I came across an article on the net the other day about Will Smith preparing for his role in “Ali”.
The guy put on 30lbs in 1 year. I want to find out more about the nuts & bolts of his diet & training. I know he was trained by a guy called Darrell Foster, but so far, that’s all I’ve been able to find out.
Can any of you guys help me out? Do you have any comments about Smith’s transformation? Did he juice? etc…
I’m new to bodybuilding, but this kind of progress seems pretty amazing to me.
I dont know for sure, but I am pretty sure he did not juice. My guess is he had a year to devote solely to training and dieting. I think anyone that doesnt work out, then has year of lifting, low stress life, and a personal chef, could come very close to putting on 30lbs. I am not saying that it was easy for Smith, but the lifestyle and circumstances did not hurt him. Also, good genetics and a multi million dollar motivation probably did not hurt.
Actually, I believe the concensus on the orignal thread was that he did juice. Let’s face it, he’s not young, probably worked out or was at least somewhat athletic to begin with… so 30 lbs or pure muscle in a year is just not going to happen naturally. Most actors juice for roles,… you can tell because they always lose it immediately after filming… look at Charlie Sheen back when he did Hot Shots 2,. he’s freaking blew up! (nice and puffy!! -lol)
I was just having this conversation with a client the other day. Whether or not Will Smith hit the sauce is a tough call. I think it could have been done without, but it’s hard to say. Some of the ones we decided on were definately Sheen in Hot Shots 2, Matthew McConoughay in Reign of Fire, Vin Diesel in XXX, and Nicolas Cage in that movie where he was bench pressing that stripper for 50 reps…cant remember what it was called, and Snipes in Blade was a maybe.
Okay, so this thread has digressed into a “what star juiced up”.
I say definitely to Snipes in both "Blade" flicks. Man, he totally packed on the LBM for those flicks. Yup to MM in "Reign of Fire" too. As for Will Smith, I haven't seen "Ali" so I can't comment. I guess I have to now.
As far as Will Smith, I remember him saying that he woke up at 6 every morning to do some running and then later that day, he would lift weights. Never saw anything about the protocol used. Also, Marc, regarding Vin Diesel in XXX, you think he juiced? C’mon… If he did, he’d better get his $$$ back because he didn’t look that impressive. Regarding other actors, I heard Sly did for Rocky IV, wonder if he will for VI.
He put on quite a bit of fat as well. Will is a pretty lean dude to begin with (look at his physique in “Independence Day”), so 30 lbs when it’s partially made up of fat isn’t all that hard to believe without vitamin S.
Edward Norton in American History X. He was jacked in that movie, then he was a scrawny little bitch in Fight Club.
I don’t think Snipes juiced. He’s been about the same size in all his movies. Compare him in undisputed to blade and US marshals he’s always the same size.
I think Smith put at least 10 of those 30lbs on in water and fat he’s all rolly polly looking in Ali compared to how he looked ripped in independance day.
Paul:
30 pounds of natural muscle in one year isn’t possible? I totally disagree. Will Smith is a tall guy, and it’s absolutely possible. The reason I know is because I seriously got back into the weights June 2002, and since then, I’ve added 25 pounds of 100% muscle to my frame. And for the first 4 months of it, I wasn’t even taking any protein supplements, and basically throwing the weights around with no real plan at all (I discovered t-mag in November) other than ‘lift heavy weights’.
As for these other examples of juicing, does Mag-10 count as juicing? Why would an actor use steroids if stuff like Mag-10 works so well?
30 pounds is 2.5 pounds a month average (mean) in a year. I could easily see that with a newbie, especially because they wanted him to have a sort of softer look to get the filled out face more like Ali, and subtracting about a pound a month for a 10-12 pound range of fat drops that to 1.5 pounds a month. I think juice would have leaned him out too much.
And as far as who is on, Jared, the subway monkey. And Richard Simmons.
I think Will Smith took this role very seriously and devoted himself to preperation. I think his PT got him big and I doubt he used roids. Supps yes, roids no.
