The Crazy Workout Plan that Turned ‘Lanky’ Bradley into ‘American Sniper’ Bradley

Health & FitnessApril 3, 2023

Bradley Cooper wasn’t too sure about playing a Navy Seal in the movie American Sniper. Especially after he saw fellow actor Chris Pratt’s physical transformation (for his role in the movie The Guardians of the Galaxy), Cooper felt Pratt was better suited for the lead role. Pratt’s size and his Texan accent were easily better than Cooper’s, two things that were crucial to play Chris Kyle’s character. Chris Kyle, a Navy SEAL who was considered the most lethal sniper in history, was an American legend with more than 255 enemy kills (although only 160 were officially confirmed). Cooper knew that this role would be beyond challenging.

Bradley’s workout regime was crafted carefully by trainer to the stars, Jason Walsh. It involved working out twice every day, in 2 hour sessions, with the goal of gaining weight for the American Sniper role. His workout routine included very little cardio, lots of heavy weight training, and continuous eating to maintain high caloric intake.

Every weekday from 6:00 am to 8:00 am, he hit the gym and then again from 2:00 pm to 4:30 pm. He was essentially a human science experiment, testing methods to get as huge as Chris Kyle was! ‘The Cooper workout’ utilized circuit training with exercise sets done continuously with rest of 1 minute between circuits. Circuit training ensures doing numerous exercises before resting.

He needed a workout routine to help him jack up and reach his set goal of about 230 pounds, to even attempt looking like the famous sniper. Circuit training helped burn fat, bulked up muscle, and kept heart rates up. ‘The Bradley Cooper diet’ meant eating plenty of calories to gain weight with the help of trainer Jason Walsh and Chef Kristin O’Connor, to make sure that his diet was right on track. Cooper started eating 5,000 calories a day, going up to 6,000 calories. Personal Chef Kristin O’Connor, who co-authored a popular recipe book, made a special gluten-free diet for him. To consume maximum calories daily, plenty of food was available as Bradley needed a whole lot of energy, with fruits, rice and oatmeal being the primary sources of energy-rich carbs.