“At the end of high school, I stopped playing sport and I really let myself go bit,” says Jeffery, who’s joining Men’s Health today on our new Turning Point podcast. “About a year after high school I was about 112 kilos. I was almost double what I am now. But a couple of key moments hit home. And they weren’t very nice turning points. They were kind of bullying turning points where I went, Oh, okay, I’m not very comfortable in my body anymore. And because of the things people have said I thought, I mustn’t be okay, which isn’t true, but as a kid, how do you take that in? Somebody says something inappropriate about your weight, you’re like, Oh, well that’s my fault. That’s on me. Which isn’t true.”

Stung into action, after high school Jeffery began working out and overhauling his diet, ditching sugary drinks and fatty snacks. “I stopped drinking two litres of soft drink a day, which is never a good idea,” he laughs. “A lot of fried food and all that kind of stuff. And then slowly over a year lost about 10 or 15 kilos.”

At the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA), the physical nature of round-the-clock classes and constant performing would see Jeffery’s weight tumble even further.

The actor continued to slim down as his Hollywood career took off. His role in Angelina Jolie’s directorial debut, Unbroken, back in 2014, required him to lose 20 kg. From there, he would land parts in a series of war epics like Gallipoli and Before Dawn, that required further stretching, moulding and fashioning of his physique to inhabit characters in ways that were creatively honest.

Now, in perhaps his biggest role to date, Jeffery is swapping combat fatigues for the furry fun of motion-capture tech in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. And while transformations and fluctuations in weight are part and parcel of being a Hollywood actor, in preparing for the unique role of Anaya in the iconic blockbuster franchise, Jeffery faced his biggest challenge yet.

Having worked out with transformation specialists Chief Brabon and Emilie Brabon-Hames for the past three years, Jeffery sought their counsel back in October to prepare for Apes reshoots and an upcoming film called Birthright. “When we really upped it in October, that’s when I really got a taste of Chief and Em’s magic and what they can do,” says Jeffery.

Here, in his own words Jeffery takes us through his journey from humble country kid to Hollywood star and details the training he put in to get in the best shape of his life.

***

SPORT WAS A big deal in the Jeffery household. My dad was a VFL footy player. He played for Prahran and then went on to captain-coach the Healesville footy side for many years. But it wasn’t just my dad. My mum was a professional diver before going to the Air Force and then working for ASIO. She’s a very, very smart woman.

I was adequate at a few sports. I tried probably every sport under the sun, played heaps of footy. I was never going to be a professional sportsman but a lot of the skills I learnt from my mum and dad growing up playing sport – tenacity, you only get out what you put in and commitment – all that is directly applicable to what I do today. They were very valuable lessons growing up.

Around year 9 or 10, I got to the point of where I was like, I’ve got to stop smacking my head against this brick wall of trying to be a professional sportsman. I was talked into doing a school play, a parody of Dracula called the Bride of Spatula. I had one line, it was sung. I can’t sing. I was going through puberty, my voice was breaking. But every night I got up there and I did it and I pushed through the fear and I fell in love with making people laugh and helping people escape for a couple of hours. I joined the Youth Theatre Group and I just fell in love with the community and with storytelling.

***

I WAS A bit of a class clown. It’s funny because the older I’ve got, the more introverted I’ve become, then the more acting I do, the more introverted I get. And that’s probably not the best combo. But a lot of actors are introverted and stick to themselves. When you’re at home or when you’re with mates, you just want to enjoy yourself and not draw too much attention. But I was definitely was a big class clown. It was a defensive mechanism for not doing so well at school. My attention span wasn’t great. Anything that wasn’t media or doing a play, I just couldn’t really sink my teeth into, so I made other people laugh instead.

So, I just distracted myself and had fun, always writing movies in my head and writing scripts when I should have been doing other work. From mid-high school, I knew making films and writing was what I wanted to do and then that shifted into acting. But it never really felt professionally accessible. Growing up on a cattle farm, you’re like, Well, what’s the avenue into this world? I had no clue.

People were like, ‘Hey, you’ve got some talent. What you do is great’. And I was like, ‘Oh, cool, this might just be where it ends though’. It’s like, I’m the kid that’s good at acting in their hometown, and then sooner or later I’m going to have to find something else to do to support the rest of my life.

And it’s a bit of a scary thing when you’re going like, Oh, should I chase acting? Growing up in a working-class town, it’s like, ‘Well, what’s your real job?’ Even when you’re working in the industry, you still got to do other things for money. It’s a very unstable industry.

I started looking into drama schools and I auditioned for NIDA one year and didn’t get in, and the next year I was like, Oh, let’s have a crack at WAAPA, as well as NIDA. I remember one day I was just wandering down the aisles of Coles and I got a call from a bloke called Chris Edmund who ran WAAPA. He’s like, ‘Hey bud, just want to let you know that somebody’s just dropped out. There’s a place for you. Do you want to come over in three days?’ And I was like, ‘Yep, absolutely’. And he’s like, ‘Take a bit of time to think about it’. I was like, ‘No, I’ll be there in three days’. So, I packed up my life and got on a plane and went to Perth.

