Kick-Ass 2 recently hit theaters. Whether the movie will be good or not, I don’t know – I’m not a film critic.
I mean, the first Kick-Ass was funny, and I did get a laugh out of it.
Kick-Ass 2 looks to be the same, but what you’re probably more interested in knowing is what Aaron Taylor Johnson’s workout was.
Check out Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s physique transformation for Kick-Ass 2:
I can’t find any before pics, but the dude went from geek to jacked.
The Hollywood standard for what’s considered to be a bad-ass body has always been Brad Pitt’s Body In Fight Club.
Personally, I think Aaron Taylor-Johnson will be the new standard for what’s considered a great Hollywood physique.
He really does give Brad Pitt a run for his money.
Now that we got that out of the way… I’m going to analyze his physique and tell you all about Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Kick-Ass 2 Workout.
Table of Contents
- Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Workout:
- Now, for the the actual workout:
- Example Chest Workouts:
- Example Back Workout:
- Example Shoulder & Traps Workout:
- Arms:
- Abs:
Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Workout:
- Aaron’s most impressive feature is his leanness. He’s got veins running through his abs!
- Aaron has added a good amount of width, he was likely doing a lot of shoulder and back work.
Being wide up top and tapering down to a lean waist is the key to getting the V shaped physique that women love.
- In the second picture you can tell he’s been hitting his chest hard, adding to the “V” effect.
- Last, but not least he’s got some great arms on him too.
So what do you need to do if you want to look like Aaron Taylor-Johnson?
If I were to sit down with Aaron and ask him what exactly is the Kick-Ass 2 Workout routine he followed, I bet it’d go something like this:
Aaron’s a naturally slim guy. He’s what we call a hard gainer.
The main benefit of being naturally slim is that as long as you’re working out intensely you’re likely to stay lean.
However, remember that vein I mentioned running through his abs?
Even if you’re a hard gainer, you’re not born with ab veins.
No doubt Aaron’s trainer had him eating a ton of food every day, but still didn’t allow him to pig out on junk food.
I’m willing to bet he was eating in excess of 3,00 calories a day of mostly clean meals – chicken breast, turkey, lean beef, steak, eggs, etc.
If you’re not a naturally skinny dude.
If you’re a naturally big guy – like me, this type of physique is going to call for a different approach.
- You’re going to need to taper the calories way back.
I’d suggest a much higher protein intake than usual, low carbs, and low to moderate fat intake.
- There will be infinitely less wiggle room for cheating on your diet.
Like, none…
- Cardio is going to be a must.
someone like Aaron Taylor-Johnson can usually skip out on cardio because their bodies stay naturally lean.
Now, for the the actual workout:
- For Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s workout, leg’s really aren’t a focus point.
I wouldn’t neglect them completely, but building the pretty muscles, is much more important.
- Chest 2x / Week.
- Chest Day 1: Follow a standard chest workout – 4-5 chest exercises, 3-4 sets per exercise, and 8-10 reps for each set.
- Chest Day 2: Work backwards, pre-exhaust your secondary muscles so it is easier to focus on the chest.
I would also increase the reps a bit more on the Chest Day 2. Aiming for 12 reps and even as high as 15 reps.
I’ve been doing this lately and it has been working wonders.
I have a bad habit of overpowering my chest with my shoulders and triceps during my chest exercises.
Pre-exhausting my muscles has really improved my chest.
Example Chest Workouts:
Kick-Ass 2 Workout – Chest Day #1:
- Flat Barbell Bench Press – 4 sets of 8-10
- Incline Barbell Bench Press – 4 sets of 8-10
- Cable Crossovers – 3 sets of 10
- Dips (Chest Variation) – 3 sets of 10
Kick-ass 2 Workout – Chest Day #2:
- Lying cable flies – 4 sets of 12-15
- Neutral Grip Flat Dumbbell Bench Press – 4 sets of 10-12
- Guillotine Press Smith Machine – 4 sets of 10-12
- Incline Dumbbell Bench Press – 3 sets of 10
- Dips (Chest Variation) – 2 sets of 15
I’d include a lot of pull-ups in my back workout.
In my opinion, nothing adds width to a physique like pull-ups.
Example Back Workout:
Kick-Ass 2 Workout – Back Day:
- Pull-ups – 6 sets of 8-12.
- Bent-over barbell rows (Reverse grip) – 4 sets of 12
- Seated-row (Close grip/v-bar) – 4 sets of 12
- Pull-downs (Reverse grip) – 2 sets of 15-20
- Dumbbell Row – 2 sets of 12-15
Example Shoulder & Traps Workout:
Kick-Ass 2 Workout – Shoulders/Traps Day:
- Barbell Military Press – 4 sets of 8-10
- Front dumbbell raises – 3 sets of 12-15
- Dumbbell Lying Rear Lateral Raise – 3 sets of 12-15
- Dumbbell Shrugs – 4 sets of 10-12
- Upright Rows – 3 sets of 12-
Arms:
One of the things I do for arms that sparks a lot of growth is use a lot of cables.
In my experience the constant tension that cable curls keep on my biceps gives better results than dumbbell curls.
Aaron has some decent triceps too, so for triceps I’d hit a lot of isolation work like push-downs, kick-backs, triceps extensions. However, if you want big triceps you need to be doing close-grip bench presses!
Abs:
Hit abs 2-3 times a week with basic ab exercises. T
he good thing about Aaron’s abs are that they are not big and bulky. They’re sleek and lean.
So basic ab work will do the trick. Leg raises, crunches, etc.
Steer clear of too many weighted ab exercises.
There it is guys, the Aaron-Taylor Johnson workout for his upcoming movie Kick-Ass 2.
… and If you haven’t watched the trailer yet, check it out below:
