Midway through the latest entry to the 007 canon, Skyfall, James Bond struggles to recapture the physical form that made him England’s top 00-agent.
Daniel Craig faced a similar struggle while preparing to portray one of the most famous characters in cinema.
“I’ve trained before but not to this level,” Craig told GQ Magazine.
With a combination of body weight exercises, compound movements and a protein-packed diet, Craig packed on dense muscle to his slim frame, filling Bond’s signature tuxedo in fine form. Here’s your license to a killer body — Bond style.
Your Workday Just Got Longer
Sculpted pecs and chiseled arms don’t come without a price, Craig paid his dues to gain his secret-agent physique.
“I exercised five times a week, Monday to Friday,” Craig said, according to GQ. Luckily, these workouts were high-intensity 45 minutes sessions, so aspiring agents don’t have to quit their day jobs to get that 00 physique. According to Menshealth.com, Craig dedicates the beginning and ends of his week to full-body workouts, hitting key muscle groups in between. Check out the Mademan Manual for tips on each workout. Even James Bond doesn’t take on a workout without studying proper form.
- Monday: Start with clean and press, which work triceps, traps, rear-end and shoulders. From there, crush your abs with weighted knee raises. Pay more attention to the often-ignored lower body with some weighted step-ups before closing out with three traditional upper-body exercises: pull-ups, push-ups and tricep dips. Perform three sets of 10 for each exercise with a minute or less in between each set.
- Tuesday: Craig focused day two on major muscle groups, which contribute to his stout, sculpted look. Performing four sets of ten, work major muscles with the incline bench press, pull-ups, incline push-ups and incline pec flys. Some muscles may still feel tired while performing the overlapping exercises from the day before, but these decimated muscle fibers will grow back bigger and stronger.
- Wednesday: The mid-week workout is dedicated on legs, which provides the full body physique that a movie star needs. Kick things off with squats (you didn’t think you were going to avoid squats, did you?), and follow up with deadlifts, hamstring curls and dumbbell lunges. Four sets of 10.
- Thursday: As the week winds down, muscle-heads get their wish in the form of a dedicated shoulders and arms workout. Start with an incline bicep curl while sitting on a bench raised to 45 degrees. Double up on your supply of tricep dips for the week, then burn the shoulders with lateral raises and shoulder presses. Once again, four sets of 10 for each.
- Friday: Menshealth.com calls Friday’s workout a “power circuit.” Close the week out with another more clean and press, weighted knee raises, weighted step-ups, pull-ups, incline push-ups and tri-cep dips. After three sets of 10 for each of these workouts, Saturday and Sunday should be weight free.
Craig didn’t just lift his body into shape, he also took inventory on what he consumed. “If you’re fit, you don’t starve yourself, just avoid things after a certain time and your body reacts quickly,” Craig said. Focus on protein-rich meals, especially immediately following workouts. After a long week, don’t be afraid to have a drink. Try a martini — shaken, not stirred.