Going to drama school, I was like, Oh, this is a bit scary. Are my parents going to be okay with this? And it wasn’t until I graduated and was a couple of years into the industry and my dad and I were having a chat and he’s like, ‘Look, when I was speaking to my guidance counsellor about jobs at school, acting was my number one pick but I didn’t go through with it. I didn’t bring it up because it’s a non-existent job. It’s not a job that people like us, growing up on a farm, can do’. And he was like, ‘I’m really proud of you for chasing it. I’m really proud of you for taking the leap and chasing what you want to do’.

***

UNBROKEN WAS AMAZING. It was such an incredible experience and one I never expected. I came out of drama school, got a job working reception at a gym, was setting myself up for a slow burn, which is what you got to do. You have to appreciate everything, expect nothing. Then these auditions started for Unbroken. At the time, they kept saying, ‘We want you to do some auditions with Angelina Jolie’. I was terrified but I got the job.

The major takeaway from that experience was just the scale. Just how many jobs there are on films and how many people are working their butts off to make something beautiful. And you don’t know going into these things, especially American productions, you’re like, Oh, is it going to be like what everybody says? Is it going to be big Hollywood glamour and will there be divas? But that set was just the most humble, down-to-earth set, and it all came from Angie. She’s so, so kind. She leads with kindness. She was so passionate about making this story. And because she’s been an actor for so long, her dialogue with actors was amazing. She was a really fantastic director.

It was also a great experience for pushing myself physically. That was my first big physical transformation. I lost 20 kilos in two or three months. Because we’re playing POWs we wanted to honour these soldiers as best we could. So, we pushed it as hard as we could and it was really a really special experience and a great way to open my eyes to the scale of the industry.

(L-R): Noa (played by Owen Teague), Soona (played by Lydia Peckham), and Anaya (played by Travis Jeffery) I Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios.

***

KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES is a dream job for me. Growing up, I was always climbing up hay bales, climbing trees, always getting told to stop climbing stuff. It [Apes] was another one that when you get the audition, you go, Ah, okay, that’s not going to happen. That’s out of my reach. When I talk about Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, there’s no playing it cool for me.

And the main reason for that is because I’ve always loved movement. I’ve got to thank my teacher at drama school, Lisa Scott Murphy, for a lot. She really kicked off my interest and hunger and my exploration of physicality, whether it be playing Stewie [in Gallipoli] or playing an ape.

We had this incredible movement coach, Alain Gauthier. He’s so precise and he’s so detailed in his work. And we spent six weeks with him, turning into chimps at this thing called Ape School. You go, ‘Okay, what’s Ape School?’ And you rock up on day one and everybody’s a bit nervous and we’re all trying to do our best warm-ups. And he’s like, ‘Everybody relax, there’s no winning here’. So, we got into it and the thing that drove us was how much everybody was putting in, because you feel like an idiot to begin with. Just making chimp noises, doing all the movement. It’s like being back in drama school.

The great Andy Serkis mentored us in the week leading up, pre-shoot. Weta, the digital effects company, set us up in the studios. It’s a big play space. We were on a big grey carpet with all these motion sensor infrared cameras around us picking up our suits and they get our physicality and stuff. So, they’re live transmitting us with an ape on top, so we could see how the last five weeks of training was translating in our body.

And then we’d run through scenes with Andy. And he’s such an intelligent man so we were just so grateful to have him with us. It was too much fun. It was more fun than you should be allowed to have as an actor.

Jeffery at the global premiere of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes in LA.

***

BEFORE TRAINING WITH Chief and Em, I’d call my workout style just floundering around a gym, trying heaps of different things, mixing stuff up, not eating well. Looking back on the previous transformations I did for some of my roles, I don’t think I was doing it in the right way. I had no idea.

For Unbroken, for example, I was just drinking slim shakes because you go, That’s how I’m going to lose weight. And you do, you lose weight, you’ve got nothing going into your body, it’s so unhealthy. And then I’d finish shooting and just blow out because I’d be like, Great, let’s eat everything. And my body’s like, I don’t know what to do with this stuff anymore. Let’s just stick it to the walls and keep it for later because you’ve been in survival mode for the last couple of months.

I’ve been training with Chief and Em, on and off, for the last three years and what’s great about them is it’s so clear, it’s so easy. I met them through a mate of mine, Tim Franklin, before we went over to Perth to shoot a film called Before Dawn. He was like, ‘You’ve got to come down to the beach with Chief and Em. They’re incredible. They’ll absolutely kick your ass on the beach’. I was like, ‘How hard can it be?’ So, I started doing their Original Boot camps on Coogee Beach at 5:30 am, three times a week. And it was brutal, but an amazing way to start the day. And the boot camps were a great way to get in shape for a lot of the cardiovascular stuff for Before Dawn.

