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Christian Bale’s Fitness Workouts for Batman, The Dark Knight
Christian Bale has proven that he is more than just a pretty face in his roles at Batman. In Batman Begins we saw how his journey began, with his grueling martial arts tuition to improve his fighting skills. In the Dark Knight, his body is still in perfect condition. But few people realize that Christian Bale only had six weeks between filming the machinist, where he played an anorexic insomniac, to Batman Begins, where he played a super fit super hero.
So, how did Batman Get Fit?
The short answer is intensive cardio workouts and intensive resistance/weight training workouts. Not only is Bale’s character extremely muscular, he is also well toned, with low body fat levels.
Christian Bale had a harder task than most to get his body from a skinny frame to a muscular and athletic build. Due to his restrictive dieting, actually starvation at one point, his metabolism was very low, which makes it much harder to fuel the body to workout hard enough to start building muscle.
Batman is famous for his martial arts, and martial arts training would have been required to help build his fitness and strength. Martial arts are one of the best forms of interval circuit training. By its nature a martial arts class or training session involves period of intense activity followed by gentler exercises, and also interspersed with compound weight bearing exercise. Squats and lunges are ideal exercises for building athletic thighs and legs, while boxing and grappling is an excellent way to strengthen and tone the upper body.
One of the things that makes Batman one of the most popular comic book heroes, is that he does not have any “super powers”. Bruce Wayne is just a man who is driven to fight for justice, and utilises a combination of martial arts and high-tech gadgetry to fight crime under the mask of the Batman. Anyone could become like Batman if they spent the time and energy required to train their bodies and minds into an ultimate fighting machine.
Fighting in reality is never as glamorous as it appears on screen. There have been some classic kung-fu moments on screen when the hero is forced to perform grueling and painful exercises to become masterful fighters – such as Jackie Chan in The Drunken Master and Uma Thurman in Kill Bill Vol.2 (the cruel tutelage of Pei Mei) – but generally fighting appears easy. This is not the reality though. Real fighters have to train extremely hard to reach the top of their game. Some of the fittest athletes are professional boxers. What does this mean for would be Batmen and Batwomen? To get a body like Christian Bale, you need to work hard.
Batman’s Fitness Workouts:
The best workouts to follow to get a body like Batman would probably be a combination of Bruce Lee’s strength training and Sly Stallone’s training. Plyometric workouts used by boxers would also be required to improve speed and agility. Bruce Lee had one of the most athletic bodies of any actor ever seen on screen, and Sly Stallone’s training was designed to bulk him up to look the part in Rocky 2. Christian Bale’s physique in Batman Returns and The Dark Knight is really a good combination of these two systems. The key areas are:
- Compound Weight Training
- Intensive Interval Training
- Explosive Plyometric Circuit Training
With this is mind, here is a workout routine that will get you strong, fast, agile and flexible like The Batman. The workout is split over three days, so can be repeated once a week with an extra day rest after Day 1, which involves the greatest load bearing exercise:
Christian Bales Batman Workout – 3 Day Split:
For each of these exercises aim to complete three sets of 8-12 repetitions. Ideally the final set should allow you to work to failure, or close to failure. Ensure plenty of rest between sets of exercises, unless they are supersetted.
Batman Workout Day 1:
- Chin-ups supersetted with bent over rows
This superset is used as a warm-up before the main compound exercises are done. Chin-ups and bent over rows are both compound movements, which work the upper body well and also provide large range of motion. Chin-ups / pull ups are a great power exercise. Unfortunately, being even just a little overweight can make the exercise extremely difficult. Modified pull ups are of course allowed, to ensure that the workout is completed. If you prefer, cable rows can be performed instead of bent over rows. - Squats
Squats are considered by many to be the pièce de résistance for any successful strength training program. They are the key exercise in the MotleyHealth Core Four workout, which is designed for quick strength gain and fat loss. - High Pulls
With the “high pull” a barbell is lifted quickly from the floor by extending the hips and knees. As the bar reaches the knees, the shoulders are rapidly raised while keeping the barbell close to the thighs, and then the body is extended with a small jump movement. Elbows are flexed out to the sides, pulling bar up to neck height. This is an explosive movement, similar to a clean, but without the squatting movement. Start with a light bar to ensure that you are comfortable with the movement, before adding weight. A fuller description of the high pull is available on ExRx. - Clean and Press
The clean and press is a good exercise for overall mass building as well as power, most of the major muscle groups are utilized during the execution of this movement. To perform, a barbell is lifted from the floor to the chest in one continuous motion. Once it reaches the chest, the bar is then pressed overhead.
