Leading a healthy lifestyle and flaunting a good, strong physique demand a lot of work, time and energy. Moreover, they shall be taken seriously; they are not easy to achieve. However, dreams can come true if people take them seriously and do what is required to reach where they want to be and how they want to look like. Of course, there is a reason behind encouraging teenagers to look up to men who lead healthy lifestyles, do sports, train and eat healthy food. From male models who had severe injuries that would hinder them from leading healthy lives to men who were all-nighters and used to consume alcohol, we have a lot of stories to inspire us. Top Teny offers a list of 10 of the most handsome male fitness models, providing a glimpse into their mind-blowing stories, struggles, and training philosophies.
10 Daniel Blackwell
The 24-year-old male fitness model was a sportsperson as much as he remembers. Blackwell recalls that he used to play football when he was younger. However, he stopped when suffered a bad hamstring injury although he reached a professional level. He said that his coach encouraged him to train in the gym so he would stay in shape, but Blackwell took fitness to a whole new level and have not stopped training in the gym ever since. In an interview, Blackwell tells simplyshredded.com, “When I started working out I wanted to look like the worlds top fitness models. However, I learned this was going to take years, so I set a target weight and body fat percentage”. Blackwell also has an ultimately strict diet and workout routine to have such perfect physique.
9 Pham Woodbridge
Pham Woodbridge is a good-looking and famous male fitness model. In an interview with simplyshredded.com, Woodbridge said that it was his friend who encouraged him to take the first step and lift weights. It was in 2001 when Woodbridge saw the striking difference when his friend Thanh showed up with “a lean and muscular build” body after he had a “tall and scrawny” body. As a teen, Woodbridge was into sports, used to play football, basketball, and tennis in his old neighborhood. However, as far as he remembers he hasn’t joined an organized league at that time. Moreover, Woodbridge is not your typical sportsperson as he experienced drinking alcohol and partying all night, which is considered integral parts of an unhealthy lifestyle.
In his interview, he opens up about his training philosophy, saying “When I step into the gym and put on those headphones(try this one), it is time to go to work!”, he continues. “I make every set and every rep count because I know somewhere out there someone is trying to work harder than me”.
Matus Valen has inherited the strong physique from his father who was a bodybuilder(start here) back in their home country, Slovakia. Valent has started to work out at the tender age of 14-15. Surprisingly, his father loved sports so much that he had a hardcore gym where he started his training. Surprisingly, Valent does not do cardio. “Normally I don’t do any cardio, but when I am cutting down I do it twice a week on the Elliptical Trainer for about 20-25 minutes after my workout,” he said. To remain in shape, Valent has supplement intakes that include: Whey Protein, Amino Acids, Creatine, Preworkout Drink, Nitric Oxide, Testosterone Booster, Beta-alanine, Multivitamin, and Glutamine.
7 Jaco De Bruyn
Jaco De Bruyn had started his career as a model when he was a teenager, despite the fact that he conducted an unhealthy lifestyle. When grew up, he became a male fitness model which suited his muscular physique. At first, he did not think about bodybuilding; he was graced with good looks. After he became graced with bodybuilding as well, he has become Jaco De Bruyn that we know today. After excessive hard work, he achieved his goal, nailed the perfect body and has turned a fitness icon.
He made it to the Heat Magazine Hot 100 Sexiest Celebrities Worldwide in 2010; he was ranked the 6th. Of course, De Bruyn follows a diet plan with which he is looking forward to fitting in 7 meals per day, supplemented with 4 protein shakes throughout.
As far as Scott Baptie remembers, he has always been passionate about sports. Since he joined college, he aspired to increase his knowledge in gym and nutrition. In an interview, Baptie tells TrimmedandToned,”I am fortunate enough that I now work in the industry I love as a nutrition consultant, with a bit of fitness modeling on the side”. He recalls that when he started out, he was looking forward to being on the covers of magazines. He considers himself lucky as he has had shots for some magazines and has also made an appearance on the cover of Men’s Fitness. After shooting for magazine covers, he has realized that models on covers are just regular men. Baptie believes that a guy can make it with nutrition, training and hard work.
