For the past several decades, action movie star Vin Diesel has been one of the most famous and recognizable actors in the business. Whether it’s the Riddick trilogy or the latest “Fast And The Furious” sequel, he never fails to impress audiences with his gritty personality and intimidating physique. At 49 years of age, he shows no sign of slowing down and doesn’t seem to look his age at all.
Those who wish to duplicate Vin Diesel’s methods are in luck because he has not been secretive about those methods. He has published his workout routine and his dietary plan, so let’s take a quick look and see what kinds of surprises we might find therein.
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The Vin Diesel Workout Plan:
First, let’s take a look at the Vin Diesel workout plan itself. If you want to follow the same routine that he does, this section will be your guide.
First Day: Shoulders, Triceps, and chest
This first routine consists of 6 supersets, performed in this order:
- Normal bench press / Decline bench press
- Chest flys / Push-ups
- Dumbbell chest press (inclined) / Cable crossovers
- Overhead triceps extension / Skullcrushers (EZ bar)
- Reverse-grip pushdowns / Barbell tricep extensions (inclined)
- Dumbbell kickbacks / Tricep dips
Second Day: Back and Shoulders
This next routine consists of three supersets, performed in this order:
- Dumbbell shoulder press / Lateral side raises
- Lat pull-downs (wide grip) / Barbell rowing (bent-over)
- Romanian deadlift / Dumbbell shrug
Third Day: Legs Only
This final routine is also composed of three supersets, to be performed in this order:
- Barbell squats / Standing calf raises
- Barbell squat (wide) / Barbell lunges
- Front squat (clean) / Barbell lunges
Supersets Explained
You have probably noticed that Vin Diesel uses supersets exclusively. So, let’s go into a little more detail about this method and how it works. A superset is nothing more than a set that consists of two exercises instead of one.
There is supposed to be no rest period between the two halves of the superset, so you should always choose exercises that transition smoothly from one to the other. For instance, look at Vin Diesel’s first set on the third day. That first set consists of squats and calf raises. Both of these are performed with the barbell on your shoulders. Thus, there is virtually no delay in switching from one to the other.
Here is a study that might be interesting. Supersets were compared to several other workout protocols, including tri-sets (which are essentially the same thing, except with three exercises). Researchers found that supersets and tri-sets were more effective in most ways. However, this study also noted a slight problem with this training method: It produces more strain and fatigue, and thus, requires more recovery time.
This increased need for recovery may be the reason for the structure of the Vin Diesel routine. You might notice that the first day is by far the hardest, while the second and third days are a little lighter. This design shows that a superset workout is harder and more strenuous, and is designed to compensate for this with a descending degree of difficulty. In this way, he has also incorporated the drop-set principle into his routine.
The Vin Diesel Diet Plan
Of course, no exercise plan can be effective without a corresponding diet plan. Nutrition and exercise are like a two-person team, and neither one can fully function without the other.
The basic principles of the Vin Diesel diet are simple: Avoid processed foods and lower your intake of fatty foods. It seems that this guy puts a lot of emphasis on eating a natural diet, and we find this to be a good idea. Processed foods are notoriously unhealthy, and some of them are basically just filler disguised as food.
According to our friend Riddick, his diet mostly consists of the following:
Breakfast: 2 pieces of toast with almond butter and a banana. Alternate: one cup of porridge with raisins, chia seeds, apple, and cranberries.
Lunch 2 cups brown rice with a cup of green beans, a slice of turkey, and a sweet potato. Alternate: 2 cups of chopped mixed veggies with 2 fillets of tuna.
Dinner: 2 slices of chicken, a bell pepper, some asparagus, 1 cup brown rice, and a mango. Alternate: 2 fillets of salmon, some broccoli, a cup of quinoa, and a salad.
It is safe to assume that Mr. Diesel does not stick to this routine like clockwork every day. That would be boring and would quickly become hard to do. However, this does give you some dietary guidelines so that you can adjust your eating habits to be more in line with this particular workout.
Diesel’s Workout Tips:
If you really want to adopt Vin Diesel’s methods, you would do well to take some of his advice. Here are a few important points:
- Train smarter, not harder
- Shock your muscles with a high-intensity first set
- Always make time for a workout
- Learn to love working out
- Look at every good workout as a victory
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Conclusion
Most workout plans require at least some research on the part of the user. However, this one has the advantage of being more or less pre-defined. We have given you an exact routine and a precise diet plan, but we expect that you will modify these methods to suit your needs. After all, you probably don’t have the same body type as Vin Diesel, so don’t worry if you need to tweak things a little bit. However, we think this is a good road map to fitness whose concepts are sound and workable. If you agree, please show your appreciation for our work by following us on Facebook.
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