But Chief and Em really ramped up the training from October onwards, when we began working on a transformation for the Apes re-shoots. That’s when we really got stuck into Chief’s DARC training method: dynamic, aerobic, resisted conditioning. It’s hybrid training and it’s absolutely amazing because movement, first and foremost, has always been what’s important to me. Just making sure that I can move well. And it was so important for Apes and that’s what they’re all about, that hybrid training of movement and strength.

I do the boot camps three times a week. That’s a lot of cardio, a lot of weighted bars on the beach, a lot of bodyweight stuff. And then the sun comes up, you go for a dip, then you get in a studio and they [Chief and Em] just up the ante again. I’d jump into their studio five days a week and then I do a ‘SKWOD’ with them on Saturdays. I was going hard but it was a good challenge.

I learned during this transformation that the assault bike is the most aptly named piece of equipment in the fitness industry. It’s terrifying but it really worked well for me. Yes, it was challenging. The last six months has probably been one of the hardest things I’ve ever done but I loved it because it was something that was making me feel better every day and there were no excuses, you use whatever you have around you. Over the last three months I’ve used trees as pull-up bars, rocks to incline or decline. My dad was a mechanic for a long time, so I used his hoist for dips and for pull-ups and car parts for weights. There’s no getting out of it, which is really important because when you get tired, when you get fatigued, it’s easy to slip.

Nutrition-wise, Em is all over your diet. She really makes it really accessible, really easy to understand. When you start a transformation with Chief and Em, you reset your body. You don’t realise how much crap you’re addicted to. I’ve got such a sweet tooth but Em said to me, ‘You don’t have a sweet tooth, you’ve got a sweet brain. You’re just addicted to these things’. When you start the eating program with her, it feels like a diet to begin with because you’re cutting out all this stuff that we’re so used to eating – processed food and chocolate and all this stuff. But by week three and four you’re like, Oh, this isn’t a diet. This is just eating really well. I was getting up to eating a kilo of veggies a day and having more energy than I’d ever had.

These last couple of months I’ve started to realise the importance of celebrating the little turning points that you have, every day, like getting up, going to the gym. That’s a massive win, especially coming from the kid that was quite overweight and bullied. And I would beat myself up so much for eating junk food or not going to the gym just because I felt so ashamed. Because that’s what people make you feel like when you’re overweight.

But working with Chief and Em helped me change that mindset and really prioritise training and healthy eating and to celebrate those little steps. I’m so proud of where I am right now.

Get in primate shape

PART ONE:

Repeat this mini-circuit 4 times, with no more than 1 min between exercises.

PRONATED GRIP PULL-UPS (AKA Overhand Grip): max reps

• Do as many as possible, then revert to negative only pull-ups, using a jump-box or similar to help get you to the top position. Now take your weight, pause for a moment, then slowly lower yourself down until your arms are straight, then use the box to get back to the top again and repeat.
• Aim to complete at least 10 reps in total each set.

BENT-OVER BICEP ROW: 8 – 14 reps

• Set yourself up as you would for a standard bent-over barbell row, but with your hands supinated (palms up).
• Before you start the row, roll your knuckles back towards you.
• Now, as you row the bar towards you, aim for it to touch your solar plexus. This will utilise your biceps far more than a standard row.

TREADMILL SURGES: 4 sets

• Walk for 10 sec, then Jog for 10 sec.
• At the 20 sec mark gradually increase your speed over the next 30 secs until you are sprinting for the last 10.
• Slow back down to a walk and repeat the process three more times.

PART TWO:

Again, repeat the mini-circuit below 4 times, with no more than 1 min between exercises.

NEUTRAL GRIP PULL-UPS (AKA Hammer Grip): max reps

• Just like the Pronated Grip Pull-ups, do as many as possible, then revert to negative only pull-ups again.
• Aim to complete at least 10 reps in total each set.

BICEPS DRAG: 8 – 14 reps

• Set yourself up as if you are about to do a standard barbell curl.
• When you start to lift the weight intentionally allow your elbows to travel backwards in a rowing fashion. At the same time drag the bar up the front of your body until it touches your solar plexus, before lowering it back down to the start position.

STATIONARY BIKE SURGES: 4 sets

• Cycle with minimal resistance in a seated position for 10sec, then add resistance for 10 sec.
• At the 20 sec mark increase the resistance again and stand up. Gradually increase the  resistance over the next 30 secs until you feel like you are climbing a mountain for the last 10.
• Reduce the resistance, sit down, slow back down to an easy pace, before repeating the process three more times.

FINISHER

ALTERNATING GORILLA ROW: max reps in 90 sec

• Start with two kettlebells of the same weight between your feet.
• Bending your knees, and hinging slightly forward, reach down and take hold of the handles. Your upper body should be almost parallel to the ground.
• Pressing down into the handle of the left kettlebell, row the right kettlebell up, trying to twist the body as little as possible.
• Once the right kettlebell is back on the ground, press down into its handle as you row the left one up.