Batman Workout Day 2:
- Sprints – Speed Training
Day 2 is dedicated to speed training and intensive cardio/interval training. Sprinting is an excellent form of field interval training. Utilize a football pitch to help pace out your sprints. Start out jogging around a field/pitch at a comfortable pace, and then when ready sprint flat out over a set distance. The length of a football pitch (or width) is ideal. After the spring, return to jogging, recover, and then repeat. Aim to build up the number of sprints completed in a session, and then aim to increase speed. - Squat jumps
The squat jump is exactly as it sounds – a squat followed by an explosive jump. In a normal squat a weight is lowered on the shoulders until the back of the thighs are almost horizontal, and then the bar/weight is slowly raised. With a squat jump, the lift is explosive, with the aim to lift the body onto the toes and leave the ground momentarily. An excellent plyometric exercise. Ideally a heavy punch bag should be used instead of a bar to avoid shoulder/neck injury. - Lunges
Lunges are another excellent leg strengthening exercise. Either performed with a barbell across the shoulders, or two dumbbells (this builds grip strength). You can also perform bodyweight lunges to build up muscular endurance.
Batman Workout Day 3:
- Dumbbell Flyes followed by Bench Press
Start the sessions with flyes as a pre-exhaust, followed quickly with bench press. The bench press is another of the Motley Health Core Four weight training exercises. - Clap Push Ups
- Lateral Jumps
Lateral jumps are a simple but intensive cardio workout. Like skipping, they build muscular endurance in the legs, allowing you to keep moving for longer – essential for martial artists and boxers. A great power exercise. To work up from this, box jumps can be added – a simple sideways (lateral) jump up onto a box (e.g. Reebok stepper)
Clap Push-Ups are an explosive way to perform push ups. Like the squat jumps, they turn a slow steady exercise into a fast, plyometric one. Start as with a normal push up in the plank position, lower your body until the chest just touches the floor, then raise quickly with the arms, and rapidly push up so that your hands leave the floor, clap once, land your hands on the floor and repeat. If this is too much, then start with standard push ups, but perform them as quickly as possible.
Batman’s Diet:
Diet would have played an important role in such an intensive training regime. Meals need to have a good balance of quality protein sources, and carbs in the form of salads, vegetables and fruits, while maintaining low blood sugar levels to ensure that fat is burnt and not stored. A starvation diet is no good for building muscle and getting fit, in fact when working out intensively, calorific consumption generally needs to be higher than average.
Christian Bale is a vegetarian, so whereas most people can take their protein from lean meats, Bale would have been concentrating on high quality protein from eggs, cottage cheese, fat free cheese, milk and protein shakes. Supplementing the diet with nutritional snacks and drinks is often essential during intensive regimes, especially for vegetarians.
When working so intensively, meals need to be eaten more often, to ensure a constant supply of energy and proteins to the muscles. Bale would have had to eat every 3 hours to ensure that he was building and repairing muscle tissue, rather than wearing it down.
For an alternative workout, Diet.com have created a Super Heroes Workout routine:
To conclude, with determination and a bit of knowledge, anyone can shape up like our favorite superhero Batman. Superior fitness is attainable for most people if they can maintain the grueling fitness regimes required. You too can be Batman.
