Porn is a visual medium. People watch porn for a variety of reasons, but universal is that they find the actors to be attractive. The internet has certainly expanded the genres of porn, opening the marketplace to more than just twenty-somethings with ripped abs, but for the most part, gay porn is still about hot men, with hot bodies, having hot sex. Working in gay porn requires much of same commitment to your body that traditional modeling or acting does, however, you may be able to hide a flabby stomach under a shirt or small quads under board shorts on regular shoots. When you do porn and you are naked, there is no hiding anything. Viewers are going to see all of you, even the parts you may not feel especially happy with. With that said, safe to say that most men who consider themselves “professionals” in gay porn do everything they can to try and look their best on camera.
As a teenager, I was a fat kid. At 15, I weighed 240lbs with a 42 inch waist. I was teased and bullied all through school- always the last to get picked for teams. Always the brunt of every fat joke. The boys in PE would slap the fat on my legs until I had bright red burning handprints all over. I cried everyday after school for hours, and eventually started cutting classes to avoid the pain until I finally dropped out all together. Luck for me, a teacher at school (who I now believe was/is gay) encouraged me to take my GED and go on to college two years before the rest of my class. Once in college, I had another teacher who had also been overweight, who looked at me one day and said “Is this really who you want to be? Because if it’s not, you can change, you can lose that weight.” I started walking, then running, then changed my diet, then five years later, I started lifting and have never stopped.
I generally workout seven days per week. I lift four of those days, cardio and abs the other three. During the three weeks before a shoot, I do cardio seven days per week, sometimes twice per day. My lifting split changes about every six months. For example, it’s currently chest/triceps on Tuesday, back/biceps on Thursday, Legs on Saturday, then shoulders/traps on Sunday. Monday, Wednesday and Friday are cardio and abs days. I do 30-40 minutes of elliptical, treadmill, or step-mill, followed by three ab movements focusing on the lower, middle and upper abs with a total rep range between 270-300 per ab workout day. In the example chest/tricep sequence below, I pick one exercise from each group and do three sets of 8-12, increasing the weight until I reach complete failure by the end of the third set.
Chest/Triceps (Pick ONE exercise each group – do 3 sets of 8-12)
Middle Chest:
Barbell Bench press
Dumbbell Bench press
Machine Bench press
Upper Chest:
Incline Bench press
Dumbbell Bench press
Incline Machine Bench Press
Lower Chest:
Weighted DIPS
Decline Machine Press
Decline Dumbbell Press
Decline Barbell Press
Inner chest:
Fly Machine
Dumbbell Fly
Cable Fly
Triceps:
Cable Pushdown
Reverse Grip Cable Pushdown
Single Arm Cable Pushdown
Dip Machine
Dumbbell Extension Behind Head
Skull Crushers
Narrow Grip Bench Press
Every week, my workout changes. I change the exercises. I change the order. I change the weight. Your body is exceptional at adapting, and in order to keep in growing, you’ve got to keep it guessing about what’s coming next. Workouts don’t need to be exceptionally long- no more than 90 minutes at most. Workouts DO need to be intense and focused. Most people way underestimate the amount of effort required to produce real change in their lives- and that goes for more than fitness.
Beyond what you do in the gym, at least 50% of your results are tied to what you eat and drink. I eat 5-6 meals per day. The first of those is oatmeal and cooked egg whites. Meals 2-4 are chicken/brown rice, chicken/sweet potato, chicken/red potato or as alternate proteins- extra lean ground beef, bison, tilapia, salmon, or tuna. The last meal of the day is egg whites and veggies- usually about two hours before bed. Carbs are not the enemy when you’re trying to build muscle, but you want good, complex carbs during the daytime hours then scale way back or eliminate them three hours before bedtime. I do eat restaurant meals on occasion, but I still do my best to make the best choices I can by having chicken, or a lean steak, or a great slab of fish. As a rule, I don’t ever eat fried food or anything in a cream sauce- unless it’s from a man. I do cheat on occasion when I’m outside of four weeks before a shoot. I’ll have one meal, once per week where I have anything I’d like- usually I’ll take down a large pizza and two pieces of cheesecake or maybe 1/2lbs hamburger with onion rings and a milkshake. Once that cheat meal is over, the discipline is back on right away for the next meal. Don’t let a cheat meal become a cheat weekend.
And finally, the good news is that unless you’re planning to do porn, you don’t have to be as disciplined. As a personal trainer, I tell my clients “your progress is all up to you. You decide what you want and how hard you’re willing to work.” People forget that fitness and the discipline behind it starts in the brain. One of the best overall books I’ve ever read on fitness is “Body for Life,” by Bill Phillips. Yes, he was selling product for EAS when he wrote it, but his approach addressing the mental, then the physical is excellent. Plus he explains nutrition in the most simplified way. I recommend this book to all my clients.
Do not go on a diet. Modify your eating habits as a permanent way of life. Do not start working-out. Modify your lifestyle so fitness, health and movement is a part of every single day. I hope there is someone in your life who cares enough to say “you can do it” because I KNOW you can.
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