From Ben Affleck to Hugh Jackman, How Actors Over 40 Are Redefining Movie Fitness

Actors playing superheroes are helping lead a fitness movement: the Aesthetic Revolution

In the past, superhero films often chose the biggest, buffest guy possible to play the hero — think Shaquille O’Neal as “Steel.”

[...] the maturity that comes with age has helped forge a new perceived physical ideal.

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The twenty-plus inch biceps of past movie stars have given way to leaner, ripped and toned bodies — a look people in the fitness world refer to as aesthetic.

In the fitness world, the word describes a physique with six-pack abs, round developed shoulders, strong quads and glutes — all in perfect symmetry and proportion.

The recent influx of superhero movies has brought about a need to help the actors create a ‘larger than life’ impression on film.

Many have succeeded, regardless of age, said Walter Norton Jr., the owner of Institute of Performance & Fitness, who trained Ben Affleck for ‘Batman v Superman:

Ask any fitness enthusiast who is the most aesthetic actor in superhero movies today, and the answer is almost always Hugh Jackman.

Ben Affleck, aged 44, was determined to live up to that standard — and bring not just aesthetics but also size to his “Batman.”

The actor packed on 25 pounds of lean muscle mass to a skinny 150-pound frame, and looked terrific in a tanktop during scenes when Stark built the Mark One armor inside the cave.