Listen to Travis’ episode on The Turning Point podcast:

Related:

What to stream in May 2024: Netflix, Disney+, Stan, Amazon Prime + more

Take a Peek At Zac Efron’s Crazy Transformation For His Upcoming Movie

The post How Travis Jeffery got ripped for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes appeared first on Men's Health Magazine Australia.

Enter Challengers, a movie as much about the intensity of competitive tennis and a love for the game as it is about three specific players and fanatics whose personal (and romantic) lives are so intertwined that they simply cannot get away from one another over the course of more than ten years. Director Luca Guadagnino and writer Justin Kuritzkes infuse Challengers with a sense of frenetic energy and constant sensuality that the film’s trio of stars – Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and Mike Faist – are 100% game for, and manage to use their charismatic talents and handles on their respective characters to ramp up even more.

The story is framed by a Challenger match between the famous and successful Art (Faist) and the lower-circuit scuffler Patrick (O’Connor), where the winner ostensibly earns a spot to compete at the U.S. Open. But over the course of the match, we learn about their history – as former best friends, doubles partners, and, yes, competitors – and also about Art’s wife/coach Tashi (Zendaya), who was once a phenom herself, catching the attention of both men before an injury cut her career short.

Through the unique relationship between its three leads, Challengers manages to upend any pre-existing ‘sports movie’ expectations you possibly could have had. With the help of Guadagnino’s inventive and exciting filmmaking, along with a Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross score that will make you feel like you just took some kind of VERY intense upper drug, Challengers knows how to please the people watching. The tennis scenes are intense, a form of nonverbal storytelling in and of themselves, and every bit of the film serves to set another vital moment or character trait up.

You’ll walk out of Challengers feeling like you just got a jolt of energy—and probably want to watch it again right away.

What is Challengers about?

Challengers is two types of movie in one: a sports movie – telling an authentic and intense story of three uber-talented tennis players – and a romantic drama, diving deep into a long-evolving relationship between those same three tennis players (who also happen to be complex sexual beings).

The story is simple enough: Art and Patrick are essentially lifelong best friends who are doubles partners, but also face off when they need to. But when they see Tashi Duncan – a tennis prodigy sponsored by Adidas before even attending college—everything changes; they both kind of fall head over heels for her.

The film tells its story in a nonlinear fashion, jumping between the moment when all three met, to its present day Challenger event – where a now-successful Art, now married to Tashi, and a Patrick who lives out of his car are facing off – and everything in between.

The film gains more and more steam as it goes on, both in the bedroom and on the court, climaxing with easily the most exciting ten-minute sequence to hit cinemas so far in 2024.

via Mens Health US

Related:

How does Carlos Alcaraz compare at 20 to tennis’ all-time greats?

Baby Reindeer and the lure of the binge-watch

The post ‘Challengers’ is the horniest sports movie you’ll ever see appeared first on Men's Health Magazine Australia.

“Benno,” he booms down the phone, never having met me, but instantly establishing a rapport, lighting up my hitherto dull afternoon with enough energy, positivity and charisma to power a city block.

Irwin is in a car somewhere in Sydney, doing press for his new show, I’m A Celebrity . . . Get Me Out Of Here and he’s been doing interviews all day.

Not that you’d know it from the enthusiasm and curiosity that practically blasts out of my phone. “We’re heading southbound on the motorway,” he says. “Sounds like we’re in a police chase, but we’re not. I can guarantee there are no choppers above us.”

Before I can ask about his day, Irwin wants to know about mine. I tell him I’ve been writing about a footballer. He wants to know which one. The curiosity, the precociousness, the authenticity is almost overpowering. Immediately, you’re left with the impression that Robert Irwin is his father’s son – his father, in case you somehow missed it, being Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter, who died from a heart attack after his chest was pierced by a stingray barb when Irwin was just two. I’ve been speaking to Irwin for all of five minutes and I can already sense that same larger than life presence. A kid who was born to entertain, in other words.

And yet entertaining us might be but one of Irwin’s dreams. Irwin grew up in a zoo, two of them actually. The first, Australia Zoo, a 700-acre wildlife sanctuary on the Sunshine Coast and the second comprising the invisible bars of the celebrity spotlight that come with being the son of a global superstar.

Instagram I @robertirwinphotography

But it might just be his unique upbringing, surrounded by crocs and capybaras and the passion and purpose that’s instilled in Irwin, that offers him respite and sanctuary, helping save him from the intrusions and scrutiny of the lion’s den of public exposure. You see at 20, Irwin has already found his calling in life: wildlife conservation.

“It definitely has its challenges,” he says of growing up in the spotlight. “But more often than not, I find it a really great opportunity because I have my passion, my true north, the message that is so near and dear to my heart. And I have a platform to spread that. And so I’ve always really seen the positives of that.”

