One of the most well developed, lean and muscular hollywood physiques of all time is Christian Bale’s in American Pyscho. His well developed musculature combined with minimal body fat is what results in an astonishing look.

This is by far the most impressive Christian Bale has ever looked in his acting career. While Christian Bale had more muscle in Bat Man Begins he also was carrying around quite a bit more body fat. A bulky appearance is nothing special and quite easy to attain with a big appetite and few hours in the gym every week. On the other hand, the chiseled american psycho look takes a whole other level of dedication. It requires an intense exercise routine in conjunction with a strict diet. Many people lack the will power to do either of those, let alone both.

This was no problem for Method Actor Christian Bale who possesses the will power of 1000 shaolin monks. In fact Christian Bale is notorious for putting his body through intense, unhealthy measures in order to portray a character.

How Christian Bale Built the American Psycho Body?  

Step 1 – Mindset 

Christian Bale emersed himself into his role as Patrick Bateman, a high powered investment banker with a psychopathic ego. I can only imagine that becoming one with this character would only make it easier to summon the dedication to achieve the extremely well defined physique. It is almost like his character, Patrick Bateman lacked human qualities making it effortless for Christian Bale to eat strict and exercise rigorously.

One of my tricks to reaching extremely low body fat is tapping into a different mindset. A mindset where pleasure does not exist from high calorie junk food. A mind set where I give my body only what it needs and nothing more. A mindset where I align the choices I make with how I want to look. While some may argue that this approach is somewhat obsessive, the results will be nothing short of incredible.

Step 2 – The Workout Routine 

The workout routine required to build the chiseled American Psycho Physique requires Strength Training and Strategic Cardio Training.

Strength Training: 

Strength Training should be composed of heavy weight and low reps. This style of training is the most effective way to build permanent muscle tone without causing excessive muscle growth. In addition lifting heavy will allow you to maintain muscle mass and increase strength as you strip away body fat from a low calorie diet and strategic cardio. The volume should be kept low (around 2-3 sets per exercise) because the goal is to maintain muscle while on a reduced calorie diet. Too much volume is unnecessary and counter productive while cutting fat. I also recommend performing the reps in a slow manner to maximize tension, resulting in greater muscle tone. Stop each set a rep or two before muscle failure. Training each set to failure will lead to burn out and stalled strength.

Strategic Cardio Training:

Strategic cardio is the most effective way to burn fat. It involves performing high intensity interval training followed by steady state cardio. The high intensity interval training boosts your metabolism, elevates fat burning hormones and triggers the release of stored fat cells into your blood stream. Follow this off with regular steady state cardio for 15-30 minutes at 70% of your heart rate and you will have one of the best fat burning workouts of your life.

Strength Training – Monday/Wednesday/Friday

Incline Dumbbell Bench Press: 2 x 5 reps (90 seconds rest)

Pull ups (add weight if necessary): 2 x 5 reps (90 seconds rest)

Lateral Raises: 2 x 6 reps (60 seconds rest)

Standing Dumbbell Curls: 2 x 5 reps (90 seconds rest)

Bar Dips (add weight if necessary): 2 x 5 reps (90 seconds rest)

Hanging Leg Raises: 2 x 1o reps (60 seconds rest)

Plank: 2 sets of max hold (60 seconds rest)

Notes:

This workout program is based off of the Visual Impact Muscle Building Principles. Visual Impact Muscle Building is the #1 workout program to build the chiseled and muscular hollywood physique. You can see my visual impact muscle building results by visiting the link below

–> Visual Impact Muscle Building Results 

Strategic Cardio Training – Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday 

High Intensity Interval Training: Perform on Treadmill, Stationary Bike or Ellipitcal or Running outside

Option 1: 30 seconds hard / 30 seconds easy x 12

Option 2: 60 seconds hard / 60 seconds easy x 8

Steady State Cardio – perform on any piece of cardio equipment

15-30 minutes total at 70% of heart rate

Step 3 – Strict Diet 

I saved the most important factor for last. If you want to have shredded abs then your diet is going to determine if you achieve your goal or not. I recommend creating a strong daily deficit while keeping protein intake high

• Reduce calories to 8-10 calories x body-weight
• Reduce total carbs to 50-80 grams per day
• Get 0.7 to 1 grams of protein per pound of body-weight
• Make up the rest of your caloric needs from fat
• Give yourself one free day per week

Meal 1 – Omelet with 2 whole eggs and 1 cup of egg whites, veggies and half an advocado.

Meal 2 – Big Salad with 2 chicken breasts sliced up and rice vinegar dressing and 1 tbs of olive oil and an apple

Meal 3 – Whey Protein Shake x 2 scoops mixed with unsweetened almond milk and 25-35 almonds

Notes:

I like to have my first meal at 2-3 pm, my second meal at 6-7 pm and my last meal 1-2 hours before going to bed. This approach allows me to stick to the dieting guidelines with ease. Fasting through breakfast into the afternoon is a very effective way to burn fat. If this comes as a shock to you I recommend watching this very informative video by body composition expert, Caleb Lee

—-> The 5 Forbidden Commandments that Force your Body To Kill Stubborn Body Fat 

 Final Tips 

Getting down to 10-12% body fat can be achieved with a basic diet and exercise program. However getting to 6-8% body-fat requires a more extreme approach. Here are some tips to strip away those final pounds.

1. Go into every workout in a fasted state (at-least 3-4 hours without eating). This will ensure that you burn fat for fuel. Not stored carbs.

2. Wait at-least 1 hour after your workout before eating. This will allow your hgh levels (fat burning hormones) to remain high.

Notes – if your worried about losing muscle from fasted workouts than I recommend taking 5-10g of Branched Chain Amino Acids before and after workouts.

3. Take 300mg of green tea extract and 200mg of caffeine in the morning and before workouts. This has been proven to elevate your metabolism and reduce your appetite. I use prograde metabolism which has the exact formula in addition to other proven fat burning and metabolism boosting ingredients.

–> Prograde Metabolsim 

3. Ensure that your protein intake is kept high. Ideally 0.7-1 gram of protein per pound of body-weight. Protein has the greatest effect on satiety and has the biggest thermogenic effect (requires more energy to digest that fat and carbs)

4. Ensure that your carbs are kept under 100 total grams per day. This way your insulin levels will be stabilized and you will be burning fat 24 hours per day.