Vin Diesel is one of the biggest Hollywood action stars in history. But, his success isn’t a fluke. He worked hard at it. What does he do to maintain his physical presence? Read on for the Vin Diesel Workout.

Over the course of history, only a select few guys come along that are destined to be great action movie heroes. Guys like John Wayne, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Dwayne Johnson all come to mind. Also on this exclusive list belongs the name of Vin Diesel.

Diesel has it all: The voice, demeanor, and skill. But, more than anything else, he has the body. Vin Diesel is one of Hollywood’s most chiseled men. This didn’t come without its share of hard work, determination, and dedication. He has been dedicated to healthy living and a steady supply of exercise. But that doesn’t mean he has all the answers.

Over the last few years, the man that has brought us The Fast and Furious saga, xXx and Riddick has transformed. With changes to both his diet and workout plan, Vin Diesel is ready to reach new heights.

The question is: How did he do it? 

We explain it all right here and right now!

Vin Diesel Diet Examined 

Unlike his acting career, where he has almost never stepped out of the role of the action hero, Diesel’s diet has been adapted and transformed. As he’s aged and learned, Diesel was able to transform from a protein fiend to someone who carefully architects a simple diet plan to meet his needs.

Diesel has become very conscious of his need for healthy eating.

He believes it is important not only because he wants to look good in the movies, but also because it keeps him feeling good. If eating healthy is what it takes to work 20 hours a day jumping out of cars, sign me up.

One of the big changes in the life of Vin Diesel is his new all-natural lifestyle. By giving up processed foods in favor of natural options, Vin believes he will be able to look better, feel better and most importantly perform better.

Diesel has learned to incorporate healthy carbs and lean protein more intricately into his diet.

With that being said, it should be noted that Diesel has taken a step back from his bodybuilder mentality. No longer does he take the approach of eating everything to help add mass. Rather than focusing on bulking, he has taken the approach of maintaining his current mass but eliminating fat. This will allow the already intimidating 6-foot 225-pound action hero to trade some his brute strength for speed, agility, and quickness.

What follows is the all-natural diet plan used by Vin Diesel to shed any excess fat and become shredded for his upcoming box office hit.

For breakfast, he had two distinct options. He would eat either porridge, raisins, apple, chia seeds and cranberries or he’d opt for rye bread, banana and almond butter.

He also had two different options for lunch. They were tuna and chopped veggies or turkey breast, brown rice, sweet potato and green beans.

For dinner, he consumed either chicken breasts with bell pepper, brown rice, asparagus, and mango or salmon with broccoli, quinoa, and mixed salad.

Keep in mind that while what we listed is very typical of what Vin Diesel would eat on any given day, especially nutritional value wise, they are just samples. Vin would also eat a variety of other things that are not on this list. One example would be beef. Though not on the list, Vin often used beef as a primary source of protein in his diet.

Further, this is broken down simply into three square meals. However, this would be atypical for Diesel who almost always would enjoy four or five smaller meals, along with his supplements each day.

This Is The Vin Diesel Workout 

At 49 years of age, Vin Diesel is not as spry as he was in his younger years. This means over the course of his career he was forced to reinvent himself and the way he approached the gym. This doesn’t mean that he is no longer going for personal records. It simply means he is working smarter.

In the early days of his career, Diesel was all about mass.

He wanted to get as big and as strong as he could. But now, his role doesn’t necessarily call for that. Though he still needs to maintain a healthy build, Diesel has taken an approach to become more limber and pliable. This helps keep his muscles healthy and allows him to continue doing his own stunts.

However, this means less heavy lifting and more stretching. Believe it or not, Diesel has cut it down to three lifts a week. The days he is not lifting, he dedicates to yoga and Pilates.

In recent years, Diesel has also taken more steps to becoming lean and chiseled, rather than just massive. To do this, he first had to focus on his diet, which we have just detailed. Next, he had to dedicate himself to the dreaded treadmill.

Vin used heavy cardio to melt the fat right off his body.

So, when does Vin find his way to the gym, and what does he do?

What follows is the workout that Vin Diesel uses to maintain his status as an action movie superstar. Be advised that this workout is subject to change. Vin Diesel is a big believer in shocking his muscle groups. That means sometimes he will add or change exercises in order to keep his muscles off balance and train them in a new way.

Day 1 Is For Chest, Shoulders, And Triceps

It’s fairly obvious that Vin Diesel’s moneymaker is his upper body. That means his upper body needs and deserves a bit of extra focus. As you can tell from what follows, Diesel believes heavily in two things. First, he always sticks to a 4×8 strategy. This means he will do eight reps of each exercise for four different sets.

Next, he also utilizes supersets. Of course, a superset is when you do two separate exercises, without any rest in between exercises.

