The hunky Hugh Jackman who stars in the X-Men series and who also hosted the Academy Awards this past year is an avid exerciser.  We’ve reported before on his rigorous X-Men workout that entails lots of cardio, strength training and pumping iron.  But this summer Hugh has decided to shake up his routine and he’s laying off the weights and instead doing trapeze work.  Jackman told Health Magazine,

“I do a lot of trapeze work right now. I do that because it’s fun and different, and I needed to get out of lifting weights. But I go back to the gym sometimes for lifting weights. I do a bit of everything. I just want to make sure I enjoy it. I also body surf almost every day. Now I work out to feel good, and how my body looks is a byproduct of that.”

The trapeze workout has been getting a lot of attention lately as celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Amy Winehouse and Mischa Barton have been spotted flying high in the air with the greatest of ease.  In addition, the Jukari Fit to Fly/Reebok classes are slowing popping up in gyms in the US and Europe and it’s gaining popularity amongst us non-celebs.

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International celebrity Hugh Jackman, known for his role in the X-men series and most recently as the song and dance man with Beyonce Knowles at the Oscars, has girls drooling and men jealous with his stellar physique.  This month, in the Australian Fitness First Magazine, he and his trainer Michael Ryan discussed his training and lifestyle habits.   He proves to be a man dedicated to exercise and fitness.  His trainer said,

“Hugh has the most extraordianry motivation that I’ve ever come across.  So muchof Hugh’s motivation comes from within.  As an example, Hugh was here for two days only (from the USA), and he’s on a plane out of here at 6:30am, and so we will get up at 4:15am to fit in a weights session, a soft sand run, a beach swim and brekky at his favourite morning eatery, Speedo’s Cafe at Bondi.  All before he flies out.”

Hugh responded,

“It’s true.  I do love training with a lot of intensity.  I think it’s becaue my training is the platform for my entire day.  When I have a great training session in the morning, everything else just seems to flow on as a result.”

While Hugh was training for his latest X-Men movie he did a mega-intense workout four days a week and ate six meals a day.  In order to bulk up he got his protein from natural and unprocessed sources, primarily drank water and avoided all processed foods.

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To prepare for his role as Wolverine in the latest X-Men Origins movie, Hugh Jackman went back to his trainer Steve Ramsbottom for some rigorous workouts and hard-core training. As a result, Hugh gained 15 pounds of muscle. Ramsbottom divided his weight training into two different phases.  The first phase focused on building muscle mass where the tempo is altered as you raise and lower the weights.

“It’s a lot more difficult and what it does is it increases the time under tension that you have on that muscle so you force adaptation and force breakdown in the actual muscle and, in turn, it ends up growing.”

The second phase focused on strength training which involved heavy weights to increase strength, but not mass.  During these phases that would last anywhere from 6 to 12 weeks, Jackman would do one to two hour weight training sessions five days a week.  During the last week of each phase he would only lift on one day and the other days were filled with yoga, pilates, running and stretching.

One thing that Jackman didn’t want to do is look like a body builder, so it was important that he didn’t bulk up too much.  His trainer said,

“It’s a very athletic role that he has to play. So he needs to look the part but he needs to move properly so we tried to focus on athletic movements. Things that would not make him move like a bodybuilder but move like an athlete.”

Naturally, if he is working out this intensely he had to follow a strict diet.  He ate six meals a day that were high in protein and full of vegetables.

X-Men Origins is in theaters in May 2009.

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