Chris Pratt Workout
The Chris Pratt workout started with heavy bodybuilding, but then shifted to fat-burning cardio circuits over time. Chris Pratt said that he was tired of that “chubby sidekick” role he is always cast. The formerly homeless (lived in a Scoobie-Doo van in Hawaii) actor wanted to become a Superhero. Namely, Peter Quill, the Star-Lord in “Guardians of the Galaxy.”
To do so, Chris Pratt would need the right workout and trainer. He would have to transform from the funny-but-pudgy Andy Dwyer character we know from Parks & Recreation into a superhero. Because of his overweight physique, “Guardians” Director James Gunn had to be persuaded to let Pratt audition.
However, the director was easily won over by the audition, as he imagined just how Chris Pratt’s charm and dedication could fit the part. Still, the Chris Pratt workout was very demanding as he had to fit into the costume somehow. Plus, Pratt’s conception of what this Superhero should look like was very demanding, as well.
Chris Pratt says his workout and diet lasted 8 months. This included 5 months of working out before shooting, and 3 months while shooting.
Guardians of The Galaxy Workout
For the Guardians of The Galaxy Workout, Chris Pratt chose trainer Duffy Gaver, known for getting Chris Hemsworth ready for Thor. The Chris Pratt Guardians of the Galaxy workout started with a traditional bodybuilding approach. After 8 weeks, Pratt’s workout was adjusted into a mix of traditional bodybuilding and cardio.
In the last stage, right before filming, the focus included 3-4 hours a day of cardio, while still hitting the gym when they could.
The Chris Pratt Workout for Guardians of the Galaxy had three phases (action taken / purpose of workout):
- Bodybuilding- Bulking Up Muscles / Weight Gain
- Mix of Bodybuilding and Cardio – Lean Muscle / Weight Loss
- Max Cardio – Weight Loss / Maintaining Body Weight
Personal trainer, Marine sniper and former Navy SEAL, Duffy Gaver says his clients range in what they can do starting out. But, no matter how much they can lift, he uses the same bodybuilding template with all his clients. Taking Adam Sandler as an example of someone who got in shape, Duffy’s clients are usually amazed at what they can do in the end.
For Guardians of the Galaxy, Gaver used the following workout routine to get Chris Pratt buffed up. Once bulked, they transitioned to more cardio-focused workouts. Gaver shared this workout with Bodybuilding.com, as well as, Muscle & Fitness.
Chris Pratt Monday Back Workout
The Chris Pratt Monday Back Workout:
Chris Pratt would also start each workout with a 10 minute treadmill workout. Men’s Fitness claims he got up to 5.0 on the treadmill.
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pullups | 5 | 20/15/12/10/10 | Superset |
| Pushups | 5 | 20 each | Superset |
| Wide Grip Lat Pulldown | 4 | 12 each | |
| Hammer Strength Row | 4 | 12 each | |
| One-Arm Row | 4 | 12 each | |
| Back Hyperextensions | 4 | 25/20/15/15 | Weighted If You Can |
The 1st 2 exercises are done as a Superset. This means you pullups and pushups back-to-back. Normally, you rest a minute between exercises. For a Superset, there is no rest between the two exercises.
Chris Pratt Abs Workout
The Chris Pratt Abs Workout:
| Exercise | Sets | Time/Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Plank | 3 | 60 secs |
| Hanging Leg Raises | 3 | 12 |
| Side Plank | 3 | 60 secs |
| Toes to Bar | 3 | 12 (Go Slow) |
Talking about his mental change, Chris Pratt says:
I’ve been fat for the last 8 years. I loved eating food, drinking beer and having fun with my life. But, I got depressed a little bit when I was fat. I think there’s probably people out there who can agree, and understand what that feels like. And I tell them: Hey, if you just like bust your a$$ and get after it, all it takes is 6 months really. 6 months flys by, whether your working out everyday, or you’re not. So, if you feel compelled to try to do something about, just do it.
Chris Pratt Tuesday Chest Workout
The Chris Pratt Tuesday Chest Workout:
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bench Press | 4 | 12-10-8-6 | Go Up In Weight Each Set, With A Spotter |
| Bench Press | 4 | 4 | Heavy Weight |
| Incline Bench Press | 4 | 12 | |
| Hammer Strength Bench Press | 4 | 15 | |
| Weighted Dips | 4 | 10 | Superset (Make sure your elbows go 90 degrees) |
| Standing Cable Flys | 4 | 12 | Superset |
Here, the last 2 exercises are done in a Superset. This means you do a set of weighted dips, followed by a set of Standing Cable Flys. Normally, you rest a minute between exercises. For a Superset, there is no rest.