It helps that he doesn’t have what he calls a “Bieber lifestyle”. “People aren’t coming up to me going, ‘I want a selfie’,” and then leaving again. Most of the time, people come up and say, ‘Hey, I really appreciate what you’re doing for the environment’, or ‘Wow, I really admired your dad. This is how he influenced my life’.”

So, what was it like growing up in a zoo, anyway?

“Mate, absolutely incredible,” Irwin says. “Never a dull moment. Have you ever been to Australia Zoo, mate?”

Again, the questions, the curiosity. I profess that I haven’t. “Well, mate, you have to come up and experience it. It’s hard to even really refer to it as a zoo. It’s a beautiful sanctuary for wildlife and it’s really completely and wholly, solely focused around conservation.”

That environment, along with his father’s legacy, imprinted on Irwin a sense of responsibility to do his part in preserving natural habitats and promoting awareness about the plight of endangered species. “Growing up around animals, around the natural world, getting to travel so much and experience firsthand some of the real issues that are facing our planet and the role that we all play to protect our planet Earth, has been a real privilege for me and I love what I get to do,” he says. “Plus we get to feed crocodiles. I mean, that’s pretty cool. Come on.”

Every day in the zoo is different, Irwin adds. “I’m still waiting for a typical day,” he says. “I could be going to Africa. I could be catching crocs for research at the University of Queensland. I might be in there wrangling snakes. I’m very lucky to get up and really not know where the day is going to take me.”

Of course, it’s a lifestyle that’s not without its hairy moments. Irwin tells me about the day, back in February 2022, when he had to make an emergency escape from a crocodile enclosure after a near 4m-metre-long, 350-kilogram croc named Casper sized him up for its brekkie. “That was an interesting one. We’d just moved Casper, who was a crocodile my dad originally rescued actually. And we had to move him from one side of Australia Zoo to the other. And we were just getting him to feed in a new billabong. You never know how a croc is going to react when it’s in a new territory. But he was extremely territorial. He was very like, Okay, this is my new space. This is my billabong. I’m going to give you a good run for your money. It’s actually really good to see that.”

Instagram I @robertirwinphotography

The experience reinforced to Irwin that when you’re dealing with large reptiles it’s best to know your place. “It’s a great lesson as to why you never have an ego,” he says. “The second you have an ego is the second stuff will go wrong. It’s completely their turf. And you have to have the utmost respect for that, for this prehistoric dinosaur of an animal.”

I tell him that I thought I detected a sizeable bulge struggling to burst out of his safari shirt sleeves on Instagram. What does Irwin bench, I wonder.

“I reckon I could bench an eight-foot croc,” he laughs. “Catching crocodiles definitely builds strength in the arms, mate. I highly recommend it. So you know what the biggest arm workout is for me is?” I shake my head, sensing it’s going to be something epic. “Death rolling. When crocodiles death roll and you’re in there with them, because we let our crocs use all of their natural instincts. It means my life is very, very active.”

As demanding as his work is, Irwin does make time to hit the gym, knowing that as well as help him fill out the snazzy suits he’s wearing on I’m A Celebrity promos, it also benefits him mentally. “If I am at a point where I know I’m going to be a little bit more sedentary, I’m traveling a lot, then I always make sure that physical activity is part of my routine, whether that’s weight training, running, swimming,” he says. “It plays a very important role in my life because I think mental health and physical health go hand in hand. And also the nature of the job, you’ve got to be able to lift stuff. So I definitely prioritise it.”

Irwin’s passion for wildlife conservation finds creative expression in photography. He was runner-up in the junior category of the Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of The Year competition in 2016 and contributes photos to Australia Zoo’s Crikey magazine. “I absolutely love photography and it’s become a way to push an important conservation message through imagery because naturally I get to be on the front line of a lot of environmental disasters,” he says. On the flip side, he says, he gets to visit some of the most pristine, last truly wild locations in the world and capture images of animals flourishing in them. “I hope to really create a message and a story of the importance of conserving the natural world through imagery,” he says.

Instagram I @robertirwinphotography

I mention that a recent report put him and sister Bindi at number 27 and 28 in Australia’s most influential Instagrammers. The siblings have over 11m followers between them. So, what’s his take on social media? Not surprisingly Irwin manages to find the positives in an often maligned medium. “It’s a weird world, don’t you reckon? Social media is odd and it can be damaging if you’re listening to negative comments and there’s all the trolling and whatnot. But if used correctly and if used for good and for positivity, I think it’s a great tool to spread a message. And I feel very lucky, both Bindi and myself use the platform we have to spread important messages, a bit of positivity. I didn’t know that we’re placed so closely.”

