Robert Downey Jr

It’s fair to say that, a few years before he took the lead in the Iron Man franchise, actor Downey was as likely to be found in a police cell as a gym. The drug abuser and jailbird seemed to be throwing his undoubted talents onto a bonfire of hedonism. A fitness fanatic he most certainly was not.

But then he turned it all round, and ended up getting the nod for Iron Man. And boy, did he buff up. He got a fitness professional in to help, and devised a training routine based on five days per week of weight training coupled with an intensive martial arts programme. With the help of supplements he put on 20 pounds of pure muscle for the role.

According to reports, Downey also used a €œJacob'€™s Ladder€, a climbing treadmill that works muscles on both the upper and lower body, and provides a brilliant fat burning workout.