How the hell did JK Simmons get in such incredible shape?
We’ve been asking ourselves that since photos of him looking like a shredded Santa Claus first emerged on Instagram.
The Terminator Genisys actor is putting guys two thirds his age to shame with that physique.
If we ever managed to get in shape we’d be happy – never mind when we’re approaching pensionable age like Simmons.
Obviously the star has a personal trainer which probably massively helps.
But there really is no substitute for hard at work and Simmons has been killing it in the gym.
Business Insider asked his personal trainer Aaron Williamson how the American A-lister has forged that iron-clad physique.
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The former Royal Marine, who now trains the great and the good of Hollywood, said it’s all down to hard work and consistency which started back when he shot Terminator.
After he shot Whiplash, he said Simmons wanted to do more of a body transformation, saying: “He wants to have some ‘beefing’ guns to show people that he is just not that guy that does Farmers commercials.”
Simmons trains with Williamson two or three times a week – but he says no one gym workout is ever the same.
“Each session is different – I don’t pre-plan any workout before he gets there.. “We never go in and do the exact same workout. It is always different.”
For cardio Simmons rides his bike to the gym and then hits a further 15 mins when he arrives to get a sweat on.
He uses warm up sets on the weights to get some blood into the muscle, before the working sets begin.
Williamson is big on getting him to hit supersets and giant sets using high reps and low rates to get his muscle growing through sheer volume.
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“I’m big on hitting the muscle from as many different angles as you can with as much blood volume as you can,” Williamson told Business Insider.
“All these different angles confuse the muscles, creating definition. We use different exercises back to back to back – by the end of the set, we are essentially doing 30 to 40 reps.”
According to Williamson, Simmons hits a lot of dumbbell work in the sessions, switching his grip and planes of motion to blast his arms from every conceivable angle.
He uses cables to work out his chest and planks, crunches and leg raises to hit his core.
It seems high reps with a low weight has brought Simmons some impressive results.