Is there any rivalry between the two, then? “No, I think for both of us, we’re all on the same team,” he says. “I always say, because everyone goes, ‘Oh, do you ever argue with your sister or your family?’ I always say it’s interesting because our lives are quite dramatic. We’re saving wildlife, we’re jumping on crocs, we’re going here, we’re doing this, we’re doing that. But the family unit of the Irwins, our family dynamics are perfectly unexciting. It’s actually really boring. We never really argue. We just get along, but it’s nice. Bindi and I are both very, very proud that we get to be the next generation to run up this mission.”

While Irwin has done his fair share of TV presenting on wildlife shows both here and overseas, I’m a Celebrity marks his first prime-time gig. He sounds like he can barely contain his eagerness to start shooting, though you suspect that’s his attitude to almost any challenge he takes on – he recently lit up the catwalk at Melbourne Fashion Festival, for example.

“It’s my first time, full-time hosting a live Australian program,” he says. “I’m really excited because I feel like it’s the spice of life when you get to take on something that’s different. In a way, it fits so well because it’s what I’ve been doing my whole life, but it’s a completely new audience.”

The show shapes as a launching pad for Irwin – you could easily see the Aussie public falling in love with him, in an Australia’s beloved grandson kind of way. It could lead to more presenting roles, more documentaries, even movies. Irwin wants to do it all, but as he says, anything he does will be anchored around his passion for wildlife conservation.

“The interesting thing is that at a young age, I think you have to have your true north,” he says. “You have to have your purpose, your drive, that makes you feel fulfilled. But you don’t need to know exactly how you’re going to do that. You’ve just got to know what direction you’re going in. I’m in a rare position where I was born knowing exactly what I want to do. Literally, it’s never been a question. But I’ve found so many different ways to get there, whether that’s through photography, through working in front of the camera and behind the lens. All the different projects that I can take on. I know that I have a message of conservation, of appreciating our wildlife, and also a passion for positivity, for authenticity. And for really helping people to realise what’s important in this life, which is to have a bit of fun, really keep good people around you and just be kind to every living being that you come into contact with. There are a lot of ways that I’m going to be able to run up dad’s mission and create my own legacy, but I can tell you where I want to get and how I get there is going to be one crazy adventure.”

It certainly will be. I put down the phone and look around my empty meeting room a little dazed and somewhat uplifted by the boundless positivity I’ve just been privy to. I’ll call it now: Robert Irwin has all the makings of a superstar… if he wants to be one.

Related:

Chris Hemsworth is the king of Instagram

The post Robert Irwin is a man on a mission appeared first on Men's Health Magazine Australia.

The Byron Bay-based actor, who’s most famous for his roles in Marvel’s Thor franchise, as well as Netflix’s Extraction action series, could earn up to $1,041,208 per sponsored post, the report found.

Compiled by Impressive, a Melbourne-based SEO service, the report analysed the Instagram followings of Australian celebrities to assess how much they could earn from a single sponsored post, based on influencer pricing from Inbeat and Hootsuite.

Hemsworth, a two-time Men’s Health cover star and founder of the Centr fitness app, mainly uses his account to showcase new projects, detail his fitness regimen and post family pictures. He beat brother Liam, who came in at no.11 in the rankings, with 12.2m followers and projected earnings of $231k.

Perth born actress, Katherine Langford, star of Netflix hit, 13 Reasons Why, came in second with more than 42.1 million followers and $737,205 per sponsored post, while Hugh Jackman finished third with more than 31.6 million followers. The Wolverine star, who primarily uses his Insta to share appearances at movie premieres and events, as well as posting training videos, was projected to earn up to $554,989 per sponsored post.

The top 10 list of Aussie insta giants is dominated by actors and singers, with Ruby Rose, Iggy Azalea and Troye Sivan all raking in digital dollars.

“Considering the huge screen presence and fanbase of popular actors, it is no surprise to see figures like Chris Hemsworth and Katherine Langford in the top five,” says Robert Tadros, CEO and founder of Impressive. “Both have also starred in successful projects on Netflix, which may have helped them to gain an even bigger following by promoting themselves on multiple platforms.

The highest ranked fitness influencer was Kayla Itsines at no.9, while the highest ranked sportsman was recently retired cricketer, David Warner at 13th, with 10.2m followers and projected earnings per post of 193k. He beat out F1 star and Drive to Survive sensation Daniel Ricciardo in 17th place and NBA star Ben Simmons in 24th.

Finally, there will be some jousting in the Irwin household today, with Bindi Irwin beating brother Robert by one spot in 27th and 28th place, respectively.

