Daniel Radcliffe in Miracle Workers. Achieving ripped results like these require a lifestyle overhaul. Photo / Supplied
Daniel Radcliffe in Miracle Workers. Achieving ripped results like these require a lifestyle overhaul. Photo / Supplied
How the actor broke the internet with his elite athlete-worthy muscles.
Possibly because we’ve known him most of his life, pictures of Daniel Radcliffe’s extraordinary lean and muscular body have caused what can only be called a considerable stir. The images taken from US comedy series Miracle Workers reveal theformer boy wizard’s powerful shoulders, arms and chest and a set of abdominal muscles worthy of an elite athlete.
Radcliffe is typically British and self-deprecating about his exercise routine but we’ve tracked down celebrity personal trainer Matt Roberts (who doesn’t train Radcliffe) to outline the kind of programme any of us would have to undertake to emulate something of his wildly impressive physical development. Warning: this means hard work and sacrifice. There is no magic wand.
Walk then run
You will need to undertake three kinds of cardiovascular exercise. First, you will devote considerable time to slow, steady workouts that you can feel but do not leave you with a pounding heart, gasping for breath. This is your Zone 2 cardio; the zone refers to the point at which your body is burning fat rather than carbohydrates as fuel and for this to happen you need a very even pace.
“For most people this is a brisk walk. For three to four days a week, you should do a fast-paced walk or session on the stationary bike with no deviation, no hills, just tick along for a minimum of 40 mins.”
Pre-transformation: Daniel Radcliffe in 2020. Photo / Getty Images
So far, fairly unthreatening… but meet high intensity interval training. One day every week you should leap about in some way that taxes your heart for a brief full-on burst and then resting. The ratio of rest-to-work is 1-2 so 30 seconds work, 60 seconds rest. Do this for between 30-60 minutes including warm-up and cool-down time.
Finally, for a Radcliffe-esque ripped torso, on one of the days left in the week, you will need four bursts of three-to-four minute all-out nearly-everything-you-have cardio sessions. Climb onto the stationary bike, bid farewell to your sense of comfort and go hard for four minutes – see how many watts you generated, take a three-minute rest and go again, and again…
“Try to keep your watts the same for each burst. That’s the goal. You won’t manage it. If you do, you probably weren’t working hard enough on the first one.” Roberts says.
To build the powerful and very visible muscles Radcliffe displays in this scene, you will need to work hard in the gym. Very hard. Divide your week into push and pull sessions – two sets per major muscle area per week.
'You will need to work hard in the gym. Very hard,' says Hilton. Photo / 123RF
So, think about chest, back, arms, abdominals, legs and shoulders and on ‘pull’ day, perform exercises like lat pull-downs, bicep curls, deadlifts, and dumbbell rows - movements that involve pulling the weight up or down or towards you.
Then switch to ‘push’ days. Here we’re focusing on leg presses, lunges, shoulder presses, bench presses, moves where you push the weight away from you. “You should do sets of eight-to-10 repetitions with the last few feeling tough. Then rest for two or three minutes before going again. Remember to do two warm-up sets first.”
Embrace beans
Bin the cream teas, and wave goodbye to full-fat Coke. In fact, frankly all refined sugars will have to become fond memories. That pain-aux-raisins on Saturday morning will be replaced by a fruit bowl. “Sugary fizzy drinks are out. But fruit is OK – your body will use those in the right way,” says Roberts.
Think of each meal in terms of three nutrient groups – protein, carbohydrates, and fats. As you are now working out at a considerable level of intensity you will need 30 per cent of your daily calorie intake to be protein. A good rough guide is to think about 1.3 grams of protein for every kilogram of body weight. This does not necessarily mean a bloody sirloin for breakfast.
“Beans are a rich, low-fat source of protein, tofu is good, along with fish and meat”. You will need 40 per cent carbohydrates and the rest are fats. Before you imagine a plate of chips – here we’re talking healthy fats: nuts, seeds, avocados). Good carbs are quinoa, sweet potatoes, brown rice and non-starchy vegetables.
Oh, and take care of the rest of your life
This level of serious work will mean you will need at least one or two rest days for recovery. Sleep will be vital: “Do not eat within three hours of going to bed – the digestive process will disturb your sleep quality.”
Try to track your sleep with a wearable device. And alcohol will have to be very limited. “Research shows that anything beyond two drinks decimates your sleep,” says Roberts. “If you are one of those people who finds that one or two becomes three or four then alcohol has to go.”
