How to Get a Body Like Brad Pitt in Fight Club
Feb 14th, 2008 by Mehdi Tags: Build Muscle
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Brad Pitt in Fight Club. Image credit: Beyond Franks Grave
Sosuave.net has a 10+ page discussion about how to get a body like Brad Pitt in Fight Club. Some extracts:
Does anyone know the best way to cut a body like Brad Pitt’s in Fight Club. I’m have a pretty fit body now but i want that cut look he has in the movie.
What type of workout would you do to get the “Pitt” look. I’ve been trying to get my arms bigger for months and nothing works. My chest is huge, but my arm size doesn’t match.
According to this article Brad Pitt’s body fat was around 6% in Fight Club. I wish it went into detail about his diet. I want to get a “Fight Club” physique like he had, not necessarily be big and bulky.
I’d like to have Brad Pitt’s exact build. How much do y’all think this dude weighs?? 200 lbs? 210?? I’m 6′1″ so I’m wondering how much weight I’d have to put on
I think that would be ideal for an ectomorph like me who has it very hard to gain weight and so maybe a Brad Pitt body would be a reasonable target
I think it’s at the point were ladies notice and then above that they start to get intimidated which i dont want.
I would like to be huge but my genetics wont allow it and i accept that, or i would have to be hugely dedicated but i dont really have the time to eat every hour on the hour.
The Fight Club Physique. Brad Pitt weighs 150-160lbs at 6′ in Fight Club, which makes him a skinny guy. I’m 155lbs at 5′8 and I’m considered a light weight. At 6′ you should weigh at least 185lbs.
Brad Pitt lacks leg, traps, back & chest development. His arms & shoulders are disproportionate compared with his forearms & chest. Think away his arms & shoulders, and Pitt doesn’t even look like he workouts.
The Fight Club Workout. You have different genetics than Brad Pitt. Different muscle shapes, body type, length of bones, etc. Even if you do the same sets, reps, exercises & diet as Brad Pitt, you’d still not have his body.
Big shoulders give an impression of size: they widen your torso. Pitt focused on shoulders & arms. No Squats, no Deadlifts, no legs. Only high rep isolation exercises, building a disproportionate physique.
Self-acceptance. Brad Pitt’s personality in Fight Club is what make people want to build the same physique. Ironically Fight Club is about not trying to be what movies, television & ads sell you.
Build your own body. Make people want to be like you, rather than you wanting to be other people. If you want to impress the ladies, do it by being comfortable with who you are. People don’t like copycats. They like what’s scarce.
How to Build Muscle without Getting Bulky. Weight lifting builds muscle. But you can avoid getting big & bulky. Here’s how:
- Build Strength. More strength is more muscle. More muscle is more calories burned. Get into strength training.
- Compound Exercises. Avoid ending up with a disproportionate physique by doing full body routines like StrongLifts 5×5.
- Clean Food. 90% of the time. Prepare your own food. 1g/lbs protein. Lots of veggies & fruits. Junk meals once a week.
- Control Calorie Intake. You can build muscle without getting bulky. Eat your body-weight in lbs x 18kcal daily. Add cardio if necessary.
I have never understood the fascination of Brad Pitt.
When he broke up with Jennifer Aniston one of the sweetest babes or at least she appears to be I thought wtf and now the dude is with a gal that Hollywood wants every guy to think is the prettiest sexiest woman living and I differ on that fact.
The woman is strange as hell in my opinion and that takes away any beauty she might have and now Brad Pitt is with her and is turned into a woman himself with no backbone when I see them two together I say to myself what a nice lesbian couple.
– Lonesilver. Sosuave.net
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this article is awesome. ala The Departed movie:
“I don’t want to be a product of my environment, I want my environment to be a product of me.”
Maybe the title should have been - “Why You Dont Want A Body Like Brad Pitt in Fight Club” - If you look closely at how disproportionate he is it makes him look like an ogre.
– Build your own body. Make people want to be like you, rather than you wanting to be other people.
