Here is the list of the most jacked, ripped, cut, shredded, strongest, and lean musclar celebrities actors in the world along with their workouts, meal plan diets, and shirtless pictures. These guys have the best bodies with the biggest arms and the best set of six pack abs in Hollywood. We searched endlessly for their workouts and meal plans both in text form and in video. We list Muscle Prodigy’s version of the Top 50 Most Ripped and Muscular Celebrity Actors.

Below is Part 1 of the Top 50 Jacked Celebs. Be sure to check out Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5 of this list.

Sylvester Stallone: Height: 5’10″ Weight: 220 lbs.

You can see that Stallone has kept himself in incredible shape throughout the years. On the left is Stallone during his earlier years and on the right is during his present years. His body is more detailed than most; you can see the veins throughout his entire body!

Even at 62 years old, Sylvester Stallone is killing it with his award winning body. Stallone has always been known for his prominent muscular physique throughout his career, but went through many fluctuations along the way, looking more ripped in certain films than others. For Rocky III, Stallone cut his weight even further. He dieted down to 155 lbs. by eating 10 egg whites, a piece of toast, and an occasional piece of fruit each day. After he reached this incredibly lean weight, he built up pure muscle mass until he reached 175 lbs. His workouts to get down to 155 were even more extreme. He started the day with a 2 mile run, did 18 rounds of sparring, and 2 hours of weight lifting and jumping rope. He would run again later in the afternoon. During this transformation he cut his bodyfat to 4.5% during filming. Even when he wasn’t filming he walked around at under 6% body fat with 18 inch arms and a 50 inch chest at 180 lbs. The pinnacle of his bodybuilding days was Rocky IV as shown above on the left (the right picture is what he looked like training for the Expendables at 60 years old), where he came in with his absolute best physique. He also made sure his diet routine is perfect. His macronutrients are developed specifically for the role he is playing and whether he has to gain more muscle mass (where he ramps up his protein intake) or cut his pounds. Stallone will eat highly restrictive diets to lose extreme amounts of weight using vegetarian diets.

Our take: This man is a straight beast. He’s in his 60s and he looks amazing. Stallone puts such an emphasis on his cardiovascular conditioning and with good reason. Doing a lot of cardio keeps you lean and he was certainly one of the leanest actors in all of Hollywood. The fact that he was 180 lbs. with 18 inch arms, a 50 inch chest and under 6% body fat is astounding. That’s similar statistics to a professional bodybuilder. The man could’ve probably competed with the best of them!

Jean Claude Van Damme: Height: 5’9″ Weight: 180 lbs.

Talk about perfect aesthetics. He is one of the most ripped guys in Hollywood.

“The Muscles from Brussels” is a synonymous term with the action movie genre, playing in some 30+ films, the most successful of which were Bloodsport, Kickboxer, Timecop, and Universal Soldier. Van Damme has had one of the best physiques to ever walk this planet: not too overly muscular, but ripped enough for every girl to want a piece. Van Damme worked hard to achieve his physique, his martial arts skill, and his famous leg split between two chairs. From doing gymnastics at a young age to working out in a dojo with kids twice his age when he was 11 years old, JCVD was a student of training, nutrition, and working out. “I’ve always had a very addictive personality, so when I train, I really train hard. I would bike for two hours a day through the woods, I would spar non stop for like an hour almost every day. I followed a very complete training program in every area and it was very rigorous. I was doing condition, cardio, sparing, stretching, and weight lifting. To really be good in karate, you’ve got to do everything except karate in your training because when you have the techniques of kicking and punching down, you’ve got to build around it with condition, balance, and the other aspects I previously mentioned.” Even at 49 years old (shown above), JCVD goes to the gym 4 or 5 times a week. “Even as a small kid from Belgium I needed to train to feel good physically and mentally. As you know, training, whether it be in acting, martial arts, whatever, can give you a lot of confidence in yourself. It has given me a lot of confidence from the physical point of view and confidence from the mental point of view.” He said that he’s so experienced in training that all he needs to do is listen to his body. He doesn’t follow a specific program anymore, but makes sure it is balanced with cardio, flexibility, and weight training. Van Damme says that a lot of people are uneducated about weightlifting and overdo it.”I didn’t have a great education because I left school early, but one thing I do know about training is (Long pause), I came to a point in my training where I just feel, and when you feel yourself, you start to internally talk to yourself. Not talking verbally but just feeling and listening to what your body and muscles are telling you about what works for you. It took me years to learn how to do this. I hurt myself many times when I was younger by not listening to my body. I mean, I was bench pressing 166 kilo at the age of 19, and I actually really hurt some bone structure in my wrists. The bones and joints just aren’t made for that. So now I lift and train very slowly and precise, meticulously listening to my body. ” Jean Claude Van Damme’s diet routine consists of rice, bread, vegetables, and beans. Van Damme doesn’t believe in eating anything “with a soul” in it. He will only eat meat on certain occasions, and if he does, he makes sure that it has absolutely no fat on it.