Rob Riches did not think that the accident when he fell off a mountain bike would be a blessing in disguise. After his arms were healed from the accident, his doctor advised him to strengthen them. Talking about the best workout routine for him, he said, “I’ve always been a fan of the basic movements, straight sets and going heavy. That’s originally how I built my physique. My mentality has always been if it was good enough for the pioneers of bodybuilding, Arnold, Larry Scott, and Sergio, then it was good enough for me”. His diet currently is about 45% protein, 35% carbs, and 20% fats. He also consumes less than 3,000 calories a day.
James Ellis has faced obstacles while pursuing his dream, trying to catch it; things were not served to the American fitness model on a silver plate. No one saw it coming; neither his teachers nor his colleagues foresaw his bright future. Ellis was considered an unlucky kid who was bullied at school. However, hope was incarnated in the famous model’s mother as she encouraged him not to bat an eye or take the negative comments in consideration; she believed that her son would turn big one day and it happened! James’s diet was about lean proteins, healthy fats, and complex carbs. He usually has chicken, fish, turkey, egg whites and Greek yogurt for his protein. However, for his intake of carbohydrates, he goes for brown rice, sweet potatoes, oats and rice cakes with plenty of vegetables such as broccoli and grilled asparagus.
Not only is Mark Fitt a renowned fitness model, but also a successful entrepreneur; he is the CEO of his own apparel company. Born and raised in Montreal, Marc Fitt was not a big fan of sports and bodybuilding. As a teenage boy, Fitt resorted to the gym to get a strong physique and to stand out among his peers during teenage days. When he was 20, he joined the police academy to be part of the SWAT team, Of course, as any policeman, Fitt needed to be strong enough to stay strong in such a tiresome job. Surprisingly, Fitt dropped the police academy and pursued the career of fitness modeling; he knew he was meant to be a nutrition and training expert. He believed that if it were not for his courage and ability to ditch the police academy, he would not have reached the point he hit today, saying “Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, follow your instinct, and achieve everything you want”.
2 Jeff Seid
Jeff Seid had it all on hands; however, he worked hard, exerted effort and consumed energy to be America’s youngest ever IFBB Pro. Seid has been a sportsperson as far as he remembers. During his high school days, Seid was a footballer; however, an unexpected injury came onto the scene and changed the path of his life. Have you ever heard of a training book titled Weight Training For Dummies? Yes, that book was one of a few reasons why Jeff Seid is here in the world of bodybuilding and modeling. His parents could see that their son would make it this far as, at the tender age of 12, he pleaded for a set of training equipment, including a bench press, dumbells, 50lbs of weights, 30lbs barbell alongside the training book. Seid owes training a lot. The handsome fitness male could not imagine his life if it were not for sports, saying “Training is a lifestyle now. I can’t imagine life without it. Working out is as much a part of me as my skin and bones”.
The 32-year-old Bulgarian professional fitness trainer and the world’s famous fitness model also has acknowledged that he was meant to be a sportsperson since he was a school kid. Angelov recalls that he was a basketball player when he was a kid and a teenager, but he had a problem with his diet because he had no enough information about the way he would structure it. Of course, the problems he faced regarding this made him collapse because he would be worn out after hours of workouts.
He opens up about his training philosophy to simplyshredded.com, saying “I always liked heavy workouts, so I continue to lift heavy. Regardless of whether I’m bulking or cutting, I still lift heavy. If you’re a natural athlete with an ectomorph body type (my body type is a mix between an ectomorph and mesomorph), you should use heavier weights to maintain good muscle density”.
So, is there a particular training philosophy on the list that caught your attention? And who is your favorite male fitness model that you look up to? Share your opinion with us in the comment section down below.