Yeah, that’s kinda my view on it also. Allthough I don;t really care if people want to look like me, or dislike the way I look. As long as I am happy with it. (strong aversion and kids spontaneuos crying would be cute for a while though)
Great article again Mehdi!
Keep it up!
Good article. Alot of guys like his look in that movie and, absolutely his attitude makes him all the cooler. I have to disagree with you about his personal life with Angelina, not the lesbian couple part though… that was funny!! But a few years ago he gave an interview and talked about his personal beliefs. They were in many ways similar to the Tyler character in fight club. He basically talked about how fame, wealth and beauty can keep you attached to the material world and hinder spiritual growth, true growth. There aren’t alot of people at his level that dare to talk about this kind of stuff. I think he’s a real person. Also he and AJ give tons of money to less fortunate people, i mean that’s cool. Anyway its cool to see someone who has great success speak about true success and personal growth and show some depth of character. Kind of like you Medhi!
I think a lot of people want to get as cut and skinny as him which would just require A LOT of cardio and healthy eating . Fight Club is an excellent movie the book is even better.
@Nathan
Thanks. The quote at the end is by Lonesilver, a member of Sosuave not by me. I like Brad Pitt, he was smart enough not to fall in the trap of the “playboy” they’d like to put him in after thelma & louise. He made good choice of movies: interview with a vampire, se7en, fight club, snatch, jesse james, etc. But I agree with what Lonesilver says, and frown upon a lot of things he does with Jolie. However it’s his life.
Excellent response, and yes, FightClub is an all-time great movie. By the way, Pitt isn’t 6′, he’s 5′11″ tops. (Check celebheights.com/ or Imdb.com).
Now how about the training of guys like Christian Bale (did lots of heavy squats/eating for Batman - 6-6′1″- 210-220 lbs) or Daniel Craig?
Cheers. Tomorrow I will squat 80 kg 5 x 5.
@Dilan
Imdb said 6′. Bale & Craig are better role models indeed. Don’t know if Craig did it naturally. But I believe Bale did. After having seen him getting skinny for “the machinist”, I believe Bale has what it takes too eat huge amount of weights and actually Squat.
Thanks Mehdi, I completely agree with you that it his unique attitude which makes him admired, although he does have remarkably low bodyfat. (Interestingly, he is a unique in that he is kind of a bodybuilder/actor, he diets down for all his movies, and lifts weight in between, so for him a film is kind of like is bb show)
Here’s my argument on this subject:
1I don’t believe that he weighed that much, this picture is a bad angle, in others he looks way bigger.
2. I believe that he probably just did a normal BB full body workout, I don’t think he did anything fancy.
3. I completely agree don’t try to look like, try to look like yourself!
Just a suggestion. Every time you talk about weights, you should use both unit systems. You have a lot of readers outside the USA and UK (you are belgian indeed, didn’t you?). When you tell me 185lbs or 300lbs is the same to me. Nothing. You make me go to onlineconversion all the time. I think that this change would be effortless for you but great improve for us, International System of Units users
greetings from Spain!
I agree with the article, stop trying to conform to what Hollywood and magazines tell you to look like… I do disagree that Pitt was only 150-160 though, I’m 6′2″ and 175lbs and if I leaned out 20lb I still wouldn’t be half that ripped.
@Laro: 1kg = 2.2lbs , just divide by 2 and you have a basic idea.
Now if Mehdi measured things in stones…
Lol! great article. Couldn’t agree more.
In that movie he just looks like a typical street teenager that’s too poor to buy enough food. I’m not kidding, there’s lots of poor areas over here that are full of kids that look just like him.
I think the secret is do a few pushups here and there, and a small handful of chinups every now and then, and dont eat enough and the occasional short jog to the convenience store for a pack of cigarettes will get you into his shape. LOL.
Besides, thats exactly the type of character the movie is about isn’t it? No coincidence. Hehe.
Laro, You’ll get used to the units. Getting into the world of weight training is like learning a new language. I hardly knew what a pound was until i started picking up pieces of metal.
