Exercise Scientist Critiques The Effectiveness of Hugh Jackman's Wolverine Workout – Fitness Volt (2024)

Dr. Mike Israetel is dishing out his thoughts on training routines in his latest YouTube venture. This time, all eyes are on the Hollywood star Hugh Jackman as Dr. Israetel breaks down the techniques behind the ‘Wolverine’s’ physique.

In addition to boasting over 1.4 million YouTube subscribers, Dr. Mike Israetel is a mastermind of fitness and exercise. As a sports physiologist, Israetel has carved out a successful career exploring and analyzing how movement affects the body.

Hollywood stars are always achieving awe-inspiring body transformations, and it’s always fascinating to see what methods or practices they employ to accomplish the big goal. Hugh Jackman is one of those actors and has sculpted his physique on a number of occasions to play Wolverine. To understand more about Jackman’s exercise program, Israetel critiqued several techniques performed by the star.

Exercise Scientist Appraises and Critiques Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine Workout

Below, Dr. Israetel examines a handful of exercises performed by Hugh Jackman.

“I am here to appraise Mr. Hugh Jackman’s training,” shares Mike Israetel. “Wolverine, he’s ferocious, he’s vicious.”

Push-Up

First, Israetel explains how Jackman could alter his push-up variation to achieve a better stretch in his chest, shoulders, or triceps.

“He’s not doing a push-up all the way down to depth, which means he’s not getting a good stretch in his chest, shoulders, or triceps, which means the marginal gain in muscle growth stimulus from this exercise is considerably lower than just a regular push-up. Way lower than a deficit push-up where you put your hands on a plate and you go down super deep for that stretch.”

Deadlift

While he approved of his form, Israetel explains that deadlifts aren’t ideal for those aiming for body composition goals like Hollywood actors. Moreover, Israetel believes deadlifts aren’t worth the fatigue and he would rather stick with pull-ups, rows, and pull-downs.

“This deadlift technique is quite good. The utility of the deadlift to body composition enhancement to looking better naked and in Wolverine clothes is… high. But, not usually worth the fatigue.”

“If you want a bigger back, rows, pull-ups, pull-downs things like that can get you just as big of a back with much less fatigue,” said Dr. Israetel.

Stability training

According to Israetel, stability training would affect how the body handles ‘high forces.’

“Instability training, what does it do? Folks, I will continue to repeat this because clearly not all of us have gotten the memo, when you are working on a task that requires a crap-load of stability, your body turns off its ability to produce high forces.”

Figure 8 Lunge

As for the figure 8 lunge, Israetel was less than impressed with this exercise.

“This Figure 8 bullsh*t. Guys, I got a great solution to this. Take one dumbbell in each hand at the same time, both hands have dumbbells, it auto balances you and now you can do walking lunges and focus exclusively oh which part — oh, the lunge part. That’s what you’re there for.”

“It adds extra complexity to the set,” said Dr. Mike Israetel.

Sleds

While Israetel can appreciate the benefits of sled exercises, he criticized Jackman’s example, labeling it ‘not very hypertrophic.’

“Sled pushing. Is really good for people that want to get good at pushing the sled but typically when you want to get good at sled pushing that means you want to do it for a short sprint. Because in games like football, wrestling, rugby, being able to push someone really hard, especially sumo wrestling, is a big deal.”

Downsides of Hugh Jackman’s Example:

• not high rate of calorie burn
• can’t do many repetitions
• not very hypertrophy

Dr. Israetel doesn’t believe goblet squats are an effective exercise for the lower body and pointed out that Jackman’s focus was on lifting the dumbbell.

“Goblet squats for people that are not weak suck. If you simply put the weight behind you on your back, your legs could create much more tension. You would not be limited by your ability to hold the dumbbell and your arms which is almost certainly what Hugh Jackman is being limited by.

That’s the most challenging part of this movement is holding that f*cking dumbbell. Because it’s ostensibly a leg exercise, how can that possibly be? Whatever you’re training or trying to hypertrophy the most, that should be a limited factor. If your quads give out on you while your leg pressing, you’re doing it right.”

“Goblet squats suck.”

This wasn’t the first time Dr. Mike Israetel broke down the training techniques of a high-profile star. He recently took a closer look at reigning five-time Classic Physique Olympia Chris Bumstead’s upper body training. Overall, he was impressed with Bumstead’s form though instructed him to achieve a fuller range of motion, especially on the eccentric of exercises.

As one of the most highly respected voices in fitness, it’s always insightful to hear from Dr. Mike Israetel. As for Hugh Jackman, fans look forward to seeing him reprise the role of Wolverine in ‘Deadpool 3’ coming soon.

RELATED: Arnold Schwarzenegger Reacts to Hugh Jackman’s Workout Photo in Prep for Deadpool 3

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