Mark Wahlberg Is Cutting to 6 Percent Body Fat — Here's How
Mark Wahlberg is determined to get down to an impressive six percent body fat, and this is how he's doing it.
In the early '90s, Mark Wahlberg stripped down to his skivvies for Calvin Klein and showed off one of the most impressive six-packs ever witnessed by mankind. Women swooned and men flocked to the gym. The black-and-white ads are still iconic!
Decades later, the man formally known as Marky Mark is still providing fitspiration. At 46 years old, he still has those amazing abs and killer biceps. But now he's also in the process of dropping most of his body fat.
In preparation for his next Peter Berg-directed thriller, "Mile 22," Wahlberg is drastically transforming his body. "I've been fat in all of Peter's movies," he told Men's Health. "For this one I'm going to be down to 6 percent body fat."
To give you an idea of how insane that is, the average body fat range for men is between 18 and 24 percent, and those considered "fit" have body fat percentages that fall between 14 and 17. And when Wahlberg finished filming his last movie, he fell into this category at 16 percent body fat (according to his trainer, Brian Nguyen, which he revealed in an Instagram video).
It's primarily athletes that have body fat percentages between 6 and 13 percent. Any lower than that and you're messing with your body's essential fat (about 2 to 5 percent for men) — the minimal amount of fat necessary to cover and protect your vital organs and keep your body performing everyday functions.
To say Wahlberg has a massive undertaking ahead of him is an understatement. He isn't a 20-something anymore, so the actor has had to change his fitness regimen, even giving up one of his favorite physical activities. "I don't play basketball anymore because I don't want to roll an ankle and miss a movie or screw up my golf game," he said.
Wahlberg's work ethic when it comes to fitness is die-hard. He's up hours before the sun to fit in a workout before hitting the links. "If I wake up at 3:30, I can go to the golf course at 6:30, be done by 8:30, and then be home and then do the rest of my stuff: work with a physiotherapist, get treatment, hit the cryo chamber," he told the magazine.
So what exactly is he doing to cut the fat? For starters, he works out regularly using one of the hottest fitness machines on the market — the VersaClimber. You know, that thin, self-powered vertical climbing tower that celebrity trainer Jason Walsh resurrected from the 1980s. In addition to hopping on it twice a day, he also relies on the old-school method of jumping rope.
But that's not all. To achieve his goal, he's also eating clean and cutting out booze. "I've been off the wine for 15 days," he revealed to Men's Health. After all, a standard five-ounce pour contains 123 calories (and you know you're having more than one glass), which packs a punch if you're trying to rid your body of pretty much all of its nonessential fat.
Basically, if you want to be fit like Mark Wahlberg, you better make sure it's your full-time job — and that you have a nutritionist and personal chef on your payroll.
Curious how other celebs get fit? Read more here!
Read more: 12 Actors Who Massively Transformed Themselves for a Role
What Do YOU Think?
Are you impressed by Wahlberg's devotion to fitness? What is the lowest body fat percentage you've ever gotten down to? Have you ever tried the VersaClimber? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below!