The Dark Knight (Two-Disc Special Edition + Digital Copy)
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In your prescription for a “Batman Diet,” you recommend that people eat lean meats. Actually, Christian Bale is a vegetarian. So, Christian Bale’s “Batman Diet” would not have consisted of lean meats.
Well spotted George. The article has been edited. Christian Bale is indeed a vegetarian, having given up meat after reading Charlotte’s Web when he was six years old. Vegetarians do have a tougher when looking to bulk up very fast. Unless you can stomach a lot of cottage cheese and eggs, then protein shakes are essential to supplement your diet.
How many sets and reps each would you advise?
For the weight training exercises I would suggest 3 sets of 8-12 reps. The squats could be pyramided to aim for increased strength as well as hypertrophy (size). The speed training sprints and lateral jumps should be performed to the max. jsut increase time / number of sprints.
In an interview for Stuff Magazine in 2002 Bale mentions that he actually eats fish and chicken. He expounded that his philosophy is that he won’t eat anything he wouldn’t kill himself, but actually hadn’t gotten around to killing a chicken.
In GQ he said his Machinist diet was apples and canned tuna.
I was wanting to know how long you guys at motley health though it would take me to get to Christian Bale’s physique. I am currently 10.5% body fat, 6 feet 0 inches tall, and I weigh 156. I figured that the ideal weight range for my goal would be about 175-180, but I was wanting to know, with proper nutrition and supplements (only a strong multivitamin, protein shakes, and L-Glutamine) how long would it take me to achieve my goal?
Adam, that is really difficult to predict. I think the genetics plays a major part – Christian Bale’s rapid transformation must have been partly due to him having some muscle happy genes. You have a lot of bulking up to do by the sounds of it, and at 10.5% fat it sounds like you probably do not gain weight easy?
All I can suggest is start training and see how you progress. If you are serious about bulking up and putting on 20 pounds of lean muscle, then you are going to have to do a lot of lifting and eat a lot of protein. Train hard. Let us know how you get on, and good luck!
Thank you very much.
I have just done a little further research, and from examples on the net, you may be able to gain 10kg of muscle in 4 months – genetics and willpower permitting. Training 3 times per week and optimising nutrition, and changing / modifying the workouts if you hit a plateau, and you could have a Batman body by Christmas! You are welcome to keep a journal of your progress here: http://community.motleyhealth.com/user/register
Great! I was hoping to put on about a pound a week and that would work out with what you said. Also, wouldn’t it be better if I worked out 6 times per week?(According to the workout listed above.) Or would that be too much?
I think that six times per week would be too much, without adequate rest your muscles will not have time to recover, and you will start to suffer from over training. The above routine is a 3 day slit routine. Professional athletes do train more, but they do a mixture of cardio and weight training, with a lot of muscular endurance training – this does not build big muscles.
Well that explains why after doing “Day 1″ and then following immediately by doing “Day 2″ the day afer that, that my lower body has been killing me. Thank you very much for you advice. I will stick to it, and hopefully can achieve my goal by Christmas.
Ah, yes, I can see now that we should have made that clearer!
Hi Motleyhealth,
Loving this site …nice to know the workout regiments of bale,lee,stallone etc…was always curious about that…I’m 23 and haven’ worked out for more than 15 months now…im 6′1 and weigh 84 KGs . My arms and shoulders have not lost considerable mass but I have put in a heck load of weight on my belly…I have been working out for 2 weeks now on a very strict regiment.4 times a week…do you have any suggestions for me to lose my belly by Dec (im sure I have a 6 pac belowthat ) and at the same time bulk up on the muscle…going to start a whey proten shake by next week….any suggestions would be great! thanks Loving the site
For those interested, Batman: The Dark Knight, can now be pre-ordered on Play.com
I have read this article and am very interested in giving it ago, but being unemployed at the moment leaves me with restrictions such as no access to a gym or the ability to buy equipment also buying this kind of food on a regular basis can be quite expensive, is there a way i can still do these kind of workouts on a very low budget, even if it take longer?