Duffy Gaver says his fitness approach isn’t hard, but it takes a three-legged approach:
My recipe for fitness isn’t complicated. Train amazing, eat amazing and sleep amazing. It’s a three-legged stool. You need to do all three to get the results you want.
Chris Pratt Wednesday Legs Workout
For the Legs Workout, you Superset the last three exercises. This means you do Leg Extensions, Leg Curls and Standing Calf Raises all at once. Rest one minute. Then, repeat this Superset.
The Chris Pratt Wednesday Legs Workout:
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Squats | 7 | 10-8-6-5-4-3-3 | |
| Deadlifts | 4 | 12-10-8-6 | |
| Leg Presses | 1 | Failure | Strip Set |
| Walking Lunge | 4 | 20 | |
| Leg Extensions | 3 | 20 | Superset |
| Leg Curls | 3 | 20 | Superset |
| Standing Calf Raise | 3 | 20 | Superset |
The Leg Press Strip Sets means that you start with as much weight as you can do just a few times. Duffy Gaver tries to get his clients to work up to 6, 45-pound weights on each side.
After those reps, immediately remove a plate from each side. Again, do as many as you can. Repeat this process until there’s just one plate left on each side.
Talking about changing from being fat in Delivery Man to getting fit for Guardians of the Galaxy, Chris Pratt talks about his diet and work ethic:
People want to know what the secret is. The secret is you can’t do it in a month. It takes 8 months, and/or a year, or a lifetime….of consistency, working out every single day, and eating properly and truly feeding yourself. Not starving, but giving yourself proper nutrition to heal. You have to burn off all the crap you put in your body. And then you have to replace it with really good food, and fuel. And it takes a long time, but really, 8 months isn’t a long time. Time is going to go by just as fast, whether you’re working out or not. So, who do you want to be in 8 months?
Chris Pratt Abs Workout
The Chris Pratt Abs Workout:
| Exercise | Sets | Time/Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Plank | 3 | 60 secs |
| Hanging Leg Raises | 3 | 12 |
| Side Plank | 3 | 60 secs |
| Toes to Bar | 3 | 12 (Go Slow) |
Duffy Gaver says that transforming your body is something you really have to want to do. The mechanics haven’t changed much over the years, though there is more temptation to go astray. Regarding sticking to a gym routine and eating a clean diet, Gaver told Muscle & Fitness there is no secret other than motivation:
Nothing’s changed. The stuff that Arnold was doing in Gold’s Gym still works. This stuff has been around forever. And it doesn’t matter what I do. They have to want it. You’re effort, intensity and discipline is a necessary thing.
Thursday Shoulders Workout
The Chris Pratt Thursday Shoulders Workout:
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Military Press | 7 | 10-8-6-5-4-3-3 | (Overhead Press) |
| Arnold Press | 4 | 12 | |
| Barbell Shrugs | 4 | 12 | |
| Lateral Raise | 3 | 12 | Superset |
| Front Raises | 3 | 12 | Superset |
| Rear Delt Flys | 3 | 12 | Superset |
The Shoulders workout includes a Superset of Lateral Raises, Front Raises, and Rear Shoulder Raises. This means you do all three exercises in-a-row before resting. For the Arnold Press, Duffy has Pratt start with his arms facing towards himself. They also did Overhead Press to measure Chris Pratt’s overall strength and gains.
Trainer Duffy Gaver talks about the Chris Pratt workout routine:
He’d lift weights four or five times a week for an hour at a time. For the first few months it was mainly traditional bodybuilding sessions to add size, targeting specific muscle groups on separate days. Towards the end we started mixing things up and adding in circuit training and P90X workouts to help get him lean.
Friday Arms Workout
The Chris Pratt Friday Arms Workout:
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barbell Curl | 3 | 10 | |
| Skull Crushers | 3 | 10 | |
| Preacher Curls | 3 | 10 | Superset A |
| French Curls | 3 | 10 | Superset A |
| Hammer Curls | 3 | 10 | Superset B |
| Triceps Rope Pressdown | 3 | 10 | Superset B |
| Wrist Curls | 3 | 20 | Superset C |
| Reverse Wrist Curls | 3 | 20 | Superset C |
The Friday Arms Workout has 3 Supersets. You do 2 exercises in a row, without rest. Then, you rest for 45-60 seconds before doing the same Superset 2 more times. Move onto the next Superset when you’re done with all 3 reps/sets.
