I find the quality of the writing to be more infuriating, but you're not wrong.

Yeah Reacher is just fantasy. He eats like a pig, never has access to a shower and he is built like Mr Universe.

When you're this big, what does it do to your blood pressure levels? Honest question.

Hobo, not vagrant.

Well according to a couple random sources he’s actually around 235 in this photo.

At 6’3, that would imply that he has an elevated risk of high blood pressure. Sometimes people who are engaged in consistent vigorous exercise can maintain normal blood pressure at that weight, but it’s fairly likely he’s abusing steroids for the role, which are strongly correlated with high blood pressure.

So most likely not great

Apparently he gets testosterone prescribed by a doctor. He's open about it. I'd assume they monitor his overall health, including blood pressure. He's probably way healthier than average, but not as healthy as someone who maintains their fitness without shooting for a look like that.

The books are fucking awful, so no surprise the adaptation would be too.

To his credit, he is one of the few in Hollywood open to admitting that he uses exogenous anabolics. I'd guess that pretty much all of the older, completely jacked stars are also using such compounds, as it is very difficult to add muscle mass later in life. This creates a very unrealistic body image for the rest of us to live up to.

FWIW, I'm 60 and have been on a health journey over the last several years, and have transitioned from morbidly obese to the best shape of my life. Per my last Dexa scan, my muscle mass, bone density, and body fat percentage are in the top 15% for 30-35 year old men, and I am still progressing. I do, however, cycle with Ligandrol, a SARM, and use HCG combat suppression when on cycle and maintain my endogenous testosterone production. As a consequence, I've been able to add a significant amount of muscle mass and improve my health, as muscle is a critical metabolic sink and is also an endocrine organ.

I've used the drugs to rehabilitate my body and build a fit, athletic physique that is easily maintained in the gym, even when off cycle. In my opinion (I'm not a doctor and this isn't medical advice), it is far better for me to use the drugs in a reasonable way to get the functional muscle mass and bone density now, rather than to fight sarcopenia and struggle for years with little progress. I'm in the gym 5 hours a week for resistance training, and stack on average 9hrs per week of cardio on top, with about an hour of that being HIIT.

Have you noticed very few jacked characters lift any weights on tv? The only times I can recall a gym scene was on Brooklyn Nine Nine and Firefly.

Reading around a bit now, I guess officially he denies steroid use during season 1 and says he only began using before season 2 after the season 1 push “wrecked his body” and he got some scary bloodwork relating to suppressed testosterone levels

So if we take that at face value, it seems like he was having health issues at one point which steroids then fixed lol.

Random side note, but I went looking around his socials to see if he was shilling anything and he appears to have a freaky ai generated image of him one arm deadlifting 3 plates while chilling on a wooden deck and talking on the phone. Featured prominently on his personal website

Edit: I found it so unsettling that I looked it up. It’s from a men’s health photoshoot. Article is “Jack Reacher Goes Big”. It also has a video of him bicep curling it (let the introductory video play). Not AI, just badly made prop weights. He cropped the image and is using it to promote himself without context on his personal website which is why it looks so out of place

Maybe he just has good genes.

Your physique is dierectly related to the amount and type of physical activity you perfor. Not the food you eat. Your body doesnt care how it gets protien. The character is exactly like my brother who eats thousands and thousands of calories every day but expells thousanfs and thousands of calories thru work, excersise and kids.

You can eat "shitty" food as long as you work off the calories consumed and the calories contain enough protien.

Not surprising a site primarily used by fat IT workers would think this is infuriating tho lol

Thanks for posting this, it was interesting to read as I know nothing on the topic.

The real reason for my reply though is to say; congrats dude, it must have been a long struggle with weight and health to be this dedicated to go from morbidly obese to fit and healthy at the age you did.

Seriously, well done and congratulations; keep up the good work!

I wish you all the best with your journey.

expels thousands of calories through (...) kids

is your brother a pregnant woman?

That’s great dedication and a well-earned payoff. Cheers!

and you never see them shooting up steroids.

Alan Ritchson's testicles...

His health is fucked later in life. Roiders all die of heart attack or stroke. Average NFL player age of death is 25 years below the overall average.

The best way I've heard it described is like if Sherlock Holmes was written by Tom Clancy.

Reacher is not a thinking man's story and comes with the baggage that the story is delivered through the lens of a stereotypical Republican hero, but I had fun with the TV show despite all that.

He does have access to a shower. He stays at motels mostly and very rarely sleeps outside.

There’s no explanation for that body though as he definitely never goes to a gym.

I hate this image for personal reasons. Fuck the california raisins.

“Come with me if you want to live.”

It's been awhile but I remember Arrow frequently showing his funky pullup setup

Watched it for the first time recently. I thought Reacher was autistic because he seems so socially awkward and has a monotone, emotionless delivery of dialogue.

Children are pretty calorie dense.

He’s not abusing steroids like a lot of people. He will be fine I’m sure.

This is just a trope everywhere and it's absurd. Like Project Hail Mary. Yep, a school physics teacher is chiseled and looks like a shaggy sex teddy bear dog. Just like every other physics teacher I've met. Yep.

There are actually people like that who have naturally lower myostatin levels. My wife went to school with a brother and sister who were ripped despite never working out.

Their bodies just didn't shut down muscle production as soon as most people.

Take my words for what they are but I knew a man that lived pretty much like Reacher when I was a kid and the man was pretty fit and muscular, only lean.

The man would travel from place to place, doing odd jobs, working in the fields, picking fruit, doing welding and metal working jobs, etc.

He was phisically fit. Not muscular like this actor but his body showed strenght. You could see the muscles contracting under his skin when he applied force to something.

He stopped by my grandparents village one summer and stayed for about a month, working in the fields. One day some neighbour asked him to chop down an old tree and cut it into chunks to dry for firewood. He use a single axe to do the job. Every time the blade hit that old trunk it felt as if the ground shook.

So, I was watching 'The Getaway' with Steve McQueen. That movie was made when McQueen was one of the top box office draws in the world. He takes off his shirt and, to me, he looks a little scrawny.

A while later, I'm watching a movie where the shirtless guy is supposed to be a middle-aged lawyer with a minor drug problem. Looks like he could throw McQueen through the wall.

I'm sorry you had to hear it through the grapevine not much longer would she be thine.

Maybe he has that mutation like some whippets.

This can happen in a lot of mammals, including humans. One of the really popular "strongmen" guys, like the top one, has it.

Honestly, every time I've seen an episode, I imagine him delivering Sheldon Cooper's lines from an episode of Big Bang Theory.

[off topic]

Here are a few book series that have a tough, lone wolf hero who actually seems human.

Parker by Richard Stark. 'The Hunter