Celebrity Workout: Edward Norton

Edward Norton in American History X
Get a body like Edward Norton's in American History X
There's nothing like seeing an actor with a finely chiseled physique to motivate you to start making regular visits to the gym. Although most actors these days have high-profile personal trainers putting them through hours of gym sessions while
helping them to carefully monitor every morsel of food they put in their mouths, there is no reason you cannot achieve a similar status with hard work.

Make no mistake about it: Getting a body like those seen in the movies will take a lot of time and dedication. In fitness, nothing great comes easy, but armed with the right approach, you can achieve your goals. Do keep in mind, however, that there are many effects in movies (lighting, for example) that will help play up the actor's body. Ensure that the look you are going for is in fact realistic for your body type so you don't become overly discouraged and start sliding in your commitment to fitness.

Edward Norton, who plays Derek Vinyard in American History X, developed a fantastic, muscular image for the movie despite his naturally smaller body. His overall look is not incredibly muscular, but rather lean and defined, showing that he has a considerable amount of strength behind him. The muscular focus falls predominantly around Norton’s shoulder and arm area, and really sets off his whole image. Accordingly, for this workout, we will focus on building the shoulder and arm areas.

diet
If you want to achieve a physique like Edward Norton’s in American History X, the first step to take is to evaluate your diet.

Diet plays a predominant role when it comes to sculpting the muscles. Those who have a fair amount of muscle mass and only need to lean out will likely want to follow a slightly higher-protein diet. The reason for this is that, first off, protein has the highest TEF factor, which is how many calories you actually “net” after eating a food (food-content calories minus those needed for digestion). Consuming more protein-rich foods means you will increase the number of calories burned on a daily basis simply through digestion; therefore, your total intake will be lower.

Secondly, a higher-protein diet is a smart way to go to help spare bodily protein when in a hypocaloric state. Since your total fat and carbohydrate intake will be lower, the body will need to start turning to protein for fuel. If you are only eating enough protein to meet your basic needs, once the body starts using it for energy, you will not longer have enough for repair and maintenance. This means muscle loss, which is exactly what you don't want.

Next, try to place the vast majority of the carbohydrates you do eat around your workouts so you can help optimize muscle partitioning, the process by which the body puts nutrients into the muscle cells rather than the fat cells.

On the other hand, if gaining slightly more muscle mass is what's needed to transform your physique, you will need to eat a slightly higher-calorie diet to provide the nutrients for extra growth. This should come from a combination of protein, fat and carbohydrate calories, once again with the majority of your caloric intake organized around your workouts to minimize fat gain.

Lastly, regardless of whether you are leaning out or building muscle, ensure that you are taking in enough essential fatty acids (EFAs). This is easily accomplished by including six capsules of fish oil per day (most capsules contain one gram each). EFAs provide a great number of health benefits, such as improved insulin sensitivity, which is something you definitely want at this time.

workout
The next factor to consider is your workout. To get the greatest results in the shortest period of time, focus on performing compound lifts. These are going to work the most muscle fibers at any given second, and will also stimulate the greatest growth
hormone release by the body. If you start performing set after set of isolated exercise, working your way up to 15+ sets per workout, you could risk overtraining, which will only leave you looking flat and undefined, effectively crushing your motivation to go to the gym.

Also, try to lift a weight as heavy as possible, working within the three- to eight-rep range. This will allow you to focus on myofibrillar hypertrophy as opposed to sarcoplasmic hypertrophy. As Edward Norton does not have an overly huge body in this movie despite clearly showing signs of strength, we can tell he has not had a lot of sarcoplasmic hypertrophy. Sacroplasmic hypertrophy is what happens when you work in a higher rep range and start to get an accumulation of byproducts from the lifting.

The result is the muscles look a lot bigger for a shorter period of time, however, the results are not long lasting and are not very indicative of strength gains. If you work in the lower rep range, though, you will see more strength gains (myofibrillar hypertrophy) without adding quite as much size. When this occurs, the actual muscle fibers will be growing stronger and larger, as opposed to an increase in all the plasma that surrounds the muscle fibers.

If your goal is to burn as much fat as possible along with your weight workouts, then also try to incorporate some sprint interval sessions. These are much less catabolic than longer, steady state cardio workouts, and will kick up the growth hormone circulation in your body even further. When doing so, remember to take rest and recovery into consideration so you don't overtrain. Make your weight-lifting sessions full-body workouts, hitting all the major muscle groups three times per week, and then add in one to three interval sprint sessions on top of that.

exercises to perform

When selecting which exercises to perform, again focus on the shoulders and arms. This will help to increase the tapering appearance of the body and will emphasize strength and size, even if the lower body remains smaller.
Chest Press
Perform three to five sets of chest presses per workout, remembering to push through with the pectoral muscle rather than the arms. The arms will definitely be working synergistically, but by focusing on the pec muscle, you can ensure that you target it maximally.
Squats
Squats are the king of leg exercises and should be included in every man's workout. Try to go as low to the ground as possible to really get your hamstrings and quads firing. Pause when you reach the top to ensure completion of the movement, and then lower again. Aim for five sets of these as well.

Military press
The military press is crucial for shoulder muscle development. You can include two variations, in front of the neck and behind, alternating between them with each workout. Be sure not to lock your elbows completely at the top of the movement, to avoid experiencing joint pain. Lastly, pay attention to the shape of your back, and make sure that it does not begin to sway. This is probably the biggest error men make with the military press, and it can cause severe back pain if not monitored. Three sets of these should be sufficient for your workout.
Pull-ups
Pull-ups are going to really dial in and get your back muscles looking great. Use either an overhand grip or an underhand grip; whatever is most comfortable for you. Note that the overhand grip will work the latissimus slightly more, while the underhand will call the biceps into play to a greater extent. Try to shoot for completing two to three sets with a total of eight to ten reps per set (if you can do that easily, add weight to your body).
Back hyperextensions
Lastly, finish up the workout with some back hyperextensions. This will work your hamstrings as well as your erector spinae muscles, which are important for developing a stable base to your body. The erector spinae muscles, in particular, are used in almost every moment you make throughout the day, so it is really helpful to have them in top form. One to two sets of 15 reps should show you good gains in no time (you can work in the slightly higher-rep range for this exercise).

With all the exercises listed above, also be sure to give your body enough time to fully rest in between sets. As your main goal is to lift as much weight as possible, you need to make sure not only that the muscles have recovered but also that your central nervous system (CNS) is pumped up and ready to go again as well. The CNS plays a large role in maximal strength development, giving you that extra edge to really push through your lift, so it’s a smart move to give it a little extra time if needed.

As an extra consideration, if you'd like to increase your reaction time as well as develop a better physique, perform one session a week in which you work on the speed of the lift. This entails lifting as fast as possible in the concentric portion of the exercise (contracting portion) and then moving more slowly, and with extreme control, through the eccentric portion (relaxing).

keep it simple and succeed
If you are looking to develop a physique similar to Norton’s in American History X, rather than trying to come up with a large number of specialized, isolated exercises and workout routines, focus on the basic lifts that work your entire body. These will generate the best hormonal environment to encourage muscular size and strength progress. If you combine these lifts with a proper cardio regime and diet plan, you will start to see results in no time.