. And then vice versa. I'm a fitness trainer and believe strongly that one must be open to new ideas in order to improve themselves.

Ok what if your already slim but have a super hard time gaining weight im small but very cut and lean. just need advice to gain the weight.

Hey Rusty,
Im 175 lbs and 5'8", I was just wondering what kind of low-price diets could you offer to someone that was trying to obtain the same look that Cam has? I have this little pouch that I have been trying to lose for the longest time covering my lower abs. What would be your best solution to that?

Also, what kind of resistance training should I do to obtain that look?

If you could help me out a little, I would greatly appreciate it.

Hey Rusty,

Great article i'm so glad I found it, but i'm having some confusion. I'm going to start following your article. Though do I do both HIIT and interval training or could you send me a routine of some sort. Either would work fine and thanks your article has changed my way of working out. I have access to a gym, so i'm a bit confused on how does my daily chest, back, abs be any machine in the gym? Much appreciated if you could help.

i would appriciate it if someone could explain what planks are.
thanks a lot.

hey rusty,

I'm just wondering, what happened to Matt's and Craig's body, those two guys above? Any updates on their recent level of fitness and pics? Thanks.

I have the muscle in my stomach but how can i chape them to look like Cams?

@ Justin:

Hey buddy,

In answer to your question:

You can't 'shape' your ab muscles to look like Cams, unfortunately.

Whatever they look like once you have burnt off the bodyfat, that is what they look like for life.

NOBODY'S Abs look the same!! (Cams don't look like Brads, Brads don't look like Rtyan Reynolds etc…)

Learn to accept your abs the way they are!

Cheers,

Matt

hey bro,
i have a good cardio routine that im doing but i am wondering what kind of diet i should do, like a layout of the week diet wise, i saw one post said he ate fruits and veggies for a whole day and stuff like that .. any suggestions you have would be nice
thanks
ben

Hey so i'm trying to get fit by doing 3 days of lifting, 3 days of HIIT running a week and sunday off. I Feel like i'm getting in better shape but i want to find a accurate, available way to check my body comp/ body fat. Do you guys know any thing or way that can help me out with that?

Dear Rusty.

I was wondering if you could help me with a new diet and workout plan. If you could email me back I would appreciate it.

It's prob. going to be different from what you usually hear.

-Geoff

while it is easy to maintain muscle. but to actually gain muscle and get fit you have to eat every 2 1/2 – 3 hours and work out 4-5 times a week with a mix of conditioning and weights. if you don't eat every 2 1/2 – 3 hours your body goes into starvation mode and the first thing it will start eating is muscle and store the fat because it thinks it needs to. in order lose fat and gain muscle diet like that is very important, also the human body is meant to be active not lazy, our metabolism is to slow to just eat 3 times a day and not do anything eating 6 – 8 meals is really what one needs to do to burn fat and gain muscle

@ burke

"if you don't eat every 2 1/2 – 3 hours your body goes into starvation mode and the first thing it will start eating is muscle and store the fat because it thinks it needs to"

This is actually a myth that this site is about exposing. Try reading some of the articles on here. I can tell you from experience that you wont loose any muscle by going without food for up to 36 hours provided your are doing some kind of regular resistance training

When I saw Never Back Down, I thought Cam was incredibly hot and toned ect. But the second time I watched it I realized, although he had muscle and whatever, he looked rather thin. There were some fight scenes where you could see all his ribs exposed. I was wondering if this was like, normal or did he get too skinny?

Hey,
I weigh 110 pounds and my heights around 5 10 , I wanna know how do I get the Cam body, should I bulk up more or work on training harder, and should I focus more on heavy weights or reps and how do I get Abs like him?

i am 5'10 and weigh about 160lb, i run crosscountry in the summer and fall and play soccer in the spring- but my body fat is still at 20%. how do i lower it

Kyle, you sound quite active. So if your bf% is still quite high then i would suggest sticking to a diet as well as doing what your doing. And when your not playing soccer or running cross country i would suggest doing some H.I.I.T training at home by doing something such as running or skipping or jumping/jogging on the spot (High knee running on the spot is a good one)

Anyway H.I.I.T means High Intensity Interval Training. And in simple this means to do an excercise at high intensity for x ammount of time and then rest for half of x.

