Fitness expert critiques Zac Efron’s exercise and ‘organic only’ diet

An exercise expert has slammed Zac Efron‘s workout and diet routine, calling several of his signature moves ‘a waste of time.’ 

Podcast host Dr Mike Israetel, a professor of exercise and sport science at Leman College in New York City, posted a video in March where he examined Efron’s routine that has jacked him up for movies like Baywatch and The Iron Claw. 

In the video, which has more than 1.1million views, Dr Israetel praised Efron’s physique as ‘lean,’ and said the star was ‘in great shape.’ 

‘Most of what’s in here is pretty good,’ he added.

However, he criticized the trainer Efron worked with for his 2017 Baywatch film Patrick Murphy, who has worked with the likes of Keanu Reeves, Aubrey Plaza, and Cameron Diaz, for giving the High School Musical alum shoulder exercises that ‘do almost nothing.’ 

Additionally, he criticized the 36-year-old actor for claiming he only eats organic food and suggesting that all processed foods are unhealthy. 

Dr Israetel’s video was a reaction to an interview Efron did with Men’s Health, in which the actor said he worked out the hardest for his role in the remake of Baywatch. 

Looking at a clip from the film, Dr Israetel said: ‘First of all, he’s in shape. He’s lean. You can see some of the serratus muscles, the ribs separated. You’re in good f****** shape.’

The serratus anterior is a fan-shaped muscle that attaches the shoulder blade to the rib cage.

‘Another trick to see who’s lean or not, his face is really sunken in, not a lot of fat face. This is already very good because when you’re lean, some s*** you’re doing has to be working, I think,’ Dr Israetel said. 

In the original interview, trainer Murphy claims he gave Efron ‘one of the most dynamic programs I’ve put together’ to ‘get him in the best shape of my life.’  

He said: ‘When I had to get Zac in the best shape of his life, I decided to introduce the super setting workouts, and what that entailed was two exercises followed back to back without rest.

‘This created an elevated heart rate, which maxed calorie burning. This created muscle efficiency, high muscular endurance, and I created an unstoppable machine’

Dr Israetel admitted that while super setting ‘is a good idea’ that ‘burns a ton of calories and gets the person sweating and really excited about working out,’ he criticized the use of several of the specific moves.  

These included external rotations, which involves flexing the elbow at a 90-degree angle so the hand moves away from the body. 

‘External rotations do almost nothing,’ he said. ‘Unless you have some kind of problem in your shoulders, you can just start warming up for whatever exercise you’re actually going to load that day first.’

He also noted this move should be saved for people with past shoulder issues or other similar issues, otherwise ‘it’s a f****** waste of your time.’

Another move involved standing on one leg and performing lateral raises, lifting your arms forward in front of you while holding weights.  

‘That’s f****** stupid unless you have brittle ankles and you can’t move them and you need stabilization training, which is true for almost no one,’ Dr Israetel said. 

He added: ‘Standing on one leg and doing lateral raises only reduces the activation to your side delts because stability is the number one promoter of muscle activation. 

‘As soon as you move some amount of stability, some amount of muscle activation goes down, and it’s usually the biggest, most growth-prone parts of the muscle that lose activation.

‘So this standing on one leg nonsense is exactly that: nonsense. Otherwise, this technique on lateral raises is just fine.’ 

Dr Israetel’s video also examined Efron’s diet, which the actor said includes ‘intermittent fasting mixed with getting enough nutrition to sustain me throughout the day.’

The expert noted while this ‘works fine,’ he would instead recommend eating three to five high-protein meals throughout the day, as protein is essential for muscle growth and repair. 

His main dietary criticism was about Efron saying he avoids processed food and only eats organic. 

In addition to calling organic a ‘nonsense term’ that ‘means nothing at all,’ Dr Israetel argued that several healthy foods have some degree of processing, including whey and casein protein, which are popular among fitness buffs.

He said: ‘These are insanely good for you and all those little herbs and mushrooms you take as pills, that’s great for you too, but that is insanely processed.

‘Most of the time, having minimally processed foods is a good idea, but that’s not always the case, and it sure as s*** has nothing to do with organic, which is a waste of money and a f****** scam.’