Our take: With his karate background, it’s no wonder why he sported one of the best physiques in Hollywood. Karate teaches you discipline and it teaches you unique ways to use your strength. Karate incorporates a lot of functional strength and definitely adds an emphasis on balance and stabilization, two facets that can help you push your body to new heights.

Christian Bale: Height: 6’1″ Weight: 190 lbs.

Just look at the transformation of Bale with his different movie roles.

Christian Bale is a true actor in the sense of the word. During any movie he’s done over the course of the years, when you see him on film you actually visualize him as a character as opposed to his real life persona which cannot be said about a lot of actors in today’s era. When you see Dickie Ecklund on film, you believe you are actually watching Dickie and forget that Bale is playing Dickie. And Bale takes his training as serious as anyone when it comes to preparing for a role so he is spot on for the part. Bale has fluctuated his weight more times than any actor has ever. Look at Bale’s transformation:

1) A buff 200+ lb. American Psycho

2) A concentration camp looking 130 lb. survivor in the Machinist

3) The jacked 200 lb. Batman Begins star

4) The 140 lb. role in Rescue Dawn

5) Back to a jacked 210 lb. Batman for the Dark Knight

6) Back to 150 lbs. to play Dickie Ecklund for The Fighter

7) Back to a 210 lbs. for the third Batman installment that has since been delayed, and is now forced to lose weight again for his role in the upcoming movie Concrete Island

Bale has the art of putting on muscle and burning fat down to an exact science as he so eloquently demonstrated for the aforementioned 6 roles he’s done. When he’s bulking, Bale supposedly follows the 1:2:3 diet, where eats 1 gram of fat, for every 2 grams of protein, for every 3 grams of carbohydrates. Bale made sure he ate every 2-3 hours so he could get enough nutrients in while still keeping his metabolism elevated so he’d stay lean.

Our take: There’s something to be said about fluctuating with a hundred pounds of bodyweight. This can’t be good for the body. However, being an actor is all about fitting into a role. You see football players taking vicious hits to the body and baseball players throwing out their shoulders. This is Bale’s career and at times he needs to sacrifice his body to make a living, to be able to be the best actor he can be. You can’t have a skinny guy playing Batman and you certainly can’t have a muscular guy playing a concentration camp survivor. He is also most likely working with some of the best trainers, nutritionists, and doctors that Hollywood has to offer so they know how to push him.

Ryan Reynolds: Height: 6’3″ Weight: 200 lbs.

Reynolds really defines the term “jacked”. He has tons of lean muscle mass and not many people with such low bodyfat can have mass like him. His huge emphasis on his core training really helps him get a ripped up midsection.

The most talked about body in Hollywood is no doubt Ryan Reynolds. His workout routine consists of a strict regimen and diet that allows for 3% bodyfat and the best six pack abs in the business. In preparation for his role in Blade:Trinity, Ryan Reynolds workout routine was really hardcore, where he usually worked out for 2-3 hours a day 6 days a week. Reynolds spoke of his trainer, “He showed me how important the process of visualization is. Visualizing the transformation I had to make, I believe was key to making it happen. With this information, I began training as though preparing for the olympics.” He would start off his exercises with something basic to warm-up his core like situps. Then he would move onto heavy weight lifting. Since, he was a “scrawny” guy to begin with, he cut cardio out completely and focused on bulking up. He would focus in the rep range of 8-12 reps per set in all exercises. He would work one body part per day: chest, back, shoulders, legs, arms. Ryan Reynolds diet was hard to the bone as well. Ryan Reynolds said that his diet was actually more of the key to building mass though. He learned that diet accounted for about 80% of the way he looked. He made sure he was getting enough calories to gain mass but not fat. He made sure he ate every 2 hours, never going hungry yet never eating until he was full.

Our take: Reynolds placed a lot of emphasis on his core and with good reason. The core is the center of your body. It’s where most of the power and explosion originates from during your workouts. It’s important to warm up the core and get it ready for heavy weight training. Also, he was right when it came to bulking up. When bulking up, you want to neglect the cardio because you can’t really afford to burn more calories. You need to take in more calories than your body is burning off.

Wesley Snipes: Height: 5’9″ Weight: 180 lbs.

