Here's the thing about celebrity fitness transformations. They're hardly doable for us mere mortals. You no doubt see Chris Hemsworth's arms in Thor: Love and Thunder, Jason Momoa's mammoth upper body in Aquaman 2, and Daniel Craig's trim physique (at the age of 51, no less) in No Time to Die and think, Yeah, I'd like to look like that.
As we await the trailer for Deadpool 3 to drop, you can add another enviable body of work to that list: Ryan Reynolds. Thankfully, to make it at least moderately more attainable, we spoke to his trainer, Don Saladino, about how he helped the actor get in shape for each installment.
Saladino shared a Push Day routine he programmed for Reynolds to build three-dimensional muscle and fill out the iconic tactical suit—or as Reynolds likes to call it, Deadpool’s Big Red Body Condom™️. It'll help you bulk up your own chest, shoulders, and triceps.
See the workout below and read on for Saladino's insight into how Reynolds has grown over their years of training together.
Men's Journal: Was there a difference in aesthetics or performance Reynolds needed to achieve going into Deadpool 2 and 3?
Don Saladino: I wouldn't say, aesthetically, we were looking at his physique saying, we need bigger shoulders or chest, or anything a bodybuilder would typically do. Training-wise the template changed a bit. He was someone who came from the body-part approach.
Early on in his career, he loved coming in and crushing a body part with volume. There’s a time for that, but now we’re baking in doing touch-up work later in the week. If we’re training lower body early in the week, he might deadlift later in the week.
We tried to develop a lot of strength and resiliency in his glutes, hamstrings, and low back—throwing in a lot of posterior chain work. We’re always trying to get his glutes strong, because that ties into a strong foundation for him. Structurally, he has a really wide back and shoulders and a thin waistline, so appearance-wise he has a fantastic setup. Building glutes and hamstrings is something I put a lot of emphasis on to help his posture and how his body is feeling every day.
How did the training protocol change throughout the franchise?
On paper for the first Deadpool, the training split looked more like Day 1: Lower Body. [In Deadpool 2 and 3], we evolved to set things up with more frequency. You hit muscle groups again but lower volume. Sometimes as we age, adding all that volume can be really difficult.
You get incredibly sore and it’s hammering your joints. You can stimulate hypertrophy, but it takes five days to recover and we’re not hitting it again. Ryan called me one day and said, I had some of the most grueling days on camera, but structurally I feel great. He’s tired, but his body feels good.
Resiliency is my No. 1 focus. He’s gonna do as many things on his own that the production company allows him to do. Part of my job is giving him enough body armor to keep him functional. I need him to be athletic so if he’s sprinting around a corner, his body can withstand it.
How has Ryan surprised you over the years of training together?
The beautiful thing about Ryan’s fitness journey is he’s a self-sufficient person. He’s very open to having homework. He let his guard down and has complete trust in me. I think that's why we've always worked well together.
He's really evolved with time and aging, where some people struggle to do that. We’re all getting older but that doesn’t mean we have to get worse. I've seen him evolve as an athlete. I've seen him evolve as a human. He's got four kids now. He's built billion-dollar companies. He's doing things from a charitable standpoint. He's got so much more on his plate to balance now.
Out of everyone I've ever worked with, Ryan and Blake, they're just on another level. What's more special about it is they're just such incredible people. Once you have that many things in your orbit that you're working on, it's so easy to be like, well, I'm not gonna put as much time into the mobility, the flexibility, the prehab, the behind-the-scenes work.
Where did you have to make the most changes with his regimen?
Early on, he’d go very low carb and it would be really hard on him—his performance and energy. Then he started becoming more accepting of carbs and healthy fats and understanding the nutrition that has to go into our food. It can’t just be chicken and white rice.
You’re hitting some of your macros, but it’s incomplete. His plate became a bit more colorful. The rest and recovery aspect—how he pays attention to his lifestyle—and small changes like if he has an appointment uptown, he’ll walk. He knows accumulating those steps is important.
What did he struggle with the most?
People have this no pain, no gain mentality. And the reality is that you might get in much better shape leaving a training session with some gas in the tank. You're not having an aneurysm when you're leaving? That’s a good thing. So I think he started learning that and he started trusting that process. I think that allowed him to recognize on days he feels great, it's time to put his foot on the gas.
Does he have unique strengths?
Very rarely do you see a guy at 6'2" who can do pullups the way he'll do 'em. He'll do multiple sets of 12 or 15, easily.
What would you say is the biggest misconception about training actors?
There's a big misconception on what people in Hollywood have to go through. These actors are doing stunts, they’re getting hurt on set. They’re flying to different time zones. There's so much volatility in their lifestyle and doing this while trying to manage family and other businesses.
People don't think about that and the stress on the body. Like the movie Ryan did with Will Ferrell called Spirited. He was dancing every day for like eight hours a day. You're not a ballerina. You're over 6’2” and 200 pounds. If you're not conditioned to do that, that becomes really taxing on the body.
I look at it like it’s a Formula One car. Every time that car pits, there are different problems that need to be addressed. The human body's no different.
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