Craig,
You can certainly work out pretty well on a low budget. For a start, all the bodyweight exercises and running costs nothing. So you can do the sprints, squat jumps, lunges, clap push ups and lateral jumps. Replace the weight training with more bodyweight exercises, such as burpies, variations on the press up (close and wide space hands). Check out the circuit training workouts for more ideas too.
As for food, just avoid too much junk food, refined flour and sugar, and eat a well balanced healthy diet, with some extra protein (eggs and tuna a usually cheap options).
Thankyou i shall give give it a try and tell you how it went
I was wondering if there are alternate workouts I could perform rather then the High Pulls and the Clean and Sweep.
I workout at my high school 5 times a week and though we have 3 rooms in our weight training facility, the one with barbells has space, but surrounded by people and not injuring someone while doing the workout will be difficult.
Also, on the topic of protein, would you recommend teenagers to take protein shakes? Would it be alright because I read somewhere that it’s not ideal to take protein shakes as a teenager because it stops puberty.
If you have resistance machines, then you could subsititute the high pulls for cable rows, and the clean and press for military/shoulder presses. Perform deadlifts with a free weight, this should not be too risky.
As for protein stopping puberty, this sounds like utter nonsense. A protein shake should be safe enough, just steer clear of any offers of drugs to help build muscle!
Finally, I would not recommend weight training 5 times a week – do some of your workouts just involve cardio? It is easy to over do it, especially while you are still growing. I know people in their 30’s that have back problems now due to too much heavy lifting as a teenager. Remember, everything in moderation!
Thanks for the alternative workouts. Would it be alright to do one day of the Batman workout and have every other day as a cardio or ab workout day?
I was also wondering if it would be okay to include some tricep workouts within the routine?
Def. do some triceps exercises too. The routine is only a guide, so modify it to create an ideal workout for you.
I am in the process of writing up the second part of the James Bond workout, and this includes tricep dips, so maybe take a look. It should be online later today.
Hey, this site is really fantastic. I am doing Bodybuilding 1 and a half year and I always wanted to know how Bale trained for this body, and thank you really much for it. But is this really his real workout? The exercised remind me of exercise football player does, and I think it is a little bit less of all, maybe 30-45 minutes pro workout. But if its real i will try it for 4-5 months and will write if something happens
This is what we beleive that he did to get his body. We know that he used weight training, and also combat training, thus the exercises taken from Bruce Lee and Sly Stallone, with a good mix of plyometric circuit training and more intensive weight training. It does not surprise that it is similar to a footballers workout, as both aim to improve functional strength, speed and agility. We wish you all the luck in your training.
Thank you very much, I will try this program for some months and will tell you what happen
Remember, you can blog your progress in our community.
This routine is tight!! Im goin’ try it! I wanna look like the dark knight LOL but naw seriously… I do wanna look like Batman (HA HA HA)
I don’t think you will really gain many muscles in this training period like Bale did in Batman Begins but I think it is a nice program to gain strength and agility.
Hey, I was just wanting to let you guys know that I did do the routine for about a month before school, I had to stop due to school. (I was taking 19 hours.) But for those that are interested, I can say that it does work. I now weigh about 164. When I was working out I was eating right all the time. The results, if you stick to the routine, happen very quickly. After about 2 weeks you will notice minor differences, but as I went on I got very close to a 6 pack, and then sadly started slacking off. Now that the semester is over and next spring will be a little lighter load, I will be sticking to it all the way. I just wanted to let you guys know that it did work, but I just didn’t stick to it.
I’ve got a question. Is there another way to do squat jumps if you don’t have a punching bag?
Hi Adam, glad that it works for you. Sounds good. Punch bags are not essential, they are just a good size and weight. You could try by stuffing a large rucksack with clothes, or just do them without weight.
hi, I was looking at the routine and am wonder after the three days do you have any days rest or just restart the program?
