There’s always been a big interest in the “007” movies and inside the fitness community particularly a lot of praise has been given to Daniel Craig’s sculpted physique ever since “Casino Royale” came up. There’s been a lot of questions about what training regimen and diet plan Daniel followed. And there’s little doubt that he managed to do it again for his other James Bond movies.
Skyfall was his 3rd time playing the famous secret agent with “Casino Royale” being the first and “Quantum of Solace” second. For both films Daniel presented himself in peak physical condition. The workout he used allowed him to put a significant amount of muscle mass for “Skyfall”.
This was no doubt a real undertake as he looked pretty slim when he starred in the previous film “Cowboys and Aliens”. That means he would have had to start from scratch just to put the same amount of muscle tissue onto his frame.
Plus, now aged 49 he has repeatedly said the he was getting a bit old in order to endure the hard physical demands needed for playing agent 007.
The Skyfall James Bond workout
Celebrity routines don’t really differ that much unless we are talking about serious weight loss and getting a shredded look or packing on slabs of meat into a small time frame.
In order to elicit the muscle growth that Craig did he lifted three to four times a week. At his age, handling anything more can be extremely tough, plus the benefits don’t outweigh the risks.
That’s because as you become older you cannot recover with the same speed as you once could. That’s why he also had to limit his workout sessions to about 50-60 minutes and train only 3-4 times a week.
Now we give you our own spin on what his routine looked like:
Workout A: Pecs & Triceps
- Incline Bench Press: 4 sets x 8-12 reps, rest interval: 2 minutes
- Bench Press: 4 sets x 8-12 reps, rest interval: 2 minutes
- Incline Dumbell Flyes: 4 sets of descending reps – 12, 10, 8, 6, rest interval: 30-60 seconds, use the same weight
- Skullcrushers: 4 sets x 8-12 reps, rest interval: 2 minutes
- Rope Extensions: 3 sets x 8-12 reps, rest interval: 1.5 minutes
Workout B: Back & Biceps
- Weighted Pull-ups: 4 sets x 8-12 reps, rest interval: 2 minutes
- Deadlifts: 3 sets x 4-6 reps, rest interval: 3 minutes
- Cable Rows: 4 sets od descending reps – 12, 10, 8, 6, rest interval: 30-60 seconds, use the same weight
- Barbell Biceps Curls: 4 sets x 8-12 reps, rest interval: 2 minutes
- Incline Dumbbell Curls: 4 sets x 8-12 reps, rest interval: 2 minutes
Workout C: Shoulders & Legs
- Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 4 sets x 8-12 reps, rest interval: 2 minutes
- Lateral Raises: 4 sets x 8-12 reps, rest interval: 2 minutes
- Upright Row: 4 sets od descending reps – 12, 10, 8, 6, rest interval: 30-60 seconds, use the same weight
- Bulgarian Split Squats: 4 sets x 8-12 reps, rest interval: 2 minutes
- Standing Single Leg Calf Raises: 5 sets x 15-20 reps, rest interval: 1 minute
Additional notes:
You should space out Workouts A, B and C on three non-consecutive days. Training three times weekly offers many benefits. The most standard set-up would be: Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
What were Daniel’s body measurements before he began his transformation?
For starters he is 5’10 tall and his weight was 160 pounds when filming “Cowboys and Aliens”. You can notice in the movie that he is very slim and he doesn’t have that muscular and powerful look he had as James Bond. He needed to lose weight for this role on purpose because he thought he needed to be lean in order to play a cowboy.
He did this by following a restricted-calorie diet and he lifted no weights at all. In the end, he lost a big amount of muscle mass. The studio wasn’t all too happy with his new look and told him to regain his weight so he could star in Skyfall.
What was his diet like?
As we said he needed to regain all that weight in a very short time span. The goal weight was around 15 to 20 pounds before shooting started. Luckily for him, the phenomenon of muscle memory helped him out. This means he was able to regain his former muscle mass a lot faster than when he first acquired it, once he began lifting again and increasing his total daily calories and protein consumption.
The first thing he did was increase his caloric and carb consumption. After finishing “Cowboys and Aliens” he was very slim. Being in such state made his body primed to build new muscle mass and gain some weight.
That’s because after a certain period of increased caloric reduction all types of anabolic receptors and hormones get up-regulated. That’s why once you start to eat normally again you’ll be able to more efficiently direct the right nutrients to stimulate muscle growth.
That being sad, he still couldn’t let himself go with his diet and needed to monitor his calories closely. At his age, people are more prone to storing fat because of decreased testosterone levels. His trainer recommended that he was supposed to keep caloric consumption around maintenance levels.
If building more muscle is your goal, 15-17 calories per pound of you goal bodyweight is a good starting point to go for. Depending on your overall physical activity level, you might adjust this number to a lower or higher amount. For Daniel’s goal weight of 180 pounds this meant he had to eat 2880-3000 calories a day.
When consuming calories above or at maintenance levels you should strive to get the majority of your calories from carbohydrates. Consuming more carbs will increase the glycogen deposits which in turn will optimize anabolic growth signaling. Plus, consuming carbs will increase your energy levels, making you train harder and more intensely. Increased carb consumption will also improve quality of sleep and recovery.
We all know by now that proper protein consumption is one of the most important thing for building serious muscle mass. Craig ensured that he consumed a lot of protein with his diet to boost and optimize muscle growth. Plus, eating more protein helps in avoiding storing too much fat.
The reason for this is that protein is the most satiating nutrient. After eating a meal with small amounts of protein you want to eat more. Additionally, protein is hard to store as fat since it has a high value for your metabolism.
As with any body transformation, increased protein consumption is one of the most effective strategies. Younger people can get away with eating a small amount of protein and still build an appreciable amount of muscle. However, as we get older we should give a higher priority to protein since it’ll help us build more muscle and avoid fat gain at the same time.
The general recommendation is that you eat 0.8 grams of protein per pound of your goal bodyweight. Daniel’s goal weight of 180 pounds meant that he had to eat 144 grams of protein a day.
What were Craig’s weight and body fat percentage ?
By the time shooting began, Craig managed to reach his goal weight of 180 pounds at a height of 5’10. His final body fat percentage was 10% which means he got petty lean. He had a visible six-pack, a well-defined line between his pecs and a very masculine looking defined jaw. The 3 traits are the main indicators that he managed to achieve low body fat percentage. 10% is an excellent goal for many lifters.
When you have 10% body fat and a decent muscle mass you’ll blow everyone’s minds. Plus, having low body fat percentage means you will start to look extremely good in stylish, elegant clothes and have that cover magazine look.
If he managed to lower it down to 8% he would have become more vascular in his arms, lower abs and legs. Plus, the abs would have been much more sculpted. This percentage might be impressive but isn’t necessary.
Besides, if you try getting to 6 or 8 percent which is very hard you can start losing a lot of muscle mass too. That’s because it’s very hard to keep muscle at that low percentage of body fat.
