Christian Bale's Powerhouse Batman Workout

When Christian Bale set out to get in shape and become Batman, he was a man on a mission. He had just finished working on The Machinist, and only weighed 122 pounds. He had just six weeks to pack on some serious muscle.

The first thing that he did was increase his food intake. He was starving throughout the shooting of the Machinist, so he had to make sure he was getting adequate nutrition to build muscle for Batman. His diet included lean protein (fish, chicken, turkey) and healthy fats (olive oil, avocado). He did not eat sugar, but opted instead for complex carbohydrates like oatmeal and brown rice.

His workout was split into three days, with each day focusing on different muscle groups. On day one, he did chin-ups, squats, and high pulls. Chin-ups are primarily a back workout that provides a decent secondary workout for the biceps and forearms. To perform chin-ups, simply grab onto a pull-up bar with your palms facing away from your body, and pull yourself up. Squats work out the legs and lower back. There are several ways to do squats; they can be done with a barbell, or on a machine. Squats are exactly what they sound like, you simply lower yourself and raise yourself back up to a standing position. If you are a beginner to squats, I recommend using a machine at first, so that you can familiarize yourself with the correct motion of the exercise. A basic description of a high-pull is to set a barbell on the ground in front of your body, and then you squat down, grab the bar, and extend your legs, picking up the barbell. Raise your body to a standing position, and lift the barbell to your chest.

Day two consisted of leg workouts. Because the legs are the largest muscle group in the body, they must not be neglected if you are trying to bulk up- especially if you are trying to bulk up fast. Christian did sprints, lunges, and squat jumps. Sprints are an explosive exercise that is great for building muscle mass very quickly. Lunges involve standing straight up, then lunging one leg out in front of yourself, and then lowering your body to the ground, and then raise your body back up to a standing position- Lunges are kind of like one legged squats. And squat jumps are exactly what you would expect; simply squat down and the thrust your legs all the way, and jump.

Day three was Christian's chest workout. He did the butterflies and clap pushups. Clap pushups are a variation on regular pushups, and they should only be attempted by somebody that is comfortable doing standard pushups. They involved doing a very fast pushup, and 'jumping' off the flour, and then clap your hands under your chest while your lifted off the ground, then quickly move your hands back to the ground to catch yourself. Clap pushups are a very intense exercise that is great for building up the chest muscles. Butterflies are great for stretching out the chest and shoulders. They can be performed on a machine, or with dumbbells. The butterfly movement involves stretching your arms out to your sides (towards your back), away from your chest, and then moving your arms back to the center. Another way to visualize the butterfly is to extend your arms straight out in front of your body, then point your right arm straight out to your right side, and your left arm to your left side. Then, move your arms back to their original position. A butterfly simply adds resistance to the movement back to the original position.

Click here for more great workout ideas: BodyMakeoverOnline