Best to work one day and rest the next. Either do the workout every other day, or on set days of the week, such as Monday, Wednesday and Friday, with weekends off.
you know it’s absolute crap that you even need to focus on all these “protein” foods like eggs and cheese. how do you know he did that you just assume. there is a former rugby player who is now a fruitarian and still has amazing muscle definition and bulk. you need 5 to 6 percent protein that’s it. i would argue that protein from raw plants is better and more easily assimilated than denatured protein from a cooked steak
Increasing protein in diet has been shown to help build muscle mass, it is not speculation. Maybe he did just eat fruit and veg, but he would have had to consume a lot to get the required protein. As he beefed up so quickly he must have taken a supplement of some variety.
Which rugby player are you referring to? I would be happy to do a spot on raw/fruit diet.
I’m really skinny right now, and am about 5′8″ tall. I’m 19 years old. I’ve started going to the gym about 1 weeks ago, and am consuming whey protein drinks after every workout. How much time would it take for me to get bigger (bigger chest, biceps, triceps–mainly upper body)? I can afford to go all 7 days of the week.
How long it takes really depends on your genetics. Strength training 7 days a week is not a good idea though. If you want to get bigger, you need to be doing more intensive workouts, then giving yourself time to recover. To workout out more you can split your routines to work some muscles while others are recovering, but 7 days a week pumping iron is too much for anyone. Just stick with it, and the muscles will grow. Remember that rest is as important as nutrition and lifting – muscles grow when resting, not when working!
This is quite an interesting workout, I’m definitely trying the diets/muscle training. I have a pretty low body fat percentage, so my body at the moment is very toned. I’m pretty slim but I have some lean muscle but I want to gain about 20 pounds of muscle using this program.
So do you think I can cut out the agility exercises because of my low body fat, and replace with mere abdominal and short jogs? I am mainly focused on the muscle-mass benefits from this program.
Thanks!
Hi, this looks like a pretty good workout, I just wanted your opinion on whether I should switch to this workout from my current workout.
Currently, I work out 4 times a week and have a rest day and another day when I’m just playing sports. At the gym, I usually do cardio for 20 mins (intensive interval training) and then a bunch of ab exercises after. I follow this up with weights and focus on a group a day (ie Shoulders, Chest, Back, Bi’s & Tri’s, and Legs). I usually do around 5-7 different exercises per group and 3-4 sets (8-12 reps and one at the end as a conditioning/endurance set).
Do you think this is an effective method to gain muscle mass and definition and burn fat, given that I watch what I eat and eat enough protein to compensate?
Thanks!
Ryan, that sounds like a good plan. It is essentially a bulking regime. Remember that Bale was very skinny after filming the Machinist.
Sal, only you can answer this question. Things to bear in mind are – are you happy with your current progress? Do you want more muscle or to be fitter? How important are the sports, and will a bodybuilding workout interfere with sports training? If you have hit a plateau, then maybe you need to change. If you are happy with the results you are currently getting, then maybe there is no need to do the Batman workout?
Yeah of course you’d need more animal sourced proteins. They have a wider range of amino acids which is generally essential. Have you ever tried gaining muscle without meat or eggs? It’s a hell of a lot harder. Not to mention even if he didn’t eat any meat he was still able to use whey as most Hollywood actors are forced too while training for a bulky role.
Hey, I’m about 6” and probably weigh about 190lbs. I have semi-good muscle definition, but find it hard to lose fat from my stomach. I’d like to bulk up a little and lose some fat. Do you think this is a good work out for me? I’ve just finished the first three days, and it definitely feels like more of a work out to me than going on a three mile run, which is what I generally do.