On the hammer curls, Duffy Gaver has Chris Pratt choke up on the dumbbells. This makes the exercise a bit harder, and focuses on widening the biceps–something important for a Hollywood Superhero.
Abs Workout
Chris Pratt’s Abs Workout:
| Exercise | Sets | Time/Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Plank | 3 | 60 secs |
| Hanging Leg Raises | 3 | 12 |
| Side Plank | 3 | 60 secs |
| Toes to Bar | 3 | 12 (Go Slow) |
Even while doing the bodybuilding phase, Chris Pratt was really focused on weight loss. Having gained 60 lbs. of fat for Delivery Man, Pratt decided to do 3-4 hours of cardio a day. Pratt says his cardio workouts consisted of:
- P90X
- running
- swimming
- boxing / kickboxing
- mountain biking
- even a triathlon
Asked if he did anything outside of the gym, Duffy Gaver says:
Yeah, he was really active. He did a lot of mountain biking, running, swimming and kickboxing. Adding these kinds of sports helped to keep things varied and enjoyable.
Duffy Gaver’s assistant, Anthony Genova, would work with Chris Pratt for the cardio portion. Then, when it was time to lift weights, Duffy Gaver would take the lead. Talking about the intense approach Chris Pratt was taking, Duffy Gaver says:
I tell my clients, if you want to Look Amazing, you have got to train amazing, you have got to eat amazing and you have got to sleep amazing…So, if you want to try training and eating well, but you want to go party all night you’re in trouble. Likewise, if you want to sleep and train, but blow your diet, you’re not going to do very well.
Read on to Get the Chris Pratt Cardio & Conditioning Circuit Workouts.
How do you add the cardio circuits to the bodybuilding workout?
Focus on which is more important to you (losing weight vs. gaining muscle) and do that first. Then, follow that up with the other. Or, you can do the other one later in the day.
So, if you do cardio circuits first (pick a workout from page 2), then finish with the bodybuilding workout the 1st page.
thanks chris i also enjoy more the cardio finishers than normal cardio so sometimes i do finishers or sometimes i do HIIT on the bike :D i add this finishers to my workout what is your opinion i was doing the Joe Manganiello magic mike workout:
1-Burpee Ladder for Chest and Back day
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1-
2-Farmers Carries variations for Legs and Triceps day: sometimes normal carries or Rack Carries
200yds
3-this is like a crossfit WOD for Shoulders and Biceps day:
3 Pull Ups
5 Push Ups
7 Air Squats
As Many Round As You Can for 10 minutes
That's great to see you're incorporating parts of different workouts (Gerard Butler/Magic Mike/Superman) to come up with a plan you like. The only danger is coming up with a plan that's easier than the intended workout. But, I don't see that here. So, keep it up, it looks good!
What about the nutrition, what did he eat during this time. And awesome movie!!!!
Hi,
You can find out about Chris Pratt’s nutrition by looking up the Chris Pratt Diet. Yea, the Guardians of the Galaxy movie was awesome!
What do you mean Chris Pratt was told to “choke up” when doing curls? I am unfamiliar with this phrase.
Normally, we’re taught to always hold the weight in the dead center. But, this isn’t always true. I’ve noticed that celebrity trainers are always looking to change the angle of the exercise. When doing hammer curls, “choking up” means moving your hand as far up as you can. So, you’re essentially rubbing your hand next to the edge of the weight. Doing so changes the angle. The result is more of your secondary biceps muscles become involved. By choking up, and changing angles, working more muscle groups allows for bigger muscles.
Another way to the angle would be to use an incline bench, instead of a normal bench. When I do DB Rows, I often do them on an incline bench. I notice this works the inner part of my lats. As a result, you get a more well-defined V-shape. Gunnar Peterson’s book, The Workout, has a ton of variations you can also try!
Very interesting training he got but there is no way he could do this from the beginning. This is very high intensity training. It would be more helpful to write it for “gym starters” who are mainly focusing on weight loss. Also I dont know how about you guys but I dont have enough time to be 5+ times per week in a gym :D Moreover there is something called “rest” and it is also very important. There is no need to visit gym every day in a week even if you have a time to do that
Thank you for this article on the workout routine of Chris Pratt. I really do appreciate your posting this article.
I love to do a Chris Pratt workout. This will definitely make my avenger body.