Ryan Kwanten Workout True Blood

Ryan Kwanten is known primarily for two things – playing Jason Stackhouse on HBO’s True Blood and for being extremely lean, fit and athletic. In fact, True Blood has probably the fittest group of actors on television. Since it seems everyone ends up shirtless or near naked on the show – this makes perfect sense. Last year we profiled Anna Paquin’s workout and diet routine as Sookie Stackhouse, and this year I thought it would be fun to profile more of the series’ actors (here’s our latest post on Joe Manganiello’s workout, and here you can find Stephen Moyer’s workout.) So, if you want to know more about Ryan Kwanten’s workout and diet – then keep reading!

Ryan Kwanten Workout

“I’m not one of those actors who gets physically fit for a role and then loses it all again.”

Unlike a lot of Hollywood actors, Ryan is naturally athletic and stays in shape year round – not just when he is filming. In fact, Kwanten is still a competitive triathelete (although these days its more recreational and for the thrill of competation) and also enjoys skiing, surfing, tennis, golf – AND – as a teen he was the state (Australia) welterweight boxing champ.

“Kwanten works out every day, sometimes for 2 1/2 hours at a time, year-round. It’s a strenuous regimen that Kwanten fills with a combination of running, biking, shadowboxing, vinyasa yoga, and other forms of intense cardio…I’m very rarely in the gym,” he says. “My workouts are predominantly outside, in nature.” When short on time Kwanten does short, intense bodyweight workouts.

How to Workout to Get a Body Like Ryan Kwanten

Before you start any celebrity inspired workout plan, its important to know one thing – getting a lean look like Ryan Kwanten will probably require more work than maintaining the same look. While Ryan can look the way he does by watching his diet and doing the sports he enjoys, if you are totally out of shape you will have to commit to regular workouts in order to see significant results. This doesn’t mean that you need to commit to 2.5 hr daily workout either. If you work out smart – your daily workouts (Monday through Friday only) should stay under 40 minutes.

Unlike Ryan (who focuses primarily on bodyweight-only training these days) – most beginners will see the best and fastest results by doing Metabolic Resistance style training with free weights. Bodyweight only workouts require extreme intensity, mobility, in order to effectively burn fat and build muscle. If you are not already in pretty good shape, you will not be able to get an intense enough workout to see results while at the same time putting yourself at risk for shoulder, low back, and knee injuries.

What is Metabolic resistance training?

Metabolic resistance training is simply fast paced circuit workouts (using bodyweight, free weight, kettlebells, trx, etc – its up to you) where you go quickly from exercise to exercise with limited rest in-between. This style of workout out is great for building muscles and burning lots of calories (ie- FAT.)

What about cardio?

If you are a total beginner, I recommend just doing the workouts above 3-4 times per week for a couple weeks. Beginners will want to do 20-30minutes of traditional steady state cardio (think bike, elliptical machine, stair climber – just avoid anything high impact) for the first couple weeks. This is just to add in some extra fat burning while your body adjusts to regular workouts.

Everyone else will want to add in additional cardio workouts on alternate days (Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday.) What kind of cardio? For maximum fat burning in minimal time, I recommend doing interval style cardio.

Because metabolic resistance training AND interval cardio are crucial to really getting lean on minimal time – I put together a comprehensive post on how to do these kinds of workouts here.

Bodyweight Cardio for Fat Loss

If you are in pretty good shape (like Ryan Kwanten) – you can instead turn to bodyweight cardio workouts which are great way to burn lots of calories without being stuck in a gym.

Here is a favorite starter bodyweight cardio routine from Craig Ballantyne-

The “Crazy 8″ Body Weight Cardio Circuit:
1) 60 Jumping Jacks
2) Spiderman Pushups 10-15
3) Walking Lunges 10-15 for each leg
4) Spiderman Climbs 20 total
5) Squat Hold on Wall 45 seconds
6) Plank Hold for 60 seconds
7) Burpees
Running High Knees in Place 25 per side

Rest One Minute and then do it 2 more times