Spartacus Hunk; Tyrone Bell Profile and Video; January 2013

What is your occupation and what does it involve?
I'm a Stuntman & Cast Personal Trainer. As you can imagine my two roles where quiet different; as a stunt double I performed all of the fight scenes and dangerous stunts for the character ‘Crixus’ on the TV show Spartacus, whom Manu Bennett played. When you see him on the show taking hits, fighting, performing dangerous gags etc that’s me. As well a being a stunt performer on this show I was the Personal Trainer to all the cast members. I was responsible for developing and monitoring their training programs throughout all four seasons as well as ensuring they followed their individual nutritional plans.

What's your background in fitness/training?
I’ve always been into fitness but initially it was all in the form of sports. Then getting into Stunt work at a young age I adopted weights with a view to injury prevention – something you can imagine is very important for a stunt performer. While doing stuntwork in Australia I also managed to get qualified as a Personal Trainer and worked as a Trainer to stunt professionals for a number of years. I got known as the trainer to have onset throughout a number of production companies for both stunt performers and actors/actresses and continue to do so both locally and internationally.

Contests competed in
I did my first two contests last year: 2012 NZIFBB Auckland show, 2012 NZIFBB Waikato show, unfortunately due to massive increased responsibilities at work (heading into the last two episodes of the Spartacus season) I had to choose not to compete in the NZIFBB Nationals.

Why did you choose to compete in physique rather than the traditional bodybuilding class? I have nothing but mad respect for the bodybuilders; in fact I use to go to bodybuilding shows just to see the big boys step on stage. They are the pinnacles of what humans can take their bodies to. While I have nothing but admiration for these guys – I don’t personally want to look like that. Personally I’m trying to achieve a body that is considered aesthetically perfect, haha perfect is always a great goal. And that’s what the NZIFBB Physique Class is all about.

   

The physique class is pretty much the guys version of the bikini class and its all about the sexy. Is this an area you work on? how do you think guys can put themselves out there without being cheesy.

I like the ‘balance’ in the class. Unlike bodybuilding classes where the biggest and most ripped win, I like the difficulty in trying to get it just right for the physique criteria. You cant be soft but you cant step on stage rock hard. You have to have muscle but you cant look like a bodybuilder. You need to be ripped but not shredded. Its hard to get it perfect. But that’s what I love. The sexy part of the class is the part I find the hardest haha I don’t consider myself ‘sexy’ at all. I’m actually a pretty shy guy. I get on stage, or even in front of cameras on modeling jobs and just hope all my work in the gym and discipline in kitchen does the ‘sexy work’ for me.. However, any sexy tips would be most welcomed haha

Have you got ambitions in the physique class beyond the nz stage? Absolutely! Everything I do I set my goals high, including my personal ambitions for this class. So, I do aim to be competing at an international level in the Physique Class hopefully before too long. I’m planning a solid year competing with the NZIFBB and hopefully they see me good enough to head in the international direction with them.

How did you manage dieting around your vigorous work as trainer and stuntman on Spartacus?

What was your weight training regime? 
I really didn’t change my training too much leading up to my comps. The only change was during the last week when I was next to zero carbs and water depleting I’d change up my training format to train full body 3 times that week only 1 exercise, 3 sets per body part, pretty heavy (6 reps each set) but not to failure, just to help stay as full as possible and help push what little glycogen I had in my body into my muscle cells. That was the only real changes to my training that was purposely made.

What is a typical Spartacus training session and Who is the Spartacus workout ideal for? The Spartacus training that your referring to is the bootcamp styled training that’s focus was on functional performance and strength. This was generally done in what we structured as a 10 to 1’s format.

We would have a number of stations (exercises) that each person would start on. You would perform 10 reps on that exercise then move on to the next. Perform 10 reps, move to the next. You would do this until you completed all of the stations/exercises then perform it all again doing 9 reps on each station. Perform it again doing 8 reps, again doing 7 reps, 6 reps, all the way down to 1 rep on each station, and then as a final destroyer you would do one last round at 10 reps once again. This is all done with no rest.

The exercise volume would depend on how many stunt performers and actors that were with as for that session, but these 10-1’s Spartacus sessions averaged 40-45 minutes in length. Exercise selection was generally all explosive dynamic movements. These would range from tire flips, sledgehammer swings, heavy rope work, and sled runs to name a few.

   

A modified Spartacus 10-1’s session in a normal gym would be tricky but not impossible. You could follow the same 10-1’s format selecting 10-12 dynamic exercises and performing them under the same format. Select exercises that aren’t machines. You want exercises that are all compound movements and use stabilizing muscles. Explosive cable work, Medicine Ball throws, kettlebell swings and ‘Get Ups’ all good selections. Try to structure the order of your exercise to focus on different muscle groups on each station. Be sure to select a balance of exercises that work the entire body without overtraining one particular body part. Ive had so many emails and messages from people all over hitting me up about how to do this, so I’ll work on a video for a modified Spartacus 10-1 sessions soon. I would NOT recommend this type of training for individuals trying to gain muscle.

This training is ideal for individuals who want to increase the functionality and performance of their current muscle mass, perfect for those who need power, and muscle endurance, or individuals waiting to torch body fat. The calories you burn in one of these sessions is huge! - you're still looking very lean and muscular, how do you stay in such condition in terms of what you do in your diet and training.

You're still looking very lean and muscular, how do you stay in such condition in terms of what you do in your diet and training.

I need to stay in shape all year round. The highest I’ll allow my bodyfat to go is 10% because I know in 3 -4 weeks, if needed, I can get down to 6% from that 10% mark.

I need to stay what I call ‘Camera Ready’. Whether that be for modeling campaigns, or as a stunt performer I need to be able to peak in a short amount of time if needed. I do this through eating clean all year round.

I’ll allow one cheat meal a week, where I eat whatever I want as much as I want for two hours, then straight back to eating clean. Training remains the same; 4-5 weight session, with 5-6 morning cardio sessions per week, every week.

What type of training are you doing now in the ‘off season’ and are you incorporating any dynamic training

As mentioned I don’t have the luxury of an ‘off season’ so the training that I perform all year round is focused on a slower rate of muscle gain, because as you know being lean makes it a little harder for popping on muscle mass.

Morning cardio is always kept in there all year round. As for dynamic training, I will perform two sessions a week that keeps me ‘stunt/action ready’ this is in the form of 10-1’s (as mentioned before), as well as body conditioning (training the body to take hits), sparring, grappling, basic gymnastics and stunt falls. When I do these stunt training sessions I actually load up on extra carbs. Healthy carbs, but large quantities to get me through and help ensure I don’t rob my muscles of any vital muscle building nutrients.

Is there an area of your physique you are fine tuning or want to improve?
Absolutely! Like I mentioned my goal is aesthetic perfection so I got a long way to go all over hahaha Two areas inparticular that I specifically will be focusing on this year is increasing mass in both my Triceps and Calfs. As well as that I’ve given myself until NZIFBB Nationals to step on stage with the best set of Abs on any competitor in my class in the country. It’s a high goal because there is some quality sets of abdominals on these boys, but I always set my goals high haha.