I heard a great story about him when he was in Africa (Zaire?) shooting the movie. He and Paul Rodriguez were watching the street scene near thier hotel. PEople defecating in the street, cooking in the street, occasional gunfire erupting. Will Smith turns to Paul ans says " I am so glad my ancestors were slow" Paul says what do you mean? Will says " the quick mothers, they got to stay here, the slow ones got caught and sent to America, man I am glad my family was slow" NO disrespect intended but to hear WIll Smith tell that story was really funny.
I couldn’t find any info on Foster through my usual means (read: Google), but I would imagine that you could find the info necessary to put on 30lbs of mostly muscle in one year. Over the past year, I took my my previously untrained friend from 6’2’’ 180lbs to 205lbs while having him keep his six-pack. He didn’t eat too well over the year and didn’t even squat or deadlift. He also didn’t work out Friday through Sunday. So could Smith have done it naturally? Yep. Did he? Who knows, but considering that he probably had to maintain the same body over at least a 6 month time span for shooting parts of the movie, I would think that vitamin S would help with that. Same goes for a lot of other stars.
First off, Snipes did not look the same in all of his movies. Compare him in Major League to Blade, and its like a totally different person. Edward Norton from American History X to Fight Club is also a good example. However, look at what a movie star goes through. They sign on for a film, and are told that by the time they start filming, they should have put on x number of pounds or muscle or whatever. So, they focus all of their time and energy on working out and eating right. Then, they spend hundreds of dollars on legal supplements, and let’s face it, some legal supps do work fairly well, even if there not Biotest(sorry).
Whats this road trip people having? I want to be like x movie star. First, its the guy that wants to be like Brad Pitt, now this one wants to know what Will Smith’s training and dieting protacal. Be yourself. Damn it TRAIN for yourself. Not I want to look like X movie star. Who the Fuck cares? Who you look like.
Its good to have goals, istead of saying I want to look like x movie star. Why not say I like to drop 20% in bf or reduce my waist size or gain a few pounds of muscle. Trying to imatate someonelse its not going to get you anywhere no matter how he or she trains. You got to be your own person. Otherwise you’ll go nowhere.
I don’t think I completely agree with you. While many people have unrealistic expectations of what they’d like to look like (i.e. someone built like Danny Devito wanting to look like Brad Pitt), I do think identifying role models is a good thing for many people. It’s generally more obvious in women it seems, but I think it occurs just as often, if not moreso, in men. Role models are safe if you don’t hinge your happiness on actually being a copy of the person you’re idolizing. You’d be an idiot to think that your body could look EXACTLY like somebody else’s, but it’s not inconceivable to attempt to use someone else’s body for visualization. I’ve always suggested, especially to women, since they generally have issues with lifting weights, to find a woman whose structure is similar to theirs and whose development they envy. Then when they find out that Ms. X lifts weights, they generally are a little less timid of the iron. Same thing with guys, especially those newer to the iron world. How many of us wanted to look like Arnold? Or have arms or a chest like his? As long as one is being realistic in their expectations, having someone else’s body as an ideal isn’t horrible.
Statocaster, if you read my post you will see that I said he did NOT think he juiced. I think it was definately possible to do natural.
Snipes did not juice. He worked out and bulked up for the role of “Blade” In the movie he looks like 6’2 200 some odd pounds. In real life, he’s 5’9, 160 pounds.
Most of it had to do with Camera tricks.
Snipes 160 lbs? Can you prove that or are you just pulling that out of your ass?
Your right, its good to have role models, but I feel people don’t have a mind of there own.
Personally would I like to look Arnold sure I would, now is that possible, nope we have two diffrent types of physiques one he’s taller then I am.
Why do people have to feel they need to look like someonelse? They shouldn’t.
Why not train to feel good,move better, move faster, be stronger, more flexible and look good?
Instead of what is Will Smith’s training and nutrition protocal in Ali? Or I want to look like Brad Pitt?
Be Yourself and train for your health not who I want to imatate.