Ok I Know there are already thread on this, i been through a couple, but I just have to bring this up.
How the hell did christian Bale transform from that skinny almost dead looking skeleton, to a heavy muscled athelte look?
i dont care if this took 10 years or 10 months, to take your body from that extreme to the other is freaky.
Anyone else freaked out by how good is genetics are, or else he knows something we dont?
Here he is today.
just for those who have not seen it(where have you been hiding?)
He obviously didn’t have to worry about cutting. He just hired a personal trainer and went into a bulking phase, I wonder how long that took though?
I think he usually is the more athletic look, i don’t know what movie the skeleton look is from - but the first movie I remember him from was American Psycho - came out in 2000 and he was athletic and ripped in that movie.
In preparation for a role he has very few things to worry about. I’m guessing he only had to train, read the script for Batman Begins, and make a few appearances.
He was actually told he went too far in going from 130 lbs. to 230 lbs. (in only six months), and you’ll notice he’s smaller in The Dark Knight.
Apparently he couldn’t even do ONE pushup at the start of his transformation.
I think he had ready access to whatever assistance he needed in making the transformation. . . More power to him though. He pulled the change off in minimal time and he has my respect as one of the greatest actors around nowadays.
I know he is natrually a lean strong guy, well at least for most people who arent atheltes.
Still amazes me how he was so thin to being so big. he must of ate like a madman and hit the iron like crazy.
Also, keep in mind that he basically staved himself to get down to 130lbs so muscle memory played some roll in his transformation.
I’d say a heavy diet to look anorexic for the first pic. He is probably a little heavier normally.
Then remember it’s hollywood and computer graphics/photography can do a lot.
Then he probably just ate more and busted his ass for a bit to build some muscle. As an actor he has the ability to focus his entire day around building his body. So 6 months of dedication to the gym and nutrition everyday can go farther than somebody who trains for years with a stressfull job and busy life, etc.
I doubt he was on anything but don’t think Hollywood doesn’t know how to use steroids like anybody else 
lol
my thoughts anyways.
DG
Also, the dude is a vegetarian. I’m not sure of [i]how[i/] vegetarian he is, but that still makes the transformation more impressive to me.
[quote]ninjaboy wrote:
Also, keep in mind that he basically staved himself to get down to 130lbs so muscle memory played some roll in his transformation.[/quote]
Exactly. While I’m sure he packed on a respectable amount of muscle for Batman (given the time), a lot of the weight gained during the “transformation” would have come from the simple fact that he was eating more (allowing his body to return to it’s “natural” weight).
While I don’t know his exact preparation for Batman Begins, I know this:
For The Machinist he went down to 130 (coming from around 180-190)
Between the wrapping of The Machinist’s principle photography and the screen tests of Batman Begins (in which he had to wear a batsuit) he had six week to regain a more suitable weight. This he did by eating everything in sight (a lot of junkfood like icecream and pizza). Needless to say he felt miserable while doing this, even more so than while dieting down.
After the six weeks he then had about six months to hit the weights hard and heavy. He stated that his goal was a more “functional and strong” look instead of a more aesthetically pleasing look like in American Psycho.
His max weight was around 225, but he stated several times that he also gained quite a bit of fat. He then lost the fat (by running a lot, so he said) to weigh in at 195-200 when shooting of Batman Begins started. So basically a huge bulk and cut cycle.
Regarding to his physique in American Psycho:
There was a lot of discussion whether Bale would get the part or not (DiCaprio being the other contender, joined by Oliver Stone as director).
During this time he did go to the gym regularly to get in shape, but he stated he had no clue about what he was doing and didn’t see any significant gains. Then all of the sudden the part was his and he had about six weeks to get ready.
He hired a personal trainer who made him hit the weights, box and run a lot (about three hours a day) while eating lots of chicken (he only doesn’t eat red meat), fish, broccoli, brown rice, cottage cheese, eggs, and the like. During shoots he kept visiting 24hr-gyms.
I remember reading that when he prepared for The Machinist, he basically crash dieted. He mainly drank coffee and chewed gum to get down to about 130. By the end of filming I heard he weighed almost 120.
Also guys, don’t forget about rebound effects. Starving yourself that severely makes for a rebound effect - there was a study done on this using a bodybuilder think it was called the colorado experiment or something like that?
amazing transformation isn’t it? the machinist was in 2004 and batman in 2005 so only a year for such a big change in size!
Fuck steroids why would I use that to sell 80 million tickets in the first weekend. I might get caught and get my shipment mailed back.
I read an interview that he said while doing The Machinist the role got into his head. Once he had adopted the habits of malnutrition and adapted to the physical discomfort he had his brain sort of ran away with him. It was intentional but not to the level it became.
He admitted it was not healthy and was under a doctors care while on the set.
I would think the same force of will that would allow someone to achieve one state of being could be applied to reversing that and moving in another direction. Genetics are one thing but 90% of what he did was done between his ears.
I don’t see why people are suggesting he used steroids. Like RWElder0 said, if he had the mental discipline to starve himself, he had it to eat and train a lot. He doesn’t have a physique that couldn’t have been obtained without AAS.
[quote]PRCalDude wrote:
I don’t see why people are suggesting he used steroids. Like RWElder0 said, if he had the mental discipline to starve himself, he had it to eat and train a lot. He doesn’t have a physique that couldn’t have been obtained without AAS. [/quote]
I agree. Besides, I believe his weight prior to The Machinist was around 190 anyway. If he just started eating again, his weight would climb back up to his original weight pretty quickly and then he adds the training to the mix.
I mean Ronnie Coleman clearly said he detest steroid use. Roger Clemens obviously never used it, I mean he just looks like a big Texas steak eating guy who would be dumb enough to think he did. We all know Barry Bonds was hitting home runs at 10 years old, plus he never tested positive. Besides actors aren’t big they don’t need them, Sylvester stallone always had muscles he was just bringing over some hgh for the poor little aboriginies. I don’t think anybody uses steriods but Bushy, evidently steroids aren’t good for anything.
I wonder why all the people get so mad when ABC comes out with a show saying how bad steriods is, nobody uses them so who cares. I know I would never use it, I would just work out hard like all the built guys on T-Nation and if I don’t end up the star of a movie making 155 million dollars then so be it. I refuse to do whatever it takes to be successful, all the famous people did it honestly so will I
Ok, well I’ll admit that I alluded to the possibility that he used steroids for the transformation, however that physique is clearly a naturally attainable one. Besides, the point of this whole thread is how amazing the transformation was/is.
Whenever ANYONE does something astounding from an athletic or physique development standpoint, there will be the possibility that some sort of PED was involved. Oh well, big deal. The fact is that he gained 70-80 lbs. of lean mass in 6 months. That is a ‘holy shit’ accomplishment to me.