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MH Interview: Kellan Lutz

Name: Kellan Christopher Lutz Age: 25 Nationality: American Height: 1.85m Birth Place: Dickinson, North Dakota

It's understable to be ticked off by Lutz’s looks, which are great despite the deathly pallor of his vampire character in the Twilight movies. Men resent other men who are that good-looking – and that fit. It seems too easy. But it isn’t. The 25-year-old’s advantage was due to an early love of athletics, but he’s had to put in constant effort to maintain his physique.

He played American football in school (plus trombone in the marching band – a heck of a time management trick), hit the gym regularly for years and considered becoming a Navy Seal. One of the reasons he attended Chapman University was its location – it’s near the beach, a great workout area.

Lutz’s workout regimen had been an unfocused mishmash for years – until he filmed the HBO series Generation Kill in 2007. How do a bunch of guys stuck in the African desert kill time for seven months? They do exactly what you and your friends should do: challenge one another.

In Lutz’s case, that involved push-up and sit-up contests, and lifting weights in a makeshift gym. One fellow actor, a former pole-vaulter named Rich McDonald, offered Lutz some helpful tips. Now, they’re regular training buddies. To stay in shape after The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, Lutz starts every workout with five minutes of cardio and follows this up with core work.

“Activating the core maximises muscle utilisation in every other exercise,” says McDonald.

Translation: Core work makes your body ready to rock.

After several sets of powerful full-body movements, Lutz and McDonald do simpler exercises that target specific muscles, letting their bodies recover a little bit, before putting themselves through another round of energy-zapping and muscle fibre tearing workouts. When exhaustion compromises Lutz’s form, McDonald has him back off – even if Lutz wants to continue. It’s more important that he does things right. Otherwise, he’ll risk hurting himself.

The workouts don’t end when Lutz leaves the gym. While it’s impossible to stay perfectly faithful to a routine, it’s easier to stay active when fitness blends naturally into your day. That’s why Lutz hikes and swims in his backyard pool with his shepherd husky, Kola. He even does lunges while he’s out walking the dog. The dividends are as much mental as they are physical. Fitness teaches him to channel his energy. Just before we spoke, Lutz had been dealing with two flat tires and was pretty annoyed. “I’m not usually a down person, so when something like that happens, I just go to the gym to run it off.”

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Kellan Lutz's Tips on how to work out harder and faster:

1. BUDDY UP	2. CREATE A GAME	3. GROW PROPORTIONALLY	4. LAY OFF THE ABS
The benefits of working with a trainer far outlast those of solo sessions. “It’s great to have someone push you and hold you accountable,” says Lutz.	Here’s a game Lutz plays: Spread out a deck of cards, pick one and guess its colour. If you’re right, your partner must do the number of push-ups displayed on the card. If you’re wrong, do double that number in crunches. Go through the deck and you’ll both do about a combined 300 crunches and push-ups.	Lutz used to focus on his upper body and ignored his skinny legs. That made him awkward and out of balance. “You can’t just build a huge chest and arms. You need to work out your body evenly,” he says. “Otherwise, you’ll look weird. It’s also not good for your body.”	Lutz crunched for hours every day in high school. Wrong move. Those muscles needed time to recover. “I saw much better results when I hit my abs harder and less frequently,” he says.

 

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LUTZ’S FULL-BODY BLAST >>

Complete a set of each exercise in succession. Rest, drink some water and repeat. Build up to three circuits as your strength and stamina increase.

LEG THROW (20 REPS)
Lie flat on your back and raise your legs up explosively until they reach your training partner’s hand. He will push them back. Fight against it as you descend.

FOLD-UP (20 REPS)
Lie with your lower back on the round half of a Bosu ball. Cross your arms over your chest and bend your knees. Crunch forward. At the same time, draw in your pelvis and legs.

HANG CLEAN WITH PUSH PRESS (12 REPS)
Perform two hang clean with push presses before dropping down and doing two push-ups. Continue alternating until completing the prescribed repetitions. Stand grasping a barbell just beyond your shoulders, using an overhand grip. Bend at your hips and knees, letting the bar hang above your knees. Explode up, shrug your shoulders and roll your wrists back to “catch” the bar at your shoulder girdle – palms facing forward – as you drop into a squat. Explode back up and press the bar overhead.

PUSH-UP (12 REPS)
Do a traditional push-up.

INCLINE DUMBBELL PRESS (12 REPS)
Set the incline at 45 degrees before lying with your back on the pad, dumbbells held at your shoulders, palms facing forward. Straighten your elbows to press the dumbbells overhead.

EXPLOSIVE PUSH-UP (12 REPS)
Do a traditional push-up, but aim to push yourself off the floor and clap between reps.

LUNGE (12 REPS)
Alternate legs; once each makes a rep. With a dumbbell in each hand, stand in a lunge position (take a step forward with one leg). Drop straight down until both knees are bent 90 degrees. Push off your heel to come up and return to the lunge position.

GOBLET SQUAT (12 REPS)
Stand holding a dumbbell in front of your sternum with both hands, so your elbows are flared. Drop your hips and bend your knees to descend until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Keep your back from rounding or tipping forward. Complete a set of each exercise in succession. Rest, drink some water and repeat. Build up to three circuits as your strength and stamina increase.
 

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