Your insight has to be appreciated by so many. Who else would have gotten up and said that at Brad Pitt is actually SKINNY in that movie; the role that so many want to emulate. I don’t think anyone took a look at the way his body is actually shaped and came to the conclusion about his imbalances like you did. Thanks for shedding light on this
Angelina Jolie? Bitch please! She ain’t got nothing on Milla Jovovich *drools*
But I agree, Pitt’s body in Fight Club is nothing compared to Ivan Stoitsov’s body. Damn you, Mehdi. Ever since you put that image up, that’s all I can think about on how I’d love to look. Ah well.
@Laro
I use the metric system like you yes. The text in quote started with lbs, so I continued. Sometimes you’ll see lbs, sometimes kg. Divide lbs by 2 when I use it, it gives you an approximate.
@yardbid
Ripped is body fat, not body-weight.
I always multiply by 2.2 or divide by 2.2 depending on which way I need to convert. It’s not that difficult.
I’ve always been confused by this, but what is the philosiphy behind fight club?
Why does the person have to go to groups where everyone is ill to be able to sleep?!
And why do they go around making fight clubs :S?
What are the messages the movie trys to tell you?
@Ro
I think the most important message of the movie is when tyler (brad) is yelling “LET GO” over and over to edward norton’s character while in the car. This scene, to me, sums up a lot of what many spiritual masters teach. It is a letting go of attachment to illusion and to the way we think things “should be” and to accept things the way they are. Because its only after acceptance that change is possible. It also points to the illusion of control that we tend to think we have. Its a kind of over the top way to get the point across but makes for a good scene.
@medhi
oops you are right. Sorry i thought that was your quote. I saw the big quotation marks AFTER i had posted. (i’m not as smart as I like to pretend to be)
Lets not forget that it is the actors JOB to look good. It’s part of his job, unlike most of us guys on here.
that look is easy-crossfit and the zone diet
Brad Pitt is severely underweight in this movie.
I believe 10-11%bf is an ideal bf level for all of us lifters who also want strength. what do u feel is a good guage for our weight based on height?
I have found this method to get pretty close for lifters: multiply each inch of height over 5 feet by the number six, and add 109 to that number. ie:a 5′8″ man’s ideal weight would be 157 (8″x6+109). A 6′ man’s ideal would be 181lbs (12″x6+109).
mehdi what have u found?
by the way, I know everyone has different goals but I feel this measuremnt is for the lifter who wants to be as strong as possible and have a ‘medium’ physique.
@skibengal05
I do like this, using the metric system: 1m70 is 70kg, 1m80 is 80kg, 2m00 is 100kg. etc. With a body fat around 10% that will always look good. Think you get the same results as using your formula, thanks for that formula btw, comes in handy.
Years ago, when I was a runner training to do marathons, I tried and tried to get the physique of an elite class 10K runner whose name escapes me as did his physique. I wanted to be a good marathon runner but my body looked like it was better suited for a short sprint or maybe a long walk in the park.
The point is, optimize your own particular body type and cut your own marble by focusing on the correct diet to keep your body fat low and use solid lifting techniques like you find at stronglifts and stay away from the ‘mirror muscle” posers!
If considering a skinny guy look I would prefer Jason Statham then brad pitt
completely agree with u Markfu 
totally agree, Harsh. Statham has a great build. In either case, though, I got what I got, so I hope I am making the best of it. Ha!
I agree. I never understood why people would want to look like Brad Pitt. I always thought he was too skinny. However, I would like his bodyfat percentage, just with more muscle. I have always had a much easier time building muscle than losing fat, though.
OK. I bought a copy of Fight Club and am watching it tonight. I am blocking out the fact that the ending was mentioned…
He’s 5ft 11 and 11 and a half stone in that film… That is difficult to achieve…
I rather admire the body of Bruce Lee. He was thinner and much more muscular than Brad.
I met Brad about 4 years ago, he was out for shopping..I am 6ft even..and I could see the top of his head, he is 5 8″ max!! and is about 155lbs…a smallish guy…