The top 10 most influential Australians on Instagram

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Chris Hemsworth (@chrishemsworth)

1 Chris Hemworth

58.5m followers, $1,041,555 earnings per sponsored post

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by KATHERINE LANGFORD (@katherinelangford)

2 Katherine Langford

42.1m – $737,451

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Hugh Jackman (@thehughjackman)

3 Hugh Jackman

31.6m – $554,989 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Ruby Rose (@rubyrose)

4 Ruby Rose

22.8m – $401,417

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Anne Curtis (@annecurtissmith)

5 Anne Curtis Smith

20.3m – $358,842

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Iggy Azalea (@thenewclassic)

6 Iggy Azalea

17.8m – $316,267

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Tammy 🐚 (@tammyhembrow)

7 Tammy Hembrow

17.6m – 308,665

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by KAYLA ITSINES (@kayla_itsines)

8 Kayla Itsines

16m – $282,816

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by troye sivan (@troyesivan)

9 Troye Sivan

15.3m – $276,352

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Miranda Kerr (@mirandakerr)

10 Miranda Kerr

14.6m – $256,967

Related:

Chris Hemsworth’s real life diet and workout plan

Hugh Jackman shares his daily calories as he bulks up to play Wolverine again

The post Chris Hemsworth is the king of Instagram appeared first on Men's Health Magazine Australia.

With a bunch of Hollywood celebs recently seen flying the Pilates flag, it seems heavy weights and ‘yolked’ physiques might be making way for a more athletic aesthetic.

If you’re looking to boost flexibility, make your limbs more supple and limber, improve balance and posture and reduce your risk of injury in team sports, Pilates might be for you. Read on to discover the many benefits of hitting of the mat.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by ExhalePilatesLondon®️ & Exhale Teacher Training (@exhalepilateslondon)

Pilates is trending among celebrities 

David Beckham swears by Pilates, having been introduced to the practice while on loan at AC Milan. Matthew McConaughey also enjoys a session on the mat and our own Jacob Elordi is known to incorporate a dedicated stretch into his weekly workout sessions. Trending movie star Glen Powell (Top Gun: Maverick), has also been seen on social media wrestling his body through reformer Pilates, describing the practice as “awful” but “great”. 

But it was probably pop music heavyweight Harry Styles who really kicked off the trend, appearing in a video posted by Exhale Pilates London. In it, Styles is seen twisting his core while holding a bar above his head. Simple stuff on paper, yes, but trust us, but give it a try some time—it’s tough!

. Even Breaking Bad’s Giancarlo Esposito appeared in the video, the 65-year-old demonstrating Gumby-level flexibility.

Instagram | @thegiancarloesposito

In the sporting world, meanwhile, top athletes such as LeBron James, Cristiano Ronaldo and Andy Murray also incorporate Pilates into their fitness regimes. For athletes of this magnitude and vintage, any new way to get a physical edge on opponents and mitigate pain and injury in your twilight years is an investment worth making.

What is Pilates 

First, let’s debunk the myth that Pilates is only for flexibility and core strength. While those are certainly important, Pilates can also improve overall strength, balance, and posture. As men, we tend to just try and slap on muscle mass any way we can through weightlifting, but Pilates can help us achieve a more functional and balanced body.

Instagram | @exhalepilateslondon

Pilates is like yoga’s sophisticated cousin. It’s a form of exercise that focuses on building core strength, flexibility, and balance, all while using slow, controlled movements. Joseph Pilates, who created the discipline in the early 1900s, once said, “Physical fitness is the first requisite of happiness.” And honestly, after trying Pilates myself, I have to agree with him. 

It’s all about precision and control, understanding each movement and how it benefits your body. Like an athletic puzzle, each movement slides perfectly into the next, creating a full-body workout that leaves your body feeling refreshed and invigorated. 

Combining low impact movements at high-intensity, Pilates is perfect for anyone looking to improve their fitness without putting too much strain on their joints. It involves extending, flexing, holding, breathing, and further repetitive slow movements that will have your muscles screaming. But here’s the thing—the next day your body won’t be overly sore, which is why a session on the mat between heavy lifting days is a good idea.

Can Pilates help you lose weight?

Pilates offers profound muscle-strengthening benefits, primarily setting your core, glutes, shoulders, and back alight. And depending on your intensity level, it can also begin burning calories to help you drop a few extra kilos. Taking a reformer Pilates class can help increase the intensity of your workout and provide added resistance for a more challenging experience.

What’s a reformer class? It’s Pilates performed on a reformer machine, which uses spring systems for added resistance. It’s surefire way to get sweaty, so best leave your ego at the door. 

The benefits of Pilates

A recent study outlined a laundry list of health benefits of Pilates, including improved posture, flexibility, muscular strength, endurance, body composition, functional autonomy, static balance, motor skills, and specific sports activity components. The study also suggests that Pilates positively affects mood, quality of life, and psychological illnesses, including anxiety and depression.

Additionally, Pilates can benefit men who play sports or participate in activities that require explosive movements. Pilates’ slow and controlled movements can improve body awareness and coordination, leading to better performance on the field or court. 

Why is there a resurgence in Pilates?

It’s becoming increasingly clear that the days when hulking physiques were the ideal male aesthetic are numbered. The current trend is for a more athletic and balanced rig, to look and feel good in all aspects of life. And Pilates can help you achieve just that. 

