What’s up, JRD Nation?!
We love hearing from our community about the types of workouts they want to see, and a lot of the talk on our community forum and social media lately is about #BodyGoals.
We all look up to shredded celebrities like Chris Hemsworth, Ryan Reynolds, or Michael B. Jordan for fitness inspiration. We’ve even done workouts in the past inspired by the incredible physiques of Christiano Ronaldo and Russel Westbrook.
However, this next celebrity-themed workout is one of our most viewed workouts ever, and we’ve completely revamped it for 2022.
This is how to get a body like the incomparable Brad Pitt. This workout takes the lean, strong, and cut physique he trained hard for in the movies Fight Club and Snatch.
Of course, nutrition plays a role in getting a body like that, and we’ll also discuss that. Let’s get to it!
A Word About Body Types
Let’s talk about where Brad Pitt was in terms of his fitness when he prepared for those roles. Brad’s 5’11” and weighed around 167 lbs. when he filmed those movies – although he was a little bit bulkier in Snatch, with his body fat percentage around 8%.
You might be thinking, ‘I have X amount of weight to lose, and my body fat isn’t even close to 8%!’
Don’t worry! If you’re closer to the average man’s 18-24% body fat and trying to get in better shape, this workout is for you!
Our point is that you don’t have to already be a trained athlete or superstar celebrity to look up to Brad Pitt and get in the best shape of your life with this workout plan!
It’s important to note that Brad’s body type is an ectomorph, meaning he’s naturally skinny and has a hard time putting on weight.
Even though he lost body fat during training for these roles, his focus was always on gaining muscle. This type of muscle gave him that Shredded Ninja look – really defined, sculpted muscles that show thanks to a relatively low body fat percentage.
Brad Pitt Fight Club Workout
Brad’s training schedule was 5-days a week, focusing on a single body part for each day. Generally, he did higher numbers of reps and lower numbers of sets.
Our workout is designed around a system of 3 sets of 15 repetitions. Choose a weight that will give you the most benefit. You’ll want something that allows you to complete all 15 repetitions but no more.
You should feel close to gassed out at 15 reps and need to rest for about a minute in between exercises. If you feel like you could easily keep going after 15 reps, increase the weight.
Monday: Chest
Warmup: Brad’s favorite workout warm-up was push-ups, and we agree that it’s a great way to fire up your whole body. Aim for 3 sets of 25 push-ups.
And if you struggle with “normal” push-ups, do them from your knees or any other modified pose. The important part is doing all 25 with proper form.
Bench Press
Incline Bench Press
Chest Flys
Tuesday: Back
Warmup: Fire up your muscles with pull-ups. We recommend 5 pull-ups for each set, repeat 3Xs.
If you can’t do a pull-up, no problem! You can do negative pull-ups or use resistance bands to assist you. You’ll be pumping out legitimate pull-ups as you get stronger in no time!
The Workout: 15 repetitions for each exercise. Rest 30 seconds in between exercises and 1 minute between circuits. Complete the circuit 3X total.
Seated Rows
Lat Pulldown
T-bar rows
Wednesday: Shoulders
Shoulders make a big difference in your overall body shape, and Brad had seriously sculpted deltoids in Fight Club. It’s all thanks to the extra work he put in our shoulder days, so don’t neglect this important muscle.
Warmup: Start with doing the push-up or pull-up warm-up from the previous days or a combination of the two.
The Workout: 15 repetitions for each exercise. Rest 30 seconds in between exercises and 1 minute between circuits. Complete the circuit 3X total.
Military Press
Arnold Press
Side Raises
Front Raises
Thursday: Biceps and Triceps
Warmup: Begin with the push-up or pull-up warm-up from the previous days or a combination of the two.
The Workout: 15 repetitions for each exercise. Rest 30 seconds in between exercises and 1 minute between circuits. Complete the circuit 3X total.
Bicep Curls
EZ Bar Curls
Hammer Curls
Tricep Extension
Friday: Cardio
Brad’s cardio training consisted of treadmill cardio training at 65–75% of max, all-out effort. If you love treadmills – then have at it!
However, at Jump Rope Dudes, we know that there is no greater cardiovascular endurance training tool than the jump rope – and it’s more fun!
Jumping rope effectively burns more calories per hour than running and is less impactful on your joints.
So you’ve decided to replace Brad’s treadmill drudgery with one of our killer jump rope cardio workouts – awesome! Check out our free 7-Day Jump Rope Challenge for help getting started.
We recommend pushing yourself to a mid to mid-high intensity range for cardio. You know the adage – cardio should be at an intensity that you can speak comfortably but wouldn’t be able to hold a conversation.
Saturdays and Sundays
As we mentioned, Brad had difficulty gaining weight and putting on muscle. For this reason, he did not train on weekends and instead focused on recovery, rest, and eating the right foods.
If you’re also an ectomorph, you can follow this schedule to get similar results.
Unfortunately, we’re not all naturally thin with metabolisms that burn like a furnace. In fact, a lot of JRD soldiers have to work their literal butts off for every bit of fat loss. We see you! It can be hard, but you’ve got this!
