The pressure on Dwyane Wade increased tenfold the day LeBron James started riding shotgun in Miami. That’s a big reason why the 30-year-old Miami Heat star keeps his body in championship condition year-round with a workout that concentrates on core strength—critical to those quick bursts of acceleration.
And the best part is that it works both ways: All that running on the court can make your abs look better. Not only will you work your core as you sprint, you’ll also burn off any excess flab. Try our basketball strength and conditioning workout to blast fat and reveal your six-pack.
And the best part is that it works both ways: All that running on the court can make your abs look better. Not only will you work your core as you sprint, you’ll also burn off any excess flab. Try our basketball strength and conditioning workout to blast fat and reveal your six-pack.
16. Liam Hemsworth
Few things motivate a guy more than an old-fashioned sibling rivalry and your brother Chris nabs the lead roles in Thor and The Avengers, well, it would seem you’ve got plenty to do to impress Mom and Dad.
No problem for the 6’4, 22-year-old Australian, who whipped himself into peak condition for his recent role in The Hunger Games using a six-day-a-week weight training and cardio program that emphasized power-lifting moves with heavy weights and low reps. All the effort paid big dividends, too.
Not only is Hemsworth slated to appear in the upcoming Hunger Games sequel, but he’ll also show off his newly ripped physique alongside Sylvester Stallone in The Expendables 2. Your move, Chris.
15. Daniel Craig
Daniel Craig brought a muscular edge to the role of James Bond when he took over the franchise in 2006. He’ll reprise that role again this year with the release of Skyfall, the first Bond flick since 2008’s Quantum of Solace.
With Craig still at the helm, Bond’s become even more intense, more charismatic, and (incredibly) more ripped. It didn't happen by accident, either. "I needed to get as fit as I possibly could," Craig told the British press. Want to become 007-worthy, too? Click here for Daniel Craig's total-body power circuit.
14. Jason Statham
Here’s a preview of where you’ll see Jason Statham this year: Playing a special agent in Safe, a mercenary in The Expendables 2, a thief in Parker, and a special agent again in Echelon. Translation: He’s in no danger of losing his ripped, action figure physique, thanks in large part to a routine that packs several core-blasting workouts into a series of high-intensity, 35-minute sessions six days a week.
“Your body’s like a piece of dynamite. You can tap it with a pencil all day, but you’ll never make it explode,” he told us. “You hit it once with a hammer, bang! Get serious, do 40 hard minutes, not an hour and a half of nonsense.”
13. Blake Griffin
Mere weeks into 2012, Blake Griffin all but locked up the votes for dunk of the year with an unforgettable one-handed slam over the Thunder’s Kendrick Perkins. (Even LeBron James never quick to play down his own airborne achievements congratulated Griffin on Twitter.)
But Griffin’s ability to keep adding to his legacy of highlight-worthy dunks, all while strengthening other aspects of his game, wouldn’t surprise anyone familiar with the 22-year-old’s work ethic. “In everything you do, you’re going to face people more talented than you,” he told us. “I set myself apart by bringing more energy than they do.”
12. Taylor Lautner
CGI could only do so much to sell Taylor Lautner’s transformation from regular high school kid to all-powerful werewolf in the Twilight films. Lautner did the rest the old-fashioned way, packing on an incredible 30 pounds of muscle over the course of a year, transforming his 5'10", 140-pound teenage frame into a ripped fitness animal.
You might say that going from scrawny to brawny was simply a brilliant career move. But he isn’t done yet: "My character continues to grow," says Lautner, who this year will step back into the role of Jacob Black for part two of Twilight: Breaking Dawn, "so I'd like to pack on at least a few more lean pounds."
11. Matthew McConaughey
We’ll say up front that we prefer Matthew McConaughey when he’s in jock mode while filming movies like We Are Marshall. But we understand why Steven Soderbergh chose to cast McConaughey as a veteran male stripper in the upcoming comedy Magic Mike.
Frankly, McConaughey looks the part—he’s got the body of an elite athlete, and he seems to have a knack for strolling around with his shirt off. That makes it easy to jump into his workouts at anytime, with no rules, whether he’s on location in Mexico or back home in the United States.
Frankly, McConaughey looks the part—he’s got the body of an elite athlete, and he seems to have a knack for strolling around with his shirt off. That makes it easy to jump into his workouts at anytime, with no rules, whether he’s on location in Mexico or back home in the United States.
10. Chris Hemsworth
Chris Hemsworth didn’t always have the physique worthy of portraying a Norse god or a mythical hunter, for that matter, which he’ll play in this year’s Snow White and the Huntsman opposite Kristen Stewart. Hemsworth, in fact, had barely ever lifted a weight until he nabbed the lead role in Thor.
Sure, he’d always been an active guy urfing, boxing, and rugby are his favorite pastimes but when it came time to pack on that kind of muscle? The kind that would put him in league with, say, Ahhnold and The Rock? He needed to hit the gym. Hard.
9. Orlando Bloom
Playing a magical elf in the Lord of the Rings movies didn’t afford Orlando Bloom any kind of supernatural protection in the real world. And that’s a shame, because the 35-year-old star could’ve used it. Among other things, Bloom’s busted three ribs, both legs, his nose, wrist, and skull mostly while playing sports. Oh, and then there’s that three-story fall, the one that nearly killed him.
8. Ryan Kwanten
Though his character may lack superpowers, Ryan Kwanten easily boasts the most otherworldly physique of all the cast members on HBO’s True Blood. The 35-year-old actor didn’t sculpt his body working out on machines in an air-conditioned room, either.
Kwanten is a competitive triathlete—he was a professional at one time—and prefers taking his workouts to the trails rather than running on Los Angeles’ 7,000 miles of blacktop. "It takes the tedium out of running," he says. "No two steps are the same." And instead of aiming for distance or heart-rate goals, he opts for routes with distinct midpoints.
“Whether it’s a high peak or the end of a beach, it’s great to have something you can touch that lets you know you’re halfway there. You don’t find that on a treadmill.”
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