Many guys in years past were either too self-conscious to be seen in Pilates rooms or felt the workout wasn’t intense enough for them. And sure, these stereotypes persist for some men. But as the empirical evidence for the benefits of Pilates continues to mount and the fact that some of the most recognisable male celebs on the planet are starting to hop on the bandwagon, Pilates is having a moment. Perhaps it’s time to incorporate a session into your weekly workout regimen.

Related Articles:

The post How Pilates became the latest celebrity fitness obsession appeared first on Men's Health Magazine Australia.

The 45-year-old superstar dazzled audiences with a high-tempo show that featured Michael Jackson-esque dance moves, a sizzling rollerblade sequence and appearances by special guests including Alicia Keys and Lil Jon. But the real highlight? That would be when the singer lost his shirt while banging out his 2001 slow jam ‘U Got It Bad’.

There are few 45-year-olds on the planet that boast a rig as lean and sculpted as the one the Usher unveiled yesterday. It had many of us wondering how he did it.

The key to scene-stealing abs and a tight torso as you get older is drilling down on your nutrition, says Men’s Health’s fitness editor Khan Porter. “That’s the number one thing you must do,” says Porter, recommending staples such as lean proteins, green vegies and wholegrains. You also need to focus on core exercises rather than abs-specific “mirror muscle” moves. “As you get older it’s less about volume and intensity and more about quality using functional movements,” adds Porter. He recommends the following workout to build a streamlined stadium-shaking physique.

• Barbell rollouts x 12-15
• Side plank x 30-45 secs
• Strict toes-to-bar x 12-15

Repeat 4 times.

Donna Trope

Related:

Usher reveals his thirsty new SKIMS underwear campaign

Khan Porter on staying positive when you’re injured 

The post Usher’s rig stole the Super Bowl. Here’s how to get killer abs in your 40s appeared first on Men's Health Magazine Australia.

“Electrician came to fix the TV,” Victoria wrote in the caption. “You’re welcome!”

It’s far from the first thirsty photo of her husband that Victoria has shared online; she regularly punctuates her high-fashion Instagram grid with cheeky snaps of David in various states of undress. But you could argue, in fact, that this post is her carefully calculated revenge.

The couple have a penchant for lightly making fun of each other, and that was never demonstrated better than in the recent Beckham documentary in Netflix, which featured one scene in particular between David and Victoria in particular that went viral. During an interview, Victoria, known to an entire generation as Posh Spice, tried to state that she actually came from quite a humble, working class background—until David badgered here into finally admitting that she would get dropped off at school in her father’s Rolls-Royce.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Victoria Beckham (@victoriabeckham)

It’s a funny moment of gentle ribbing between two people who have been together for over 20 years. And it’s possible that Victoria’s “electrician” caption for this photo, casting her millionaire husband in a tradesman role, is a knowing wink to that jokey bit of class commentary. Or, perhaps more probably, it’s a case of a woman knowing exactly what kind of picture of her super-fit partner will blow up on her socials.

via menshealth.com

The post Victoria Beckham just shared a cheeky photo of David Beckham in his underwear appeared first on Men's Health Magazine Australia.

“Unfortunately I got some bad news late yesterday,” Barnes wrote on Instagram. “Despite everyone’s best efforts the bacterial infection I’ve been battling over the past fortnight has apparently now spread to my heart. It’s infected an otherwise healthy valve that was replaced some years ago due to a congenital defect, so I’ll be getting open heart surgery over the next few hours to clear out this infection and put in a clean valve.”

The former Cold Chisel frontman had recently cancelled his scheduled headlining slot at Torquay’s ‘By The C’ festival as well as his remaining gigs for the year as he dealt with the infection.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Jimmy Barnes (@jimmybarnesofficial)

The 67-year-old said that the operation would “obviously take me out of action for a little while,” which he said was “hugely frustrating” as “just a few weeks ago I was the fittest I’ve been in decades!”

Barnes wrote that this latest health scare happened “very suddenly”, and it would take some time to figure out what will happen with his upcoming shows.

“I’m really sorry for all the inconvenience this will cause but please be patient while my team works hard to figure things out. A new plan will be announced as soon as possible.”

Barnes also thanked his wife Jane for her “around the clock love and care over the last few weeks,” and the doctors and nurses who have been taking care of him.

He ended by warning fans this may be the last direct update they hear from him for a while.

“Given the serious nature of the operation I probably won’t be posting again for the next few weeks so all the best to you and yours for the holidays. Here’s hoping 2024 is full of much better things,” he wrote.

Barnes’ latest health scare comes after he was forced undertake months of bed rest earlier this year following emergency hip surgery.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Jimmy Barnes (@jimmybarnesofficial)

Related: 

Bronny James is coming back

Here’s what you need to know about Australia’s vaping ban

The post Jimmy Barnes to undergo open heart surgery appeared first on Men's Health Magazine Australia.