A fine example of celebrity fitness is Alexander Skarsgard, who has become a sensation in the States since True Blood became a TV show hit a few years back. He plays an arrogant yet charming old vampire, Eric Northman, and has plenty of opportunities to show off his physique. The question is, what would an Alexander Skarsgard workout look like?
Alexander Skarsgard in True Blood
The man himself is rather tight-lipped about how he trains…he has only revealed that he “lifts weights and runs”. To which anyone who has studied fitness, is about as interesting as saying that he also eats protein and watches his figure. Clearly, to be in as good of shape as he, Skarsgard has put some time in.
To figure out how he trains, it helps to take a look at him personally. I’ve included a helpful shirtless pic on the right showing off his physique. Skarsgard is quite tall, and at first glance he probably used to be lanky…he seems to have the build of that guy who was a 6’4″ beanpole back in High School.
Since then, though, he has definitely put some muscle on. He has well-defined arms and abs, yet there is no excess bulk. Clearly, he’d pull off the V-shape look that girls would–and do–swoon for.
Now, how does that help us? By looking at what the Alexander Skarsgard workout might be, we can figure out how to use it for our benefit. First off, you do not get a build like his without a good diet. You would need to get your body fat quite low–at least 10%–while consuming lots of protein to maintain your muscle mass and fuel the actual exercising.
In terms of the workouts themselves, there are a couple ways to go. I would recommend a program using High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) that has you work in bursts of max intensity followed by short rest periods. This off-and-on cycle challenges your muscles and cardio both, and has been shown to spike your metabolism for up to 48 hours after working out.
The next part is that you need to do some serious lifting, but probably not what you expect. Traditional big-3 lifts like squats, deadlifts, and bench press will boost your strength…and might give you a bulky look, rather than the nice toned look that Skarsgard sports. In other words, you need to add strength without puffing out and getting bulky.
Alexander Skarsgard in…Bed
You want to follow a program that takes you through a variety of training exercises to build the two types of strength: sarcoplasmic and myofibrillar. Sarcoplasmic training is what potentially creates the large fluffy look, while myofibrillar development is what gives you the tight muscles fibers that seem to pop out like you see here.
Too much sarcoplasmic training and you’re puffy, while too much myofibrillar training and you end up looking small. You want to hit a middle ground like what you see here.
While we may not know the exacts, I can tell you that the Alexander Skarsgard workout has to cover both of these concepts. The man is strong and toned without being a cheesy puffed up lifter, and getting that look is more complicated than just “lift weights, eat less fat”.
If you’d like to read about a program that does just that, check out the free Hollywood Fitness Guide which takes you through each of these pitfalls, and shows you how to adapt whatever type of strength training you do now and make it work for getting ripped.