Snipes has a very big and powerful looking chest.

This Bronx native is one of the best martial artists to ever appear on screen. With his hit movies Blade, Passenger 57, Demolition Man, and US Marshals, it’s no doubt that his sick pack body had a large part in landing him those roles. His athletic roles in Wildcats and Major League launched his career in tough guy roles and gave him his claim to fame. Snipes still has the body to get premiere roles and the time he spent in the gym not only saved his career, but also saved his life. While Snipes’ downtown Manhattan apartment was destroyed by the collapse of the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers, he happened to have been delayed at the gym where he was working out, otherwise he could have been home at that moment. While Snipes infamously promoted Chuck Norris’ Total Gym during his younger years, I doubt that’s what landed him his physique. Snipes focuses on balancing cardio, weight training, and flexibility. Also, a staple of martial arts is that having a sound mind will lead to a sound body and vice versa.

Our take: The gym can be life-saving. Literally…

Hugh Jackman: Height: 6’1″ Weight: 215 lbs. while bulking; 200 for filming

Jackman’s muscle mass phase and strength training phase really helped him pack on lean muscle mass. You can really see a detailed core with this picture.

Hugh Jackman has a workout routine that is comparable to few and packs on tremendous muscle and ripped 6 pack abs onto his body. He is a true wolverine in the sense that he goes all out in the gym to prepare for his acting roles. The thing about Hugh Jackman is that he has the utmost respect for his body and makes sure he always stays in shape. However, for the Wolverine role he wanted to add on muscle. Nevertheless, he wanted to make sure that he packed on muscle while staying very lean so he could stay true to comic book character form. In his preparation he trained for 5 months and did 2 phases each lasting of a few weeks, going back and forth. “I’d change it up every 3 weeks,” he says. “Three weeks heavy with lots of rest between sets. Then change to lighter weight, slower reps, four count up, four count down. Then mix in fast, explosive lifting, always changing the workout.” Muscle Mass Phase: Hugh Jackman’s trainer wanted to force Hugh’s muscles to adapt and force them into new growth, so he had Hugh do lots of variations with reps, tempo, and weight. Strength Training Phase: Hugh’s trainer made sure that Jackman solely concentrated on lifting as heavy as possible with no rules on tempo. The previous phase primed his body for this phase, making the faster repetitions with the same weight seem like a breeze. “For Wolverine, I ramp it up,” he says. “I do an hour and a half a day in the gym and eat a thousand calories more a day than I would normally. And I train really hard. I crank up the Godsmack and Metallica. I yell and scream, which helps me get into the character and have a bitch of a workout.” He also ate six meals a day with lots of vegetables and lean proteins. Hugh made sure that he stayed lean during these phases by doing a couple of things. First, every Friday during both phases he made sure that he did an hour and a half Bootcamp. Instead of focusing on bodybuilder training, he made sure he used his bodyweight and did a lot of bodyweight exercises and high intense calisthenics to boost his metabolism. Also, Hugh stayed extremely ripped by taking one week after each phase where he would concentrate on toning up and stripping bodyfat. During this week, he would only lift weights once per week and then concentrate on intense and brutal cardio in the form of high intensity interval training. Hugh Jackman is said to bench press 315 lbs. and leg press 1,000 pounds. He is a strong man, but perhaps he uses his mind to will his body into new heights. “I don’t set goals in life,” he says. “In this country, people are all about goal setting. And I concede, to a point, how it can help you get going. But we limit ourselves with goals. We have far more ability than we give ourselves credit for. You see that in people under pressure. How does someone run a 100-meter race at the Olympics? When it’s once every 4 years, with everything they’ve done leading to that? It can’t just be adrenaline.” Then he nods and smiles. “Maybe it’s just the mind getting out of the way.”

Our take: As you can see, Jackman uses variety in his workout routine. He keeps his body guessing. In order to continually build muscle, strength, and functional capacity, you must incorporate progression and variation into an exercise program. This is the best way to avoid a plateau.

Arnold Schwarzenegger: Height: 6’2″ Weight: 250 lbs.

During his early years, Arnold defined the term “superhero” with his incredible physique. As you can see, his muscular aesthetics really helped him be more credible as a bad-ass superhero.

What’s a most jacked actors list without Arnold? Arnold transformed action movies and was really the first muscular guy to be featured in a big time film. Now, it’s a given that you’ve got to look ripped with your shirt of, but before Arnold it was a rarity. Arnold really trademarked the muscular physique in movie roles. The Big Oak has left his mark in multiple facets: bodybuilding, acting, author, and now politics. As if you didn’t know, Arnold is a big preacher of working out: “You’ll find, as I did, that building muscle builds you up in every part of your life.” Arnold usually used a weight that was between 70% and 75% of the one-rep max and he stayed within a range of 8-12 reps for the upper-body and 12-16 reps for lower-body movements. Arnold always pushed mentally to go past failure and puked many times in the gym. He had no fear of fainting while doing squats.

