The Twilight Saga: Eclipse The Movie

Taylor Lautner graces yet another cover.  He is December 2009 Men’s Health Coverguy.  Ooh lala.  He dishes about how to build muscle fast and monster abs.  The kindly folks at Men’s Health also gave us a video to drool over.

Taylor Lautner isn’t a naturally strong guy, but his career depends on becoming brawny. Between the first and second Twilight films, his character grew into a powerful werewolf. That meant he needed to gain 30 pounds of muscle in a year. Which he did.

Think about that: Taylor Lautner used to be a 5′10″, 140-pound, bony teenager, and now he’s a rippledfitness animal. If he can overcome physical shortcomings, anyone can. “Inexperience works to your advantage,” says Jordan Yuam, Lautner’s trainer and the owner of Jordan’s Virtual Fit Club. “The less muscle you have, the easier it is to gain muscle mass more quickly.”

Your strategy: Eat right and follow a smart, strategicworkout regimen. “Maximize your genetic potential,” says Yuam. “There’s no reason you can’t gain pounds of muscle in a year.”

Lautner is counting on it: The third movie in the Twilight series is due out in mid-2010. “My character continues to grow,” he says, “so I’d like to pack on at least a few more lean pounds.”

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Here’s how to follow Taylor Lautner’s lead and build strength at frightening speed — without working like a dog.

Push your limits To grow large, your body needs to become comfortable with heavy loads. “That’s why I had Taylor ‘taste’ a much heavier weight,” says Yuam, who would stack a bar (or use dumbbells) with about 40 percent more weight than Lautner could normally lift 10 times. So if you can lift, say, 120 pounds 10 times, go with 170 pounds. Then, using a spotter, perform only the lowering half of lifts. (”It’s critical that your spotter be strong enough to lift the weight back up by himself,” Yuam says.) For a bench press, that means slowly lowering the weight to your chest. This lets your body adjust to the new weight even before you’re ready to raise it. The move is taxing on your muscles, though, so limit your “tasting” to 2 or 3 sets of 5 reps every other week.

Vary your volume Heavier isn’t always better. To maximize gains, Lautner regularly varies reps and the amount of weight he lifts. “If you want a balanced body, you have to do that,” says Yuam. The more your muscles are forced to adapt to a new routine, the more they grow. Instead of always doing 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps, for example, occasionally reduce the weight and shoot for 4 sets of 15 reps. A recent study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that men who regularly varied their rep counts and trained different muscle groups increased their bench strength by 28 percent and their leg-press strength by 43 percent.

Create tension Free weights are best, but they have a drawback: Some parts of a lift are easier than others, so your muscles aren’t being worked consistently. That’s why Taylor Lautner often attaches giant rubber bands to a bar or dumbbell he’s going to lift, and then anchors the bands to the base of a power rack or a pair of heavy dumbbells. “The bands create more tension, making the lift harder and forcing your muscles to peak out at the top of the movement,” Yuam says. As a result, your body recruits more muscle fibers and works them harder, accelerating growth. Bands are available in most gyms.