Daniel Craig’s workout for the James Bond movies “Quantum of Solace” and “Casino Royale” are still two of the the most searched for celebrity workouts on the web. Why? Because Daniel Craig moves like a trained killer while still looking amazing in a tuxedo (and lets be honest, everyone remembers the beach scene from “Casino Royale.”) (Its ironic then that when Craig was first offered the role of Bond – literally EVERYONE thought he would be a failure…) If you want to know Daniel Craig’s workout and diet – then keep reading!
Daniel Craig Quantum of Solace Workout – The Back Story
Before Daniel Craig came along, it was normal for the actors who played James Bond to rely on stunt doubles. In 2002 – action movies changed for good when Matt Damon did most of his own stunts as Jason Bourne in “The Bourne Identity.” 2002′s “Die Another Day” was the last appearance Pierce Brosnan made as James Bond.
Enter the Daniel Craig James Bond era. Now actors like Craig spend 12 weeks pre-production getting into shape – not just to look the part (in Daniel Craig’s case the look they were going for was the versatile athletic look that a trained fighter would have – not a pretty boy body builder look) but also the strength and endurance to withstand day after day of fight training and stunt work. Once filming begins, actors can expect to spend entire days repeating complicated action scenes over and over while the director works to capture all the right angles. If an actor isn’t in top shape, he or she cannot repeat difficult stunts over and over at top speed.
Lesson learned – if you aren’t in shape – you can end up looking like these guys :
Daniel Craig Workout
Daniel Craig worked with trainer Simon Waterson to get a lean and fit look. Waterson had Craig working out five days per week. Mondays and Fridays focused on metabolic resistance training (fast paced circuits) while Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays focused on more traditional body part splits.
Here is how the week broke down -
Monday (Metabolic Resistance Training):
Do 10 reps per exercise, and entire circuit 3 times through with minimal rest. You will want to use weights that are heavy enough to be challenging when moving quickly – but not as heavy as you might lift regularly.
Clean and Press
Knee raise (seated or hanging)
Weighted steps ups
Pullup
If you can only do one chinup, try band assisted chinups or negative chinups.
Incline push up
Triceps dips
Most people will benefit from adding a couple sessions of metabolic resistance training to their weekly workouts. On average, most people really don’t enjoy doing traditional, boring cardio. Avoiding cardio can prevent you from getting as lean as you need to be for the look you want. Doing fast paced metabolic circuits is a great fat burning, muscle building alternative.
Doing metabolic resistance training (or cardio weight circuits as they are sometimes called) is one of the most important fat burning/muscle sculpting methods out there – especially if you are busy and short on time. To learn more, click through to this post where I explain exactly what to do.
Tuesday (Chest and Back):
Do 10 reps per exercise, and entire circuit 4 times through.
Incline bench
Pullup
Incline pushup
Incline pec flys
Keep in mind that this so called “chest/back workout” primarily works the upper chest. This is just not a balanced workout. Here’s how to make it better -
Add in some flat or even decline (for lower pecs) bench press and flys. Doing incline chest work is great – just not for every chest workout. One option is to do both incline and flat bench press int he same workout – do the heaviest weight for flat bench, and then go lighter for incline bench. Another option is to do flat bench one workout, and incline bench the next.
Don’t ignore the back and other stabilizing muscles. This is just going to give you caveman like posture and set you up for a rotator cuff injury. Doing pullups alone is not going to do the trick (especially since they primarily work the lats – a good exercise, just not all you need to completely work your back.) Add in regular flat pushups to stabolize your shoulder blades and strengthen your serratus anterior. Also add in a rowing exercise of some kind. Standing cable rows, face pulls, or bent over dumbbell rows would work really well.
Wednesday (Legs):
Do 10 reps per exercise, and entire circuit 4 times through.
Squat
Romanian deadlift or Hamstring curl
Lunge
Note – some celebrities are deliberately avoiding leg training to make their upper bodies look proportionately bigger. This is not the case for Daniel Craig. The infamous speedo scene shows a good amount (but not too much) lower body development. Working your lower body is key for this look.
Another good exercise to add in – single leg squat:
Another good option to consider (alternating with squats) -
Deadlift
Thursday (Shoulders and Arms):
Do 10 reps per exercise, and entire circuit 4 times through.
Incline bicep curls
Triceps dips
Lateral raise
Shoulder press
Another good exercise to add would be chin ups. Chin ups are one of the best shoulder/back exercises and they also really work your abs.
Friday (Metabolic Resistance Training – repeat Monday)
Sat/Sun – rest and recover.
Daniel Craig Cowboys and Aliens – An Inside Look
Daniel Craig Diet
In order to get in shape to play James Bond, Daniel Craig gave up smoking, severely cut alcohol consumption, and ate 5-6 small meals per day. Like a lot of people, Craig avoided carbs (especially later in the day) and instead ate higher protein meals that included fruits and vegetables.
A lot of people have luck losing fat and building muscle by following a lower (not zero) carb diet. Switching out carbs (bread, potatoes, pasta, and most junk foods/drinks) for lean proteins is one of the easiest ways to reduce your daily calorie intake without having to think too hard about your diet. Lean proteins also tend to keep you feeling full longer and require more energy for digestion. When following a fat loss/muscle gaining diet, many people restrict carb intake to breakfast and post workout only.
(If you are skinny and looking to gain size, do not follow this advice because you need to bulk up more. Aim to eat a serving (not a whole plate) of healthy carbs with each meal. Options to consider include whole oats, sprouted grain bread, brown rice, and white/sweet potatoes, yams, and squash.)
Is eating multiple small meals the key to burning more fat and building muscle? Not exactly. If you need to lose fat – eating lots of small meals is a good way to avoid overeating in that you always have a meal to look forward to. This prevents you from getting hungry and desperate – when binges tend to happen. If you don’t find yourself too obsessed with food, or you don’t have the time or desire to prepare lots of little meals – then don’t. All that really matters is how many calories you eat per day, not when you eat them.
Eating multiple small meals is a great way to build muscle simply because most guys don’t eat enough food when trying to gain muscle. Not everyone can sit down and devour chicken breast after chicken breast in one sitting. Breaking your meals down into smaller regular portion (or if you really want to accelerate your gains – try some of the tips and tricks Tom Venuto suggests in his recent book Holy Grail. Lots of good suggestions for gaining muscle while still burning fat.)
On the other hand, if you struggle with preparing lots of food ahead of time, hate eating small meals, and get sick of “rules’ based systems quickly – then I would check out an intermittent fasting program like Brad Pilon’s Eat Stop Eat (see my post on Brad’s program here.)
Here’s a recent picture of Brad (currently at 174lbs, 5ft 10in, and about 11% body fat) at maintenance (meaning, not trying to be super lean) -
This is the result Brad gets from following his own simple system for the past 5 years.
Brad is also co-author of Adonis Index (which I also mention periodically on this blog…) Pictured above is Adonis Index Winner David Donoghue – click through to learn more about why you want to get lean FIRST, then build muscle.
Check out Adonis Index for the full method, but essentially this system works well for building muscle while staying lean because larger meals (with 20-30g high quality proteins) actually stimulate increased protein synthesis (especially when combined with whey protein and amino acid supplements – specifically EAA, BCAA, and leucine) while periods of fasting (specifically before training) also help to get you leaner. Its a win win set up as you can get the results you want without having to eat weird food or carry around a giant cooler full of food.
Thanks for stopping by! You might also enjoy previous posts on Chris Hemsworth’s workout for Thor, and Chris Evans Workout for Captain America. On your way out, also be sure to check out Visual Impact, Holy Grail, or Adonis Index!