Our take: It’s interesting he did lower reps for his upper body and higher reps for his lower body but it’s with good reason. Your legs are made of more endurance fibers so they can handle more reps and tend to respond better to higher rep training.

John Cena: Height: 6’1″ Weight: 248 lbs.

Wrestlers are all about keeping in peak physical condition. As you can see, Cena is no stranger to hard work.

John Cena is one of the more successful WWE superstars of all time. In the WWE, he has won a total of 15 championships. He started his professional wrestling career in 2000 but quickly signed to the WWE in 2001. Besides being a successful wrestler, Cena has released a rap album and appeared in numerous movies and television shows. Cena currently wrestles for the WWE on its Raw Brand. John Cena’s workout training routine focuses on building a pump without risking injury. While Cena can do 600+ pound squats and 400+ pounds on the bench press, he uses lighter weights to avoid injury.

Our take: Cena is one of the strongest guys in wrestling. While some may not believe it, wrestlers are athletes and some of the best. Doing lighter weight will certainly keep him injury free and help build lean muscle. Maxing out with weight can be dangerous and it should be done seldomly.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson: Height: 6’4″ Weight: 225 lbs.

The Rock keeps immense focus during his workout to really push up the heavy weight and to work hard throughout his entire routine. The Rock trains with little rest periods so he is able to keep lean all year round.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson revolutionized sport of wrestling and was one of the most popular wrestlers of all time due to his engaging interviews and promos. He was a nine-time world champion and third-generation superstar. The Rock left the WWE in 2004 to pursue a career in acting. Dwayne Johnson was 260 pounds and 14% body fat during his wrestling career, but being told to slim down for movie roles such as The Mummy Returns, The Scorpion King, The Rundown, and The Game Plan, he brought his body down to a lean and muscular 225 lbs. at 7% body fat. He has since landed some pretty big roles and has called “The Rock” as dead. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s workout routine is reportedly as follows: Dwayne Johnson’s workout routine focused on a lot of cardio with resistance training, weights, and core training. He trained 6 days per week with Sunday as a rest day.

Monday, Wednesday, Friday

Chest, back, biceps, calves: 5 sets, 15-20 reps, 30 second rest periods Cardio: 5 minute warm-up, 12 minutes high intensity, 5 minute cool down

Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday

Quads, hamstrings, shoulders, triceps: 5 sets, 15-20 reps, 30 second rest periods Cardio: 5 minute warm-up, 12 minutes high intensity, 5 minute cool down

Our take: The Rock trains with little rest periods. This keeps his body stimulated throughout the length of the workout and really ramps up his conditioning levels. He also does a lot of high-intensity exercises and cardio. Studies have confirmed that high intensity training can burn 9X more fat than steady-paced cardio. No wonder why The Rock is super lean!

Matthew McConaughey: Height: 6’1″ Weight: 187 lbs.

This guy is as super lean as they come. His huge emphasis on supersets and cardio training helped him keep lean.

Matthew MConaughey has been in several roles where he took off his shirt and proved to the world that he works hard to achieve an absolutely ripped body.

According to AskMen, the following is what he did to get in shape for his movie Sahara:

He does workouts on Monday, Wednesday and Friday in superset form. Supersets are doing one exercise right after the other without any rest in between.

On Tuesday and Thursdays, McConaughey picks between cardio machines at the gym or a sport of his choice, and keeps moving for 30 to 45 minutes, varying the intensity and pace. McConaughey makes sure he switches around both his cardio and weight training throughout the week as much as he can.

On the weekend he rests from physical activity. You should always give your body 1-2 days of full recovery during your training week to ensure your body is recovering. If you are constantly training then your body will never find the right time to rest. Your body rests outside the gym, not inside it!

Our take: He likes to do supersets, which are a great workout. This is a high intensity routine that involves minimal rest and ultimately increases hormone production and creates a highly anabolic environment to help you build muscle and burn fat. McConaughey also knows the importance of switching around your cardio routines so your body doesn’t specifically adapt to one movement. The more your body adapts to one particular movement or stimulus, the less likely it is to grow. You should fight off muscular adaptation by switching around the kinds of routines you do, whether it’s cardio or weight training.

Sources:

Adapted from a compilation of YouTube clips, documentaries, forums, interviews and/or features