When Chris Evans went shirtless in the 2011 release Captain America: The First Avenger, the world went crazy, with half of them starstruck by his impeccable body and the other half absolutely driven to have the same. It has been more than a decade since the movie was released by since then numerous bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts have received inspiration from that legendary scene.
And Marvel fan One Pec Wonder aka Gunner Anderson is no different. The fitness enthusiast and personal trainer, who suffers from an unfortunate body condition recently revealed that Evans’ shirtless scene made him start working out and continues to inspire him.
Marvel Fan One Pec Wonder Is Inspired By Chris Evans’ Shirtless Scene
Chris Evans‘ Captain America transformation continues to have an everlasting impact on fitness enthusiasts all over the world. And so it is for Gunner Anderson, a popular personal trainer called the One Pec Wonder. Anderson was born with Poland syndrome, a medical condition where the chest muscles are missing or underdeveloped, and it usually occurs on the right side. Anderson, hence, does not have half of his pectoral muscle on the lower right side (Gunner Anderson Fitness).
While many would be deterred by such a condition, Anderson was not. And it was Evans’ movie that inspired him to overlook and defeat it. In an Instagram post, the fitness coach stated,
“This is the scene (Evans’ shirtless scene) that made me want to start working out. I have been working out for quite a while, not trying to be a bodybuilder, but trying to look like a superhero. Whenever I lost motivation or got tired, I would look at this movie (Captain America) and now a few years later, I think I pretty much nailed it.”
Well, his efforts certainly paid off for many of his fans hail him as a real-life superhero.
Chris Evans’ Training For Captain America: The First Avenger
Chris Evans’ physical transformation for Captain America was a work of many months. He was trained by the celebrated Hollywood trainer, Simon Waterson, the same guy behind the James Bond franchise. The actor was grilled in the gym for two hours every day for three months continuously by Waterson, who had him target two muscle groups before moving to the core (via Men’s Health).
“We would take two muscle groups, whether it was chest and back or biceps and triceps and we would just destroy those muscles, literally, for about two hours. Then we’d cool down with core and abs.”
Furthermore, the gym wasn’t anything special but a regular fitness center. Since Evans’ goal was to get bigger and bigger, cardio wasn’t their focus and so was ignored. Instead, the focus was on shoulders and legs to get the perfect lean yet bulked-up physique, as was befitting of a super soldier.
And lastly, Evans’ thumb rule was to eat, without counting the calories, so he could get as big as possible. And after months of training, the astonishing results can be seen in the movie.
Captain America: The First Avenger can be streamed on Disney+.