For example running for 2 minutes then resting for 1. Or high knees for 1 minute then resting for 30 seconds. Do this in about 20 minutes groups and make sure to push yourself, if you do this and eat right you will sure quckly shed off that extra weight you dont want. Google weightloss diets to find what type of nutrients you should focus on.

Hope this helps.

on the muscle building subject, my chest has like a triangle gap in between pecs, anyway i can close that gap

Hello i'm 5'10 and 131lb i have pretty little body fat..not sure what the percentage is..but i want to achieve this type of look. My question is am i too light? do i need to gain more mass?

Hello I'm 5'9 135 pounds. According to my body fat scale i have about 10 percent body fat. I want to achieve this lean look like Cam Gigandent. I am not sure what my approach should be diet wise and workout rise. Can you help me out?

HEY greetings from sweden!

love love love the article.
Thumps up for making me realize how stupid everyone is =)
it makes you feel way better too if you do cardio workout then muscle building.
Low caliorie diet GOOD FOOD like a fresh fruit and some vegetables a day keep the fat away!

i have running for the last 2 years, and lost considerable weight but its not the thing that i wanted.
I meant to say that my propotion of different part of body is still same as it used to be 2 years back, or more aptly i can asy that my body is somewhat slim but without shape.

I request to you to help me out to have a good body. i always longed to have a body like Cam Gigandet.
Regards
Vijender Jangra

Hey Rusty,

Wanted to say great article, no bull. A lot of sites water down info for ya.
I had a question in which anyone can answer for me. I'm 6'4 175 pounds. I don't know if I should put on more muscle first, or start trimming down. I don't want to look weak and trim, and I'm a little nervous that this might do that if I do the program too soon. What do you guys think?

Rusty

im 6'1 and about 10 and half stone. i started doing weights about 5 months ago now and iv been seeing minor results now for bout 1-2 months, but iv still got baby/ loose skin, just wana know how to get ripped like cam, because of we both have same body type,

thanks, james.

Great article, I'm looking to start a training programme soon.

I've bookmarked your site!.

Im nearly 6' and about 10 stone. I'd love to achieve a look like this guy. Having low body fat already i suppose would help but im super skinny and just cant put on any kind of weight.
At the moment i do martial arts twice a week and nothing else for the reason below.
My diet is crap but I dont really know where to start with my body type, all the things you read are for bigger guys and follow the same formula of bulk up then lose the fat, this hasn't worked for me because i cant bulk up at all. Please help!

hey im trying to get a lean body, maybe not as lean as cams but i want to be pretty lean. i am 6' and i weigh around 80kg. i have a big chest and shoulders but i have alot of fat on my body and need to lose it asap. i do martial arts classes 3 times a week and i know what exercises to do in order to lose the fat but diet is the problem. could u give me some examples of foods and meals that i could eat in order to help lose the fat?

thanks alot, Carl.

Rusty,

This is the first post that I ever read on your blog. I must of initially came across your site back when the movie came out around 2008. Didn't really become hooked until last year when I realized the lean and muscular physique was really what I wanted.

I'd have to say that I have a more ripped muscular looking body them cam but I'm not as heavy. I've had a six pack since I was about 5 and never really went to the gym. I'm 5,11 146 lbs so I'm not big but I have a body that every girl likes

You definitely right on target on this one:) Love the post, the movie maybe crap but the guys are inspiring to keep us looking good.

Hey Rusty I've been questioning now for a while on whether to gain more muscle or lose fat and tone up. I want the cam gigandet look that he has in never back down which isnt a lot of muscle but is the look I want. I'm 5"9 160lbs 17%bf . Im 19 and hope to be a personal trainer soon. Plz help me out on this

Thanks!