What makes it more intriguing and difficult is the fact that Tobey Maguire had to lose weight to play a jockey in the film Seabiscuit (his movie prior to Spider-Man 2). He had to lose 12 pounds for the role and then, right after the movie, put on 30 pounds of solid muscle to play the popular swinging hero.
Maguire beefed up not only his skinny frame but also his blockbuster appeal with Spider-Man. The first one made history with an opening weekend draw in 2002 of more than 110 million. The sequel turned in more than 115 million. Maguire, who used to be tagged only as Leonardo DiCaprio’s basketball buddy, is now a mega-star.
Maguire certainly had to physically prepare for the role. He had to follow an extensive exercise regimen for five months, six days a week. "I love working out. As far as how intense I was doing it, it was very time-consuming. But once I got into that kind of routine, I became obsessed about it. I was training like a professional athlete," he said in an interview.
Of course, it helped that the suit was made to make him look real good. "The suit was comfortable, it was very flexible. It’s a muscle-suit. It’s made more for definition than size. When you wear a suit like that, it compresses your muscles to help keep their definition all the time. I got a little sweaty, but it was breathable. If anything, the lenses would get a little fogged up and it blocked my peripheral vision. But it was pretty good," Maguire explained.
Normally, he rarely works out on a regular basis, and believes that his ever-increasing workload, plus being a regular basketball player, burns up the calories. Maguire is also into yoga. His leisure time is spent watching Lakers games or a movie while eating popcorn, M&Ms and junk food.
He has been a vegetarian for the last 10 years. When he was young, he dreamt of becoming a chef like his father until he discovered he never really liked meat. "I like tofu, but only firm tofu. And I love nuts, so one of my favorite dishes is pasta with heaps of nuts thrown in. I cook a lot for myself, but because I like such strange dishes, not many of my friends enjoy it!"
For his role in Spider-Man, Tobey Maguire had to train and equally develop his power, balance, strength, coordination and flexibility. How did he do it?
"I’m on my diet six days a week and I give myself a free day on the seventh day. The same goes with my workouts. My workouts vary pretty greatly and I spend anywhere between two and four hours in the gym per day, six days a week. A combination of strength training and cardiovascular stuff as well as stretching stuff and whatever else I feel like doing."
Maguire’s regimen varied "depending on how sore he felt," explained Holistic Fitness founder Gregory Joujon-Roche. "Mornings were spent improving his flexibility with yoga and splits, along with building strength through abdominal and lower-body exercises on an oversize ball. We would just work on each body part until we killed it," Joujon-Roche revealed. "Afternoons were devoted to cardiovascular activities like martial arts and cycling, to burn fat, plus gymnastics."
For breakfast, Joujon-Roche made the actor, a vegetarian, a "high-protein shake that included nuts, essential oils and vitamins." Lunch was often marinated tofu with broccoli and walnuts while dinner was a big veggie burger with brown rice. How he exercised pretty much dictated what the menu would be. "If his workout was pure weights, he needed protein. If he did cardio, he’d have a shake of all carbs," Joujon-Roche clarified.
Fitness coach Joujon-Roche, who charges $4,000 to $5,000 a week, also helped Brad Pitt prepare for Troy. Pitt began by giving up cigarettes and took up a high-protein, low-carb diet. From there, Joujon-Roche sculpted Pitt with an on-call team, including a nutritionist, chef, masseuse and chiropractor. "We had to tweak Brad into this incredible, godlike shape," said Joujon-Roche. Pitt did a lot of weightlifting, running, yoga and sword fighting. The latter Joujon-Roche credited much for Pitt’s transformation, "Forget the gym and weights. You want to get cut? Take up sword-fighting!"
Seabiscuit went on location shooting in Kentucky. There, Maguire trained by going to Gold’s Gym every day. Bruce Springsteen, popularly known as The Boss, worked out there, too, when he had a concert at the Rupp Arena.
When Maguire was asked how he felt having to lose weight for Seabiscuit and then bulk up for Spider-Man, he answered: "I think it’s not hard for me in the beginning, the preparation for the film. It excites me and I just dive into it and I like seeing the results of something that’s tangible. The hard part is maintaining it while shooting. You’re working 14 hours a day and you still have to be on a diet even though you’re so tired and you’re not getting enough sleep and all you want is sugar. I’m eating 1,500 calories a day and working out several times a week. That becomes hard and I had some mini breakdowns where I just eat as much candy and donuts as you can possibly find. (Of course) I had to pay for those breakdowns."
He then clarified how he bulked up for Spider-Man 2, "I changed my diet and my workout regimen. The bulking up wasn’t hard. Again, it’s just about the maintenance. But it gets tough in the middle of a picture. You just kind of get tired. I just eat a lot more calories, but I keep the ratio similar in terms of lower carbs and you taper the carbs throughout the day. It’s a pretty boring kind of common diet stuff. In terms of workouts, you do a little less cardio, or you don’t get your heart rate up as high because on Seabiscuit, I didn’t mind burning fat and muscle because I just needed to be trim. Whereas for Spider-Man, I keep the heart rate lower so the ratio is greater towards burning fat than fat and muscle. And for workouts, you do lower reps, higher weight to gain mass. It’s pretty simple."
Maguire clearly understands that to have a buffed body worthy of a superhero requires hard work. Maguire recounted, "I heard somebody said ‘You know, I really want to trim down, but I don’t want to go on a diet and I don’t want to work out.’ Okay, well then you’re not going to do it."
Yes, kids need a Spider-Man to idolize and look up to for inspiration. And we need a Tobey Maguire to inspire us to work on our bodies, too.