If you’ve got fat to lose and you’re trying to lean out and drop body fat, we recommend incorporating more cardio and training 5-6 days per week.
Aim for 2-3 high-intensity interval training (HIIT) jump rope workouts per week in addition to the strength training exercises in this program.
Brad Pitt’s Nutrition Regimen
In a perfect world, we’d give you the exact list of foods that Brad ate so you could get the same results. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. Even if we knew exactly what he was eating, your body and metabolism are different, and you wouldn’t get the same results.
What we can do — which is what we’ve done in our workout plan — is use Brad’s interviews and articles that refer to his training and nutrition regimen as inspiration. We developed a nutrition system that can deliver similar results.
Brad was eating a lot of the typical foods for bodybuilders and pro athletes. He ate loads of brown rice, chicken, fish, veggies, protein shakes, greek yogurt, and cottage cheese. You can eat all these foods, but please don’t feel like we’re advising you to limit yourself to only these foods.
We have to reiterate this point because an overly restricted diet will cause you to fail, and they’re miserable to be on. The worst thing you can do is force a restrictive diet of foods you don’t like.
We’re all about feeling good and enjoying like – and that includes all the foods you love, in moderation. We believe in eating to fuel your body, workouts, and lifestyle, and of course, eating in a way that will help you meet your fitness goals.
Meal Frequency
Because Brad had such a hard time putting on weight, especially muscle, he ate often, every 2-3 hours.
His schedule looked something like this:
- Breakfast
- Mid-morning snack
- Lunch
- Pre-workout snack
- Post-workout protein shake
- Dinner
- Mid-evening snack
Research shows that it doesn’t matter how often you eat, as long as you maintain an anabolic state throughout the day. It’s vital to look at your macronutrient ratios and ensure you’re getting the right proportion of protein, carbohydrates, and fats.
If you’re struggling with how to eat properly, check out the JRD Nutrition System 2.0. This system is a realistic eating lifestyle that has not only helped us drop a collective 135 lbs. but has helped thousands in our community shed fat and get in the best shape of their lives.
It’s how we eat to fuel our workouts, stay lean, and not feel drained with a fast-paced, high-energy lifestyle.
Intermittent Fasting
It’s important to note that unless you have the same metabolism as Brad’s, it’s probably not a good idea to eat 6-7 times per day like him. Of course, what you’re eating and how much plays a significant factor.
But, if you’re overweight and looking to get lean, it can be hard to keep calorie intake in check when you eat too often. This is why we love to use intermittent fasting to keep our calorie consumption in check and eat more freely during meals.
There are many ways people like to intermittent fast. This is the simplest breakdown of how we do it when looking lean out like Brad.
Eat two large meals a day, lunch and dinner – skipping breakfast and snacks (most of the time.) This method has us fasting for 16 hours straight, from 8 pm to noon the next day.
All our food is consumed within the 8-hour eating window between 12-8 pm. In the morning, instead of breakfast, we start our day with JRD Aminos.
Taking a branched-chain amino acid supplement in the mornings has been shown to keep the body in an anabolic state throughout the day without cannibalizing any muscle. This means your body burns fat for energy until you eat your first meal.
Brad Pitt Workout and Nutrition Recap
Our Brad Pitt workout plan is intently designed to be easy. If you eat the right foods and commit yourself to the workouts – which only take about 30-45 minutes, 5 times a week – you’ll see results!
The hard part is that no one else can do it for you. You’ve got to show up, get your workouts in, and push yourself to that sweet spot of 60–75% max all-out effort to see the improvements in your physique.
Don’t forget the importance of eating a nutrient-dense, high-protein diet. Eat healthy whole foods, but make sure to eat foods you enjoy and eat enough, so you don’t binge or quit.
And finally, intermittent fasting might help to accelerate your fat loss and make mealtimes more fulfilling.
Get a Brad Pitt Body with JRD TV
We know that planning well-rounded workouts designed to get you into this level of shape can be daunting or confusing.
For extra guidance on getting Fight Club fit, sign up for JRD TV and get 14 days free on us!
If you’re new to jumping rope or looking for fitness coaching, friendship, and accountability — JRD TV is the best resource to keep you motivated.
JRD TV is an app you can access from any smart device, anywhere, anytime. We think it’s so incredible that we’re offering it to you for free for two weeks!
Our incredible one-of-a-kind platform gives you access to all of our workout and nutrition programs, including:
- New Daily Workouts (Monday-Friday)
- JRD Nutrition System 2.0
- Shredded Ninja (our best-selling workout)
- JRD 90
- Swole Samurai
- JRD Push-up Program
- Hundreds of commercial-free workouts
Just go to JumpRopeDudes.tv and start your free trial today!
We’ll leave you with some inspiration from the man himself:
“The things you own end up owning you. It’s only after we have lost everything that we are free to do anything.” – Brad Pitt
To put it another way – if you own your fitness and nutrition goals and put in the work, they will become who you are. Conversely, if you repeatedly give in to junk food and excuses, then that is what you’ll become, too.
We hope that we, and Brad, have inspired you to set new goals and go out and crush ’em. Be bold, show up, and remember…
#DOTHETHING