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Hollywood has no shortage of hulking (pun intended) physiques. With moviegoers’ addiction to superheroes, warriors and giant framed protagonists, every leading man now has to put some serious time in the gym. The days of the ordinary rig on screen (the John Wayne era) are over; if you want to make it in Tinseltown, you better know how to squat and deadlift. But which celebrities stand out from the bunch in the strength department and actually walk the walk with barbell-busting workouts? Well, to answer that question, we’re breaking down the 15 strongest celebrities in Hollywood.
It would almost be insulting to not start the list with eight-time Mr Olympia, Arnold Schwarzenegger. The original Hollywood strongman and former Governor of California, Arnold has appeared in an incredible 56 movies during his 40 year Hollywood career. And even at the ripe old age of 76, I guarantee Arnold is still benching more than most of us would dream of.
His legendary strength even culminated in a strongman event being named after him. The Arnold Classic was established in 1989 and honours the cultural icon with a variety of strongman, bodybuilding, and fitness contests. During his peak, the original ‘Conan The Barbarian’ could benchpress 200kg and Deadlift over 310kg… Crazy.
Squat Max: 474 lbs (215kg)
Bench Press Max: 441 lbs (200kg)
Deadlift Max: 683 lbs (310kg)
Born: 30 July 1947 (age 76 years), Styria, Austria
Height: 1.88 m
Famous for: Film, Politics
Another Hollywood A-lister with a penchant for lifting is none other than Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. If you’re one of his 205 million Instagram followers, you know the reason he tops the list – his workouts are a thing of legend. Employing his ‘hardest worker in the room’ mentality to every area of his ridiculously successful life, Johnson trains twice a day six days a week to maintain his monstrous physique.
The Rock is so dedicated to his physique that he travels with a portable gym named ‘The Iron Paradise’. Now, we aren’t just talking a few dumbbells and a chin-up bar here, ‘The Iron Paradise’ is 20 tonnes of toe crushing metal that travels with The Rock all over the globe. Yikes.
Bench Press Max: 425 lbs (192kg)
Born: 2 May 1972 (age 51 years), Hayward, California, United States
Height: 1.96 m
Famous for: Film, Wrestling
It’s not all CGI and trick lighting with “The God of Thunder”, Thor is as strong in real life as he is on screen. Chris Hemsworth makes the list with ease thanks to his notoriously intense work ethic and training methods when preparing for roles. After all, you can’t play a larger than life superhero without the biceps to sell it.
Chris works hard with personal trainer Luke Zocchi to smash out a superhero-sculpting training regime that includes bodyweight and traditional powerlifting exercises. If you want to know more about Chris’ workouts, meal plans, and other health advice, you can check out his fitness app ‘Centr’.
Born: 11 August 1983 (age 40 years), Melbourne
Height: 1.9 m
Famous for: Film
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Pound for pound, Zac Efron may just be the strongest person on this list. At 5’9″ and 75kg, it took Efron just 12 weeks to get under 5% body fat for his ridiculously chiselled Baywatch physique.
Don’t be fooled by the teen star turned Hollywood heart-throb though, he puts in the work. When he isn’t out climbing mountains and surfing waves across the globe, you’ll find him smashing out brutal calisthenic workouts in the gym. You can check out some of his workouts on his YouTube series ‘Gym Time’.
Born: 18 October 1987 (age 36 years), San Luis Obispo, California, United States
Height: 1.73 m
Famous for: Film
Next on our list of Hollywood’s strongest is the ‘King of Atlantis’, Jason Momoa. Not one for ‘boring’ gym workouts, Momoa prefers to workout outdoors and includes as much surfing, hill sprints, and boxing as possible. To add to this outdoor workout list, Momoa is also an impressive rock climber, which is no small feat when you’re carrying 110kg of muscle.
To build and maintain his imposing physique, Momoa employs a high rep workout program with short rest breaks that include rock climbing, weights, and bodyweight exercises. In fact, there’s even a clip of Momoa doing reps of 88-pound weighted pull-ups, which for a 105kg beast is quite the feat of strength.
Born: 1 August 1979 (age 44 years), Nanakuli, Hawaii, United States
Height: 1.93 m
Famous for: Film
Behind his ‘nice-guy’ exterior, Hugh Jackman is a serious beast in the gym. At 55 years of age, Hugh entered the illustrious 1,000-pound club. To earn your membership to the club, you must bench press, squat, and deadlift a combined 1000 pounds (453kg). To hit the four-digit number, Hugh benched 235lb (106kg), squatted 355lb (161kg), and deadlifted 410lb (186kg). Imagine what he could have hit in his prime.