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Notes
Bench Press	4	8	Superset #1
Decline Bench Press	4	8	Superset #1
Dumbbell Flye	4	8	Superset #2
Pushup	4	8	Superset #2
Overhead Triceps Extension	4	8	Superset #3
Skullcrusher	4	8	Superset #3
Dumbbell Kickback	4	8	Superset #4
Triceps Dip	4	8	Superset #4
Shoulder Press	4	8	Superset #5
Lateral Raise	4	8	Superset #5
Deadlift	4	8	Superset #6
Shoulder Shrug	4	8	Superset #6

 

As you can tell this is a very heavy day, but then again that’s why they call him Vin Diesel, and not Vin Scrawny.

Day 2 Is For Shoulders And Back

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Notes
Shoulder Press (Dumbbell)	4	8	Superset #1
Side Lateral Raise	4	8	Superset #1
Lateral Pulldown	4	8	Superset #2
Row (Barbell)	4	8	Superset #2
Romanian Deadlift	4	8	Superset #3
Dumbbell Shrug	4	8	Superset #3

 

This is obviously a much lighter workout than Day 1, but that does not mean it isn’t as tough. Vin is ensuring that his trap muscles remain the best in the business by punishing his shoulders. We are sure that you will agree it is clearly working.

Day 3 Is For Legs

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Notes
Squat	4	8	Superset #1
Standing Calf Raise	4	8	Superset #1
Sumo Squat	4	8	Superset #2
Lunge	4	8	Superset #2
Front Squat	4	8	Superset #3
Clean and Snatch	4	8	Superset #3

 

Nothing gets you ready to film a box office blockbuster quite like a day filled with squats. Vin Diesel understands the importance of building a solid base and that means attacking the legs hard and often. To jump building to building or lift cars like Vin seems to be doing in every film, you need courage and strong legs.

Thankfully Vin has both in spades.

He Also Trains In Jiu-Jitsu.

For his starring role in Furious 7, Vin Diesel made one huge change to his typical workout routine.

What was it?

Simple, he added Jiu-Jitsu.

Though he’s never had trouble with throwing on-screen adversaries around like rag dolls, Diesel decided to step up his hand-to-hand combat for Furious 7.

Jiu-Jitsu is a great supplement to Diesel’s already extensive exercise regimen.

Martial arts benefit him in a number of different ways. First off, it acts as a great cardiovascular exercise. Jiu-Jitsu involves nearly constant movement and keeps the blood pumping. Also, this new program is great for the aging actor to stay limber and flexible. Because of its use of the whole body, Jiu-Jitsu likely allows Vin to move in ways he hasn’t been able to in years, if ever.

Needless to say, Jiu-Jitsu also holds a special place in the heart of Vin Diesel.

After all, his friend and Furious co-star, , was widely known for his use of this specific form of martial art. After his passing, Diesel decided to honor his fallen friend by picking up where Walker left off.

This heartfelt gesture was made more touching by the fact that Diesel decided to use the same instructor who trained Walker. Diesel felt that this would help not only himself but the movie as well. Walker’s former trainer was the only person Diesel believed would be as invested in the training as he was.

Conclusion

Vin Diesel did something that very few people are able to do. Though he sits at the top of the mountain in the world of action movies, he was able to look at himself and say that there were a few things that could be improved upon. Not only was he able to do this, he then had the will power to get up and make a change.

On the quest to getting healthy, most people don’t lose because they can’t do something. Most people lose because they do not have the will power to tell themselves they can. Vin Diesel is a freak in the kindest, most sincere sense of the word.

At nearly half-a-century old, Vin is in arguably in the best shape of his life.

Of course, it all starts with eating right. By giving your body the supplies it needs to be successful, nearly half the battle is already won. Vin believes that a healthy body means a healthy mind, so his mind must be up there with the best of them. Between cutting out all the processed foods and going natural, to building a plan that will help him achieve his goals, he clearly found a way to use food to make him feel (and look) as good as he ever has.

Vin has also been able to adapt his workout schedule to one that is much more fitting and productive.

Rather than trying to lift like a bodybuilder, Diesel has learned how to target specific muscles and increase functionality.

Instead of his previous five or six day a week lifting regimen, Diesel cut back to three, while introducing a variety of new techniques. Sure, big muscles look great, but if they are overworked or stiff they are useless.

Because of this, Vin has incorporated yoga, Pilates, and Jiu-Jitsu into his regimen to stay limber, flexible and agile.

When looking at this routine there is one thing that must be known. Though this may be a perfect workout and diet plan for Vin, health is not very often one size fits all. In other words, you can certainly use this plan as a starting point, but build off it based on your personal needs, wants and desires. After all, there is only one Vin Diesel in the world, just like there is only one you.

By Michael Hersey