This Guy Attempted Christian Bale’s 'American Psycho' Workout
YouTuber Will Tennyson recently took viewers through actor Christian Bale's American Psycho workout. That's a tough enough challenge—but Tennyson had an even tougher time going through the character Patrick Bateman's skincare routine, because really, who has time for that?
Adapted from the 1991 novel by Brett Easton Ellis, 2000's American Psycho has become a cult classic in the 20 years since its release. The role of protagonist Patrick Bateman was among Bale’s first to receive widespread critical acclaim and was the first time the actor transformed his body to fit the characters, a practice Bale is famous for to this day. In the case of American Psycho, the transformation was to look sculpted and, also, slightly dead inside. (Bale has said the latter aspect of the role was partially inspired by Tom Cruise.)
So this isn’t so much Patrick Bateman’s fitness routine, as it is, reportedly, Bale's. (Bateman discusses skincare more than fitness—herb mint facial facial mask, 1 rep, 10 minutes). Still, we were unable to find where Bale himself outlines his routine. He has said before in interviews, however, that prior to the part, he had never gone to the gym. For the role, he would work out for "hours" every day.
Tennyson only attempts the regimen for a day, as whatever else he's doing seems to be working for him. You should probably leave this type of extreme body transformation to actors like Bale, so we don't recommend that you try this yourself.
Christian Bale's American Psycho Diet
Tennyson breaks down the diet into six meals, high protein, high carbs, moderate fat.
Meal 1: 6 eggs (hardboiled), 100 grams of oatmeal with raisins
Meal 2: Full can of tuna on whole wheat pita with a scoop of peanut butter
Meal 3: 8 ounces chicken breast, 1 serving broccoli, 1.5 servings angel hair pasta, 85 grams brown rice
Meal 4: Protein shake, 1 banana, and 1 protein bar
Meal 5: 8 ounces chicken breast, 1 serving broccoli, 1.5 servings angel hair pasta, 85 grams brown rice
Meal 6: 1 scoop of protein, 2 cod oil liver pills, 5 grams of creatine
Exercise
Tennyson says that Bale worked out six days a week. (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday included full-body workouts; Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday included HIIT training on the stationary bike or treadmill.)
A sample Bale upper body workout circuit included 5 exercises.
Pull-ups: 2 sets of 5 reps
Bench press: 2 sets of 5 reps
Dumbbell curls: 2 sets of 10 reps
Lateral raise: 2 sets of 10 reps
Hanging leg raise: 2 sets of 10 reps
Tennyson admitted the workout was harder than expected, since he pushed himself to make the most of the limited reps.
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