Jackman took his training for Wolverine very seriously, transforming his body nine times over 18 years to play the role of the invincible X-Man. According to his trainer, Hugh’s training involves predominantly low rep compound movements and high rep exercises to stimulate muscle growth at the end of workouts.
Bench Press Max: 235 lbs (106kg)
Squat Max: 355 lbs (161kg)
Deadlift Max: 465 lbs (210kg)
Born: 12 October 1968 (age 55 years), Sydney
Height: 1.9 m
Famous for: Film, Stage
News flash, Marky Mark is ripped. And to be honest, he’d wanna be with the insane daily schedule he puts himself through. Waking up at 2:30am, his first workout is done before most of us are out of bed. Couple that with a further 2 workouts and 7 meals across the day, it’s no wonder the 49-year-old maintains his ripped physique year-round.
But his muscles aren’t just there for looks, Wahlberg earns his spot on this list with his brutal workouts, crazy regime, and sheer determination. Honestly, what kind of mad man wakes up at 2:30am for a workout?
Bench Press Max: 335lbs (151kg)
Born: 5 June 1971 (age 52 years), Dorchester, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Height: 1.73 m
Famous for: Film, Stage
Long before he was the WWE’s invisible man and biggest drawcard, John Cena was a college football player and aspiring bodybuilder. Soon trading those aspirations for a wrestling career, his in-ring character became synonymous with sheer strength and power. At one point, Cena even lifted 500-pound (227kg) co-star Big Show and threw him over his shoulder.
Outside of the ring, Cena takes his strength training really, really seriously. The Rock may have his Iron Paradise, but Cena has his ‘Hard Nock’s South’ gym. Located in Tampa Bay, Cena allows up and coming wrestlers to come and train with him and it is the location of some of Cena’s most incredible feats of strength.
These feats include a 210kg benchpress, 287kg squat, and 295kg deadlift. Yep, that’s nearly 800kg of insane strength and power meaning John Cena isn’t one of Hollywood’s strongest celebrities, he’s one of the world’s strongest men.
Bench Press Max: 462lbs (210kg)
Squat Max: 632 lbs (287kg)
Deadlift Max: 650 lbs (295kg)
Born: 23 April 1977 (age 46 years), West Newbury, Massachusetts, United States
Billed weight: 251 lb (114 kg)
Billed height: 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Famous for: Film, Wrestling
Jason Statham doesn’t just play tough guys on-screen, the English actor embodies the trait with his extreme callisthenics and martial arts training.
Having trained with ex-navy seals and combat experts, the action movie star adopts a no-nonsense, high-intensity training method that has sculpted his famously rugged and muscular physique. Disinterested in muscle mass, Statham prefers to work on movements that will build functional and explosive strength. Perhaps that’s why he’s perfectly capable of performing the ‘Human Flag’.
Born: 26 July 1967 (age 56 years), Shirebrook, United Kingdom
Height: 1.78 m
Famous for: Film
A self-professed gaming nerd, Henry Cavill is no slouch when it comes to working out. Making his Hollywood debut in Superman movie ‘Man of Steel’, Cavill underwent a jaw-dropping transformation for the role adding 8kg of muscle and dropping his body-fat percentage to sub-10 in order to play the Kryptonian hero.
Boasting a 200kg deadlift, his impressive strength would see him comfortably qualify for the 1,000 pound club with fellow star Hugh Jackman. Encouragingly for the rest of us, The ‘Witcher’ actor has admitted that building muscle has never come easy for him, and it is something that requires constant work and dedication.
Squat Max: 365 lbs (165kg)
Deadlift Max: 435 lbs (197kg)
Born: 5 May 1983 (age 40 years), Saint Helier, Jersey
Height: 1.85 m
Famous for: Film
Michael B. Jordan has always been muscular, but when tasked with playing Marvel villain Killmonger, he knew he had to take things to another level. Coming off his impressive physique for Creed, where he was already jacked, the actor added another 10kg of straight muscle for the role with months of intense training and diet.
To achieve such a crazy result, Jordan was training six to seven days a week, eating seven protein-filled meals a day, and was pumping incline chest presses with 50kg dumbbells for reps.
