Chris Evans was an ectomorph, and in 2022 he became the Sexiest Man of the Year

In early November, People magazine awarded its traditional “Sexiest Man of the Year” title to actor Chris Evans. This news may seem unbelievable if you look at the pictures of the actor in his youth. Evans is a true ectomorph who was able to.

My mom is going to be so happy. She’s proud of everything I do, but this is something she can really brag about.

Chris Evans

The actor became widely known after his role as Captain America in the Marvel universe movies. Chris has been a typical ectomorph all his life: height – 185 cm, weight – 80 kg. Despite the good relief, he never had impressive muscle volumes, so necessary for the role of a superhero. For this role Evans had to diligently prepare for three months. The result has exceeded all expectations.

fitness trainer

Even an ectomorph can dramatically improve his shape. The first is to consume more than a person burns. The second is training. I would advise to train two, maximum three times a week and emphasize strength training. It is advisable to exclude cardio for a while, in order not to waste extra calories.

Training process

Before filming, Evans was put in a very strict framework: he had to gain from 10 to 15 kg of muscle mass, as well as work very hard on relief and reduce the level of subcutaneous fat to 10%. “At that moment I decided to change my life 180 degrees and let the trainer do with my body whatever he considers necessary,” the actor shared with fans.

In preparation for the role of Captain America Chris trained six times a week – from Monday to Saturday, and Sunday was a day of recovery. Sometimes the coach gave the opportunity to rest two days a week, but the actor himself talks about the preparation for filming as one of the toughest periods in his life:

Every time, leaving the training and feeling how aching my whole body, I thought that I was about to vomit. I hated the coach, mentally sending him to hell. I hated the movie, the food, Captain America, his stupid suit and shield. My only dream was to go to bed and sleep for at least a week.

Preparing for Captain America involved a lot of weight training to build mass. The core of the regimen was heavy low-repetition sets of classic (core) exercises: standing, squats, shoulder presses, incline presses, push-ups from the bar with weights and pull-ups.

“We’d take two muscle groups, whether it was back and chest or biceps and triceps, and just destroy them in two hours. Then we would complete the workout with abs work,” says the actor.

In the training process Evans in the period of active preparation was present a lot of exercises with his own weight: various pull-ups, planks, body lifts. These simple but effective exercises are classics of bodyweight training.

I took a few gymnastics classes. I needed more acrobatics, since my character is constantly spinning, jumping, etc. I did some plyometric exercises such as box jumps from a squat. The goal was to keep my heart rate high during the workout.

Evans stayed away from individual cardio workouts to direct all energy toward gaining muscle mass. Evans replaced cardio with circuit training, “I didn’t do a lot of cardio, mostly heavy weight training. We may have run a few sprints to make sure we had speed and coordination, but nothing more than that.”

Nutrition “on mass”

It’s no secret: in order to transform your body into a superhero body, you not only need to train properly, but also change your attitude to nutrition. The basis of the diet system of the actor in the months of preparation for the role were simple rules: a strict diet, regular meals and the mandatory 2 g of protein per kilogram of weight.

I ate all the time. Sounds good if I’d been given cheeseburgers and coke. But instead, I ate tons of boiled rice and chicken breasts.

The actor doesn’t hide the fact that he achieved the result not without the help of sports nutrition: “I used glutamine, whey and casein protein and omega-3 with every meal for joint health – the training was very intense.

The nutrition program was divided into seven meals a day to ensure that the actor not only received the proper amount of healthy vitamins and minerals, but also did not lose mass from the intense workouts:

• for breakfast was almost always oatmeal porridge, supplemented with fresh berries, pumpkin butter, nuts and dried fruits;
• lunch most often consisted of chicken breasts, boiled eggs or rice;
• 3-4 times a day as a snack – protein shakes, fresh fruit and nuts;
• dinner most often consisted of lean fish, meat or chicken of choice, as well as vegetables;
• by the middle of the program, the actor reached 250-300 g of carbohydrates per day;
• fiber, as well as vitamin and mineral complexes became a mandatory component in Captain America’s diet.

Egor: It’s a very long process. It is more difficult for an ectomorph to gain a healthy weight, because he probably has a higher metabolism. That’s why you should pay special attention to protein in your diet, try to eat more carbohydrates, but not too much sugar. Still, health is more important than any set.

Before the start of filming Chris Evans weighed about 80 kg, already by the beginning of the filming process, his weight increased by 10 kg. At the same time, the amount of subcutaneous fat decreased from 12% to eight and at the same time increased muscle mass.