THE X-MEN HERO

Hugh Jackman Can’t Stop Deadlifting

THERE ARE FEW stars with the crossover appeal of Hugh Jackman— with both the classical training to play an understated role like Jean Valjean in Les Misérables and the

physique to pull off the mutant rage of Wolverine. 
That’s why you and your mom think he’s cool—just for
different reasons.

The last decade-plus of playing Wolverine has had an unintended side effect for Jackman, though. 

He is now a bona fide gym rat, as addicted to the iron. 
A video he posted on Instagram in November showed the 46-year-old actor deadlifting 405 for a set of five, with Jackman

screaming at his spotters not to touch the bar as he ground out the last rep. 

According to Jackman’s trainer, David Kingsbury, who began working with Jackman before Les Misérables began filming, his client wasn’t born with superhuman strength.

“Although he had performed deadlifts before, like a lot of people out there, he hadn’t necessarily done them with consistency or with a focus on progression,” Kingsbury says. “I placed an emphasis on them as a prime movement in our plan, each week using progressive overload to build his strength foundation. 
The domino effect of this was huge, helping to improve other lifts along the way.”

Kingsbury says Jackman’s success in the gym can be attributed to three main factors. 

“First, he doesn’t leave it to chance,” Kingsbury says.
“Most people think he trains hard for a role, but he trains
hard year round. 
Second, he isn’t afraid of hard work, whether it is a 4 a.m. session or cutting weight for an important day of filming.
Third, he has strong mental focus, and for a heavy deadlift, a lot of it is in the mind.”