Next up in the Endgame Training Series is the Mad Titan himself, Thanos. Played by none other than the severely underrated Josh Brolin. Brolin actually didn’t have to get in shape to play Thanos. If we’re being all technical. He actually got in shape to star opposite the always in shape Ryan Reynolds in the second installment of the Deadpool franchise. In this article we’ll take a look at Josh Brolin’s training history and what it took to get in shape for the role of Cable.
Before The Infinity War (And The Time Travel)
Josh Brolin isn’t necessarily one of those actors known for his fitness levels. The most notable his physique seems to have been before that is in the American remake of the modern Korean classic - Oldboy. In that film he goes through sort of a training montage where he teaches himself some combat techniques and does come basic calisthenics strength and conditioning.
He was fairly jacked and definitely exuded the power necessary to sell the action that would come later in the film. However, it doesn’t seem that he really kept up with that. He’s rather one of those method actors who yo-yo’s between the physique or body type needed for a given role. Some actors have their preferred sport or physical hobby to stay in shape and only get bigger or leaner for certain roles (think Jared Leto, Mark Wahlberg, Matthew McConaughey). Others would rather forego any commitment to physicality altogether between roles. Brolin seems to be the latter. That being said, there’s not really much training history to go over for him. So we’ll move along to the role and how that determined his training. Nathan “Cable” Summers - Cyclops’ Son Who’s Way Cooler Than Him
Cable is actually one of my favorite X-Men characters so I’ll try not to nerd out too hard here. His archetype is actually closer to Wolverine - a grizzled anti-hero that’s a veteran of the war we call life - than his father Cyclops - a complete asshole. Acting-wise it’s not really unexpected that Brolin was cast in the role. But physically, he literally falls short. He was never really known for his athleticism or physique and he’s nowhere near as tall as Cable is usually portrayed.
Whatever timeline comic fans see Cable in, he’s usually much taller, well over 6 feet. And completely jacked. This is why many people expected a Stephen Lang, Dolph Lundgren, or at the very least, a Brad Pitt. Instead we got Brolin. Who did not disappoint. Closing in on 50 years of age it seems he spared no expense when preparing for this role. While I’ve yet to see any mention of stunt work (I don’t blame him) he at least took a bodybuilding approach to preparing and did something in the realm of a recomp. This means he dialed in his nutrition and worked with his trainer to tailor his physique into what we saw in the film. Hence, there doesn’t seem to be a major focus on strength gains. Anything of the sort would have been due faded muscle memory and beginner gains, if we take consider that he hasn’t seriously trained since Oldboy. He may not have even done anything serious for Sicario. This is similar to Zac Efron, who trained enough to stay in shape (ottermode) but got completely jacked once he started eating big and lifting heavy for real. If you’re in the same shoes as Brolin, I suggest you eat accordingly. This means calculating your maintenance calories, eating at reasonable/moderately aggressive caloric deficit, and eating enough protein. This, coupled with enough training density, can drastically improve your overall physique and aesthetics. Usually when people talk of recomps, the matter of training density is solved through intensity. Intensity is the load used in training. When lifters think of intensity they are usually thinking strength and power style training. For most people this is programs like Wendler’s, Stronglifts, Olympic Lifting (that’s a little more broad). Density is the work you do within a given time frame, or the amount of sets times the amount of reps. This is anything from GVT, to barbell complexes, to 100s training. This will be expounded upon further in a later article. For now I just wanted to put some things into layman’s terms. In this program template, we will handle density with a time tested method, Vince Gironda’s 8x8 training. The concept is simple, really. Perform 8 sets of 8 reps of a movement with adequate but reasonable resistance. For the sake of not overcomplicating things, we’ll go with a weight that falls between your 8-12 rep max. Vince Gironda - The Man, The Myth, The Legend. In bodybuilding, it doesn’t get anymore classic than this. Go further than this giant of a coach and his contemporaries and you’re delving into the part of history I specialize in - Physical Culture. Gironda helped to make that Grecian Ideal that Eugen Sandow emphasized so much. And 8x8 training might just be the maxim of his philosophies. He designed this, in short, get people fairly jacked fairly quickly. It wasn’t designed for strength in the slightest. Keep that in mind if you decide to put this template to the test. This training template will be utilizing stackable resistance bands as the implement. I could’ve designed this with any implement but this being inspired by Josh Brolin prompted me to use stackable resistance bands for a few reasons. The first reason, people are becoming more and more aware of athletic stackable resistance bands and how variable resistance works. One of the main consumer demographics that has pushed this trend has been middle-aged men. Guys in their late 30s - early 50s that are starting or adding to their home gyms. Another factor was that Brolin seemed to use mainly dumbbells and machines/cables in the gym videos he’s posted. That, coupled with the fact that he was doing drop sets and high rep training, made resistance bands almost ideal for this program. Variable resistance is perfect for high rep programs and things like drop sets and pyramid sets because you can perform these methods without frequently swapping out the bands. You just get closer to the anchor point. And lastly, you can accurately mimic machines with a stackable resistance set up. This makes things like cable curls or flyes a lot more accessible at home. That being said, let’s get into the program. This is a 3 day full body program to be run like any other that I’ve outlined here. Full Body “A” has stackable resistance bands as the main implement. Full Body “B” has calisthenics as the main implement, where you would stackable resistance if you’re going higher than 8 reps, as well as for isolation and accessory lifts. You can run it A/Rest/B/Rest/A and so on, or you could just choose which implement you like more. Make sure you’re getting rest between each training day, and keep the cardio (if you’re into that) low intensity. You can do anything from a mobility circuit to a mile walk. Unless you’re actually one of those middle-aged guys that are still somewhat of a freak athlete and can recover (I know you’re out there), I advise against anything like HIIT. Josh Brolin - Thanos/Cable Inspired 8x8 Full Body Template
Full Body A - RB Focus
Full Body B - Calisthenics Focus
Conclusion
Josh Brolin is a severely underrated actor and his commitment to preparing for the role of Cable just proves that even more. At 48-49 closing in on 50 years old he did not have to go as hard as he did to become Cable, but he did, and was one of the best parts of the movie. Who knows, all of this training to build what turned out to be a pretty powerful physique may have just helped him to get in character for Thanos in some way. Either way, I hope he keeps it up and we get to see him return as Cable in the near future. We already know he’ll return with his CGI enhanced physique this year to probably get wrecked by the Avengers somehow. In the meantime, you can try out this template and see how you stack up against the Mad Titan and his training style. Feel free to share and don’t forget to subscribe.
Stay Prymal, King Kalos
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Shredded ShamanLifelong athlete and martial artist. I'm on a mission to bring back the good old days of Physical Culture and make this fit lifestyle a lot more enjoyable. Archives
October 2022
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