The Pinnacle Of Fitness: Working Out Like Christian Bale

Posted on May 19, 2009 by Andrew in Celebrity Diets & Workouts .

To reach the pinnacle of fitness in an industry such as Hollywood, one must dedicate themselves to hard training, a rigorous diet, and above all else, years of commitment towards both. That’s exactly what Christian Bale has done. But it hasn’t always come easy and at times, Bale has had to just buckle down to get into top-shelf shape (Hollywood.com):

HW: You’ve said that you’re not the biggest fan of the physical conditioning that you’ve had to put yourself through. How do you make peace with that and get the job done?
CB: You just accept it. You don’t rest unless you’re in the middle of actually doing it. So you just make it a part of your routine. You just force that on yourself, and there is really no other way of doing it. You just do it, that’s it. You’ve got to get on with it and convince yourself that you like it and enjoy it. It’s funny because it’s the power of the mind and you’ll start enjoying it after a while even though when it’s done you can just switch it off and go, ‘F*ck that. I didn’t enjoy it for a second.’ During it you can actually find yourself saying, ‘Ah, I really want to do whatever it is.’”

While Christian Bale has without a doubt a truly rare combination of dedication and genetics, his success in his physical fitness can no doubt be attributed to a solid workout routine. Here is his workout routine while preparing for his role in Batman (Bodybuilding.com [sum]):

Day 1:

Chin-ups superset with cable rows: 4 sets, 12 reps each exercise

High Pulls: 4 x 10, 8, 6 reps

Power Clean: 4 x 10, 8, 6 reps

Day 2:

Sprints: 5 sets of 30m sprints and 5 sets of 40m sprints (60 second breaks between sets and 120 seconds between distances)

Squat Jumps: 4 x 10, 8, 6 reps

Lunges: 4 x 10 reps

Day 3:

Dumbbell Flyes: 3 sets, 12 reps followed by Smith Machine bench press: 3 sets, 12 reps

Explosive Bench: 4 x 10, 8, 6 reps

Ricochets: Side to side jumps with feet together - 2 minutes on, 30 seconds off

Day 4:

Active rest

Day 5, 6, and 7:

Repeat days 1, 2, and 3

When you see him on screen in movies such as AMERICAN PSYCHO, BATMAN, and TERMINATOR SALVATION, Bale typifies the new gold standard of male fitness. But even with an unbeaten dedication to getting in shape, even Bale can let his physique slide a bit (Hollywood.com):

“HW: Is it tough when you get the Batman body or the soldier’s body and then you’re done with the film and you don’t want keep up that level of fitness regimen, but you like where your physique is and you know that you have to keep up the hard work to maintain it?
CB: No, it’s not tough. It’s very easy to lose it and I don’t mind it at all, but it’s also a part of what I think is an addiction of mine: I like extreme circumstances, and so for me boredom is the consistency. I like that I’ve got one month and I have to go insane with training to be ready on time. If it’s just my life, I probably wouldn’t even do it. I can’t stand the tedium of repetition. So it’s got to be that it’s something new and that I have to do it in a hardcore fashion by dealing with a deadline, because if you have no deadline in sight – for me it has to feel like you’re sprinting for the finish line and then I take it seriously.”

Although Bale claims to “lose it” with regards to his physique from time to time, it’s apparent that he never dips below a physical threshold that most of us may never even reach! It just goes to show you that even when you’ve got all the tools and motivation in the world, staying in top shape is still a very difficult feat.