Actor Zac Efron has clearly been busting a move in the weight room. The former High School Musical superstar debuted his biggest physique transformation yet on Oct. 11, 2023, when the trailer for his upcoming sports drama The Iron Claw (2023) hit YouTube.
Claw, the latest outing from indie juggernaut studio and distributor A24, rings the bell in theaters on Dec. 22, 2023. The film stars Efron as one of the famous Von Erich boys — a trio of professional wrestlers in the 1980s who, under the firm hand (or, perhaps, claw) of their father, changed the sport of pro wrestling forever.
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Efron, who previously made a shirtless splash in 2017’s Baywatch alongside the perpetually larger-than-life Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, appears to have fully renovated his physique from beach boy to bulked-up beefcake.
From Lean to Mean
Efron may not yet be at Christian-Bale levels of dedication to changing his body composition for a role, but Efron’s transformation into Kevin Von Erich is a huge step up muscle-mass-wise from the shredded look he brought to Baywatch. Efron told Men’s Health in September 2022 that the work he did for Baywatch took a serious toll on his mental health:
“I don’t know if my Baywatch look is really attainable [for the average person] … it requires powerful diuretics to achieve. I started to develop insomnia and fell into a pretty bad depression,” Efron said of the vigorous weight cut he had to employ for the role.
Efron’s remarks track with the experiences of pro bodybuilders. Research tells that physique competitors who diet down to harrowing low levels of body fat subject themselves to physical health risks like dehydration as well as potentially severe mental health issues. (1)(2)
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Nutrition
But for Claw, Efron didn’t have to lose much of anything. Rather, he had to pack it on. Efron’s trainer for the film, Farren Morgan, detailed the rigors of Efron’s bulking routine in an interview with British GQ in February 2023.
Regarding nutrition, Morgan played the classics; Efron adhered to a caloric surplus to gain muscle, then underwent a cutting phase to lose some extra body fat before focusing on weight maintenance to harness his newfound gains.
We focused on optimizing his strength while remaining fast and agile.
If you have little to no gym experience under your belt, you may not need to commit to such a rigorous meal plan as Efron did. Research has shown that while a caloric surplus expedites the muscle-building process (and may be required for someone like Efron, who has hit the gym for years), shoveling down the calories isn’t strictly required for newcomers. (3)
Training
For Efron’s workouts, Morgan went a bit more in-depth: “Zac needed to focus on optimizing his strength while remaining fast and agile,” he says. Pro wrestling demands more real-world athleticism than many might think.
The pair leaned on mostly compound exercises, or movements that involve more than one joint and test the body through long ranges of motion. According to Morgan, some of Efron’s staple exercises during his prep for Claw include:
Morgan suggests performing three sets of six repetitions (3×6) of each exercise and gradually adding volume until you can bang out five sets of 10 (5×10). His prescriptions clearly worked for Efron and are backed by science. Studies show that compound movements activate lots of muscle and apply heaps of mechanical tension to the body, which is critical for promoting hypertrophy. (4)
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References
- Chappell, A. J., Simper, T., & Helms, E. (2019). Nutritional strategies of British professional and amateur natural bodybuilders during competition preparation. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 16(1), 35.
- Devrim, A., Bilgic, P., & Hongu, N. (2018). Is There Any Relationship Between Body Image Perception, Eating Disorders, and Muscle Dysmorphic Disorders in Male Bodybuilders?. American journal of men’s health, 12(5), 1746–1758.
- Slater, G. J., Dieter, B. P., Marsh, D. J., Helms, E. R., Shaw, G., & Iraki, J. (2019). Is an Energy Surplus Required to Maximize Skeletal Muscle Hypertrophy Associated With Resistance Training. Frontiers in nutrition, 6, 131.
- Schoenfeld B. J. (2010). The mechanisms of muscle hypertrophy and their application to resistance training. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 24(10), 2857–2872.
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