Taylor Lautner Workout

Taylor Lautner, one of the rising stars of the Twilight movie series has learned a little bit about working out.  At just 18 years old the young star had to pack on thirty pounds of muscle for his role as an older, well built werewolf in in the second film of the series. Having not worked out consistently with weights prior to his training for the role, Lautner had a lot to learn – and a lot of hard work to do.

The 5′ 10″ star of Twilight: Eclipse – the latest film in the series – had the same problem that a lot of guys do when it comes to getting buff…a super fast metabolism.  Although a lot of guys (and girls) would love to have that “problem” it didn’t help Lautner when it came to adding the pounds.  The actor had to increase his body weight by thirty pounds, going from a bony 140lbs to a muscular 170.

But Taylor didn’t have to go it alone.  He had the help of a few people, the most important of whom was Jordan Yuam, a renowned Hollywood trainer with more than 20 years experience getting people in shape.

The young actor had an advantage in other ways as well.  Being thin and lean to begin with, it was easier for his body to accept new muscle mass.  Adding weight training was enough of a stimulus to, with the proper nutrition, allow his body to adapt by adding slabs of new muscle.  When someone has never weight trained before, the first time period when they lift weights is normally one of the easiest when it comes to creating new muscle tissue.

So Taylor adding weight training where there wasn’t weight training before.  But what did he do specifically when it came to working out and eating right?  Here’s the lowdown:

He lifted Heavy –

Lautner definitely worked hard and pushed iron like, well, he never had before.  He wasn’t stupid though.  The key for him was to use a weight that forced his muscles to work hard enough to force them to grow – but not exceed his limits.  Being new to weight training and not wanting to risk injuring himself (of course) meant that the actor had to be smart.  The approach that his trainer used first was to have the werewolf-in-training “taste a much heavier weight” So, instead of doing lighter weight and higher reps all the time, the athletic star would sometimes do 2-3 sets using a weight he could only lift 5 times.  The other thing that Taylor’s trainer focused on was having him do what are called “negatives.”  This is where the person only focuses on the lowering portion of the lift.  It allows the individual to use a heavier weight than normal and is not only safe (if you have a spotter) but is great for packing on muscle.  Lautner didn’t do this all the time though.  This strategy was used only once every week or two.  The idea was to push the body enough to respond by making it’s muscles bigger and stronger, but not so hard that it would break down.

He varied the Tension Points in exercises -

Lautner used mostly free weights when it came to training for his new role.  But he also added something: extra tension.  Yaum knew that this was one of the best ways to force Lautner’s muscles to work in new and different ways.  This is because typically when you work out with free weights, some parts of the movement are easier than others.  Specifically, the last portion of the movement is easier than the first and middle.  For instance, in a bicep curl, the top third of the curl is easier than the other parts.  The problem with this is that the muscle gets used to this “easy” portion and doesn’t have to work as hard the whole time.  The answer? Lautner attached bands to the bars or dumbbells he used to add extra resistance to fixed weight.  Since more tension was created when the bands stretched, this made the moves harder the closer he got to finishing them.  The result?  Awesome new muscle growth.

He varied the Reps & Weight –

Experts like Yaum know that when it comes to building muscle, using the same weights and rep ranges only works for so long.  The key is to vary the amount of weight lifted and the amount of times it is lifted.  So for instance, if you use a heavy weight for 2-3 sets of 5 reps one week, the next week it might be good to try a lighter weight that you can use for 2-3 sets of 12 reps.  One recent study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research even proves that this approach is effective.  The study found that men who regularly used different rep counts and varied the muscle groups they trained increased their bench press strength by 28 percent and their leg-press strength by 43 percent. This strategy helps for a couple of reasons.  First, it forces the body to recruit different muscle fiber types and motor units.  Second, it creates a built in recovery period where the body can work differently (and sometimes more easily) so that the person doesn’t experience burnout.  In Lautner’s case it definitely helped.  He was able to stay motivated and injury-free over the months that he trained.

He cut back on Cardio –

Even though it might sound strange, Lautner had to actually reduce the amount of cardio training he did.  This is because cardio, while great, can actually stress the body if done too much.  This stress leads to reduced muscle growth, and, at times weight loss.  Of course this makes sense to most people though.  Cardio does cause weight loss.  No big secret.  In Lautner’s case though he was already lean to begin with and he actually needed to add weight – not take it away.  Lautner started his routine with a little bit of cardio – about 20 minutes 4-5 days per week after his workout.  This amount is normally enough for most people to burn fat and maintain muscle.  In Taylor’s case he actually started to lose the muscle he added because of his super fast metabolism.  It was better for him – and sometimes for others who are trying to bulk up – to cut down on treadmill time.

He attacked his abs…but only a few times per week -

A lot of people work their abs every time they work out.  This is one of the biggest problems for people trying to get a six pack.  What most people don’t realize is that the abdominals are like every other muscle group.  They need to be worked with weight heavy enough that it forces them to grow, but not so much that they don’t have time to recover.  Once you build the muscle, your six pack will start to pop.  You just have to stay lean in the midsection so that there is no fat covering that region, hiding your precious abs. Click here for the simple secret to great abs.

He took time off –

Eating right and working out are definitely two of the most important factors when it comes to building muscle.  The other factor? Recovery.  During Lautner’s routine, he never worked out more than five days per week.  He also took every third day off.  In this case it was crucial to take it easy every so often – in order to let his body recover and build new muscle tissue rather than risk getting worn out.

He ate right –

When it comes to putting on muscle, diet is hugely important.  To reach his goal weight, the young star had to eat more than he was used to eating – a lot more.  His trainer knew that if you don’t provide your body with enough calories to build new muscle tissue, all of the weight lifting in the world won’t get you buff.  The key is to know how many calories you are eating now and to know how many you need to consume to reach your goal weight.  For some people adding 500 extra calories per day will get your body weight up.  For others adding as many as 1-2 thousand calories is necessary.  It all depends on how many calories you’re taking in currently and also knowing how many calories you need to start eating.  A simple strategy to use to determine how much you need to eat is this: take your goal weight and multiply it by 20.  So, if you would like to be 180lbs, multiply that number by 20 and you get 3600 calories.  This number represents the high end of the calorie range you would need to gain weight.  In other words, you may need to consume this many calories to gain significant muscle – but you probably won’t need to consume more than that.  In fact, some people will gain weight by eating a calorie amount equal to 15 times their desired body weight in pounds.  They key is experimenting with different calorie amounts to see what works for you.  Everyone’s metabolism is different so you won’t know until you try.

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