Here’s how stars like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, Tom Hardy, and Hugh Jackman got their body transformations done.

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It’s a challenge as old as the movies themselves: Hitting the gym to bulk up, add muscle, and get ridiculously shredded for a film role. Stars have pulled off incredible body transformations and Hollywood bulk-ups over the years.

Some Hollywood icons—like Will Smith, Robert De Niro, Brad Pitt, and Bradley Cooper—transformed from leading-man lean to Muscle Beach-built to portray muscular, imposing characters. Other guys—like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, and Dolph Lundgren—added even more beef to their already-muscular frames, pushing themselves to the limits of human muscularity.

Some stars had the help of trainers to get them over the top. Trainer or no trainer, it meant getting into the gym and lifting some heavy stuff. No matter how they did it, these stars all impressively muscled up for their roles.

At One Body One Life / Holistic Fitness we have had the pleasure of training with some incredible male lead actors including Brad Pitt, Gerard Buttler, Ethan Hawke, Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Pierce Brosnan, Michaell C Hall and Nathan Fillion.

Brad Pitt in Troy

Brad Pitt was one of Hollywood’s biggest heartthrobs when he landed the role of Achilles in Troy in 2004, and soon after he became one of Hollywood’s fittest dudes. Pitt linked up with trainer Gregory Joujon-Roche and added pounds of muscle to his frame, using intense weightlifting, circuit training, and upper-body workouts. Joujon-Roche detailed some of those workouts on YouTube in these videos.

Our team on the film Troy included holistic chef and lots of meal planning.

What He Did: Hard training and diet got Pitt down to 155 pounds and six percent body fat.

Why He Did It: Pitt needed a fighter’s physique to play the nihilistic Tyler Durden in Fight Club (1999).

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What He Ate: A high-protein diet consisting of six small meals got Pitt lean and strong. He relied heavily on eggs, tuna, chicken, fish, oatmeal, and vegetables.

His Workout: On Mondays, Pitt trained chest and back. Wednesday was shoulders, Thursday was arms, Friday was cardio, and Pitt took the weekends off. Pitt also took lessons in grappling, Tae Kwon Do, and boxing to help his fight scenes look more realistic.

Plus: Pitt had his dentist remove chips from his front teeth to aid in his looking like a seasoned brawler.

Pitt says: “I’m one of those people you hate because of genetics. It is the truth.”