Jay, yes I think it will help, plus plenty of intensive cardio (interval training works best for burning fat). Really 3 rules to burning fat: exercise hard to burn, build muscle to increase metabolism, eat a healthy lean diet.
tell me, my routine consists of gym training of 5-6 days emphasizing usually one muscle a day with savings legs as a two day work out, and I know this is exclusively a bulk up method. But I’ am looking to elevate my game a lot, and want to get faster. I still do run once a week for 20 min but want to resume doing sprints because I have been on hiatus for months because of a surgery but am serious about gaining speed and agility. By nature I am a small guy about 5′9″, 140 but don’t let that fool you cause i am very strong for my size and if you looked at me you would think I am more of 150 or 155. My question is would it be a good idea to undertake my normal regime for one week and the next alternate to more of a muscular endurance based work out . I believe firmly in the combination of speed and power. any feed back or criticisms would be greatly appreciated.
im 185cm and about 170- 175 lbs, and want to be about 185 pound but only gain pure muscle, how would i do this?
Bodybuilding is certainly the answer. You need to work hard, eat well (with plenty of protein, but not too much saturated fat) and get lots of rest/sleep.
I jog for about 5 miles 4 days a week, as a way of losing weight, but I’d like to start taking on this training programme at the same time.
Would I be fine in doing both this programme and my jogging?
Yes, this should not be a problem. The general rule is to do your strength training before cardio. You may find you need to compromise the running to start with, but no reason why you cannot do both. Athletes and sports persons do both running an weight training sessions throughout the week.
Hi, very interesting routine. Have you got something like that from Bale for The Dark Knight movie? This is now for Batman Begins, in TDK he doesn’t have many muscles but he was also trained.
greetz
So what is that one shake that Christian Bale drinks in the movie thats made up of grass? Is it wheat grass?
Impossible to know unless we speak with Alfred. It could be based on wheat grass, but it could be any type of “Green drink”. Generally green drinks are a combination of green vegetables made into a smoothie. Typical ingredients include:
Wheat grass, Parsley, Lettuce, Celery, Spinach, Apples, Carrot, Lemon and Lime.
Here’s a YouTube clip that may help.
Re protein. You can absolutely bulk up without animal protein. I have been a vegetarian (no meat, no fish) for 6 years and vegan (no diary, eggs, etc) for the last 2. Have exercised since my teens (am 42 now) and always been conscious of nutrition and particularly, protein to keep muscle mass as I get lean very easily. Used to eat a lot of chicken and fish and was concerned I would lose a lot of muscle without meat protein.
Since being a vegan I have consumed near or just below an ounce of vegen protein per pound of my bodyweight per day. Vegan protein does not include whey, but instead vegetable sources such pea, brown rice, soya, hemp. If you consume protein powder with a mix of sources, you can get the full range of required amino acids. In terms of ability to build mass, be fit and be strong, I have noticed there is absolutely no difference in protein from meat vs vegetable sources. What I did notice is that I immediately got leaner once I removed meat and dairy from my diet.
I’ve been letting my exercise regime slip for a few weeks now and have been looking for something new to get my head into. I’ve been looking at the “Bond” workout plan and this one. As a result I’ve drawn up my own personal programme which I think I can fit into my weekly routine. The one question I had was whether something like Tae Bo would be suitable for the Active Rest day or not?
Martial arts training should be OK, just do not over do it. Depends on how fit you are. You want to be able to recover from the weight training to build the muscle.
Is it really possible to transform your body like this? I know Bale was fit before he became skin and bones for the recording of Maschinist. And that does help when you later start going back to the gym.
But 40 kg of muscle in this short time? AND AS A VEGETARIAN! Well he hasn’t got me….he surely used something illegal. To build those massive muscles…you first have to bulk up and then get rid of the excess weight to get lean. doing cardio as running will NEVER help you on your way to bulking.
Can you give me an honest answer and say that he did this NATURAL???
And for the record….protein shakes are a mass industry…you are just as well of drinking a large glass of milk and a banana just after training…and then eating HEALTHY good dinner as soon as you get back home.
If you are not on bodybuilder level….no extras are needed…just plain food and cut the alcohol.
Thanks for me.