OK Ivan, let's let go of the Batman obsession for a little bit. LOL. BTW, I'm pretty sure Christian was juicing to get into shape for that film. He started filming less then 6 months after the machinists where he weighed in at 125lbs. What you need to do is get into crossfit. There are several places in Chicago that offer it. Here is one: http://www.crossfitchicago.com/ccblog.php Rudy runs this place. He is an ex-marine. The one in the west loop is cheaper. It's a combination of power lifting, gymnastics and cardio. It's high intensity training. There is nothing like it. There are trixies there from Lincoln park deadlifting more then most the guys on this thread. You will get in phenomenal shape very fast. Don't be intimidated by it. All sorts of people work out there. Give it a look.
Whoa. I am not talking about one set to failure. Perhaps we misunderstand each other. Maybe I'm getting the jargon wrong. By going to failure, I simply mean that I do each set to the limit such that I could not possibly do another rep. However, I do more than one set of the same exercise -- normally 3 or 4. And I generally do more than one exercise per muscle group -- normally two. However, I find that I have to rest for about two minutes between sets for the larger muscle groups because I go all out. I don't know the science behind it, but I just can't imagine that a single set is sufficient, especially if it is the only exercise for that muscle group. Perhaps I'm hopelessly unsophisticated, but that just strikes me as wishful thinking.
That's a mistake. You don't need "ugly definition" to have reasonably good abdominals. And trust me, a good physique is incomplete without a lean gut. I see some guys in the gym who have obviously spent a lot of time bulking up but they have pot bellies or flabby midsections. What are they thinking? They may as well wear a tuxedo with sneakers. In addition to directly hitting the abs, they will be addressed when you do most other basic excercises, especially legs and back. However, the visible definition and general leanness is all about diet. You mentioned only upper torso. Don't overlook legs. You don't want to look like you're walking on pins. It's all about balance (which is why you can't ignore abs).
I just mean obsession over having a "six pack", not that you shouldn't have a strong abdominal section. I don't like "being ripped" in the mid section. As far as my legs, they are the only thing that I don't need to do a thing about. I have the look of a sprinter with strong behind and quadriceps, but thin from the knee down to my feet. I am built to run fast. That said, from what I understand, if you build your large muscle groups, they are the most efficient way to help you lose weight, since there is so much muscle to repair and maintain.
Quite apart from muscle size, if you have very good overall muscle tone, then you will automatically have abdominal definition if you are not sporting a superfluous layer of fat. And don't be alarmed, the "rip" won't happen overnight. You won't wake up one morning and gasp, "Oh my god, what did I do?!" Just lean toward leanness and you'll know when you reach the point you like. I knew a guy who wanted to bulk up fairly quickly and so he worked out hard but ate harder. The idea was that he would lose the gut when he reached the size he wanted. Last I saw him, a few years ago, he was still sporting a gut.
The bigger the muscle, the more energy it consume, and the leaner you'd get, given the same foods and calories consumption level. The difficulty lies in building the big muscles. In order for muscles to grow, it must have excess energy it could use to do the growing. The muscle will need 2 things: 1) Carb as energy, and 2) Protein as building blocks. That's why when someone want to get big, they eat a lot and get fat. (The professional call it "bulk up") Once they reach their desired strength and size, they will then go on a diet to get the desired definition. The diet part is the most difficult part. BTW: Check out this thread from a bodybuilding forum. http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=124558271 You can see those guys are eating (a lot of crap) to bulk up.
That is really interesting, and I think I am beginning to understand. In the wiki on Christian Bale, it says that after he was done filming "The Machinist" he weighed 130 lbs. According to the same wiki he is 6' tall, which would make him look like a walking stick. He was told that he needed to bulk up for BBs. It goes on to say that he put on so much weight and bulk that he got to like 230 lbs in six months!! (perhaps with the help of anabolic steroids) He then went down to about 195. This explains alot on how to get his sort of look! Maybe eat raw eggs (while playing Rocky music), <object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DCysXR92LpI&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xd0d0d0&hl=en_US&feature=player_detailpage&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DCysXR92LpI&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xd0d0d0&hl=en_US&feature=player_detailpage&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="385"></embed></object> tofu etc for six months and lift like mad, then go on a diet. Hmmmmmm.....
Yeah, he was bulking up. He must have ate a lot of stuffs to be able to achieve his weight goal in such a short period of time. Most likely, he was on a pizza and steroids diet. lol I think before he looked the way he did in Batman, he probably looked like a chubby guy during the bulking up.