Bench Press Max: 315 lbs (142 kg)
Born: 9 February 1987 (age 36 years), Santa Ana, California, United States
Height: 1.83 m
Famous for: Film
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out Sly is insanely strong. The world’s most ripped 74-year-old has made a career out of being a physical specimen and by Stallone’s own admission, it takes a lot of work. In the early days, Stallone was a massive fan of traditional bodybuilding and Olympic lifting techniques, which he was understandably talented at.
Reports suggest Stallone was able to bench press 385-400 lbs (174.6-181.4 kg) and squat 500 lbs (226.8 kg) in his prime, however, a bench press contest with former Mr Olympia-turned-trainer for Rocky II, Franco Columbu ended in tragedy. According to Muscle and Fitness magazine, Stallone severely tore his pectoral muscle in the contest with Columbu and needed over 160 stitches. The result is his signature chest aesthetic, which shows one half more vascular than the other.
Squat Max: 500 lbs (226kg)
Bench Press Max: 400 lbs (181kg)
Born: 6 July 1946 (age 77 years), Hell’s Kitchen, New York, United States
Height: 1.77 m
Famous for: Film
Yeah, this is probably cheating, but let’s face it, this dude is strong. Game of Thrones actor Hafthor Bjornsson is an Icelandic weapon that has truly embraced his god-given gift. The current deadlift world-record holder and Strongman champion winner, Bjornsson isn’t just a celebrity with a bit of muscle, he’s the strongest man on the planet. Needless to say, he makes our list.
Bench Press Max: 551lbs (250kg)
Squat Max: 925 lbs (420kg)
Deadlift Max: 1,104 lbs (500kg)
Born: 26 November 1988 (age 35 years), Reykjavík, Iceland
Height: 2.06 m
Weight: 205 kg
Famous for: Film
Jake Gyllenhaal boasts one of the most impressive six-packs in Hollywood, and while it’s tempting to attribute it to genetics, the truth lies in his dedication to gruelling workouts. His sculpted abs, showcased during his portrayal of Billy “The Great” Hope in the 2015 film Southpaw, were the result of intense training that mirrored that of a real boxer. The actor revealed that his daily regimen included 6-7 meals, a staggering 2,000 sit-ups, 8 miles of running, sparring, core exercises, cardio, and bodybuilding—a truly formidable routine.
Fast forward almost a decade, and Gyllenhaal, now 42, is set to make a comeback in another physically demanding role. Reprising his commitment to a rigorous diet and exercise routine, he’s gearing up for the upcoming remake of the 1989 cult classic, Road House. Despite the passage of time, his enviable core remains a point of admiration, evident in the sizzling six-pack on full display during the filming of faux fight scenes at UFC 285.
Born: December 19, 1980 (age 43), Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Height: 1.8 m
Weight: 78kg
Famous for: Film
Captain America’s iconic physique didn’t come naturally to Chris Evans, known for his leaner figure. While he may not have enjoyed the heavy eating required, preparing for the role demanded serious caloric intake. To meet this demand, trainer Simon Waterson employed a strategic diet, emphasizing low-carb protein shakes and healthy snacks. Waterson addressed Evans’ struggle, stating, “The biggest challenge for Chris was eating enough for muscle gain without storing excess energy as fat.”
In the gym, Evans followed an intense regimen, featuring compound lifts like squats and deadlifts. Bodyweight exercises, plyometrics, and gymnastics kept his fast-twitch muscles engaged, improved flexibility and maintained a high heart rate throughout workouts. After watching his upgraded frame move on the big screen, it’s safe to say that he hit the sweet spot.
Born: June 13, 1981 (age 42) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S
Height: 1.83 m
Weight: 82 kg
Famous for: Film
The strongest celebrity in Hollywood is former WWE superstar John Cena, who can benchpress 210kg, squat 287kg, and deadlift nearly 300kg.
Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson trains six days a week in his personal travelling gym, 'The Iron Paradise'. Due to his rigorous filming schedule throughout the year, The Rock's training steers away from super heavy weight, but his insane work ethic and training regime make him one of the strongest men in Hollywood.
Journalist – Entertainment, Culture & Lifestyle
Sam Mangioni is an experienced content producer and the current Entertainment, Culture & Lifestyle Journalist for Man of Many. With an extensive background in digital content production and news, Sam specialises in delivering timely, accurate and witty assessments of current events. Prior to working for Man of Many, Sam spent three years at Southern Cross Austereo where he served as a Content Producer and News Reporter for the flagship Triple M Breakfast Program. The Sydney-based reporter completed a Bachelor of Commerce from Macquarie University Majoring in Marketing in 2014. Sam's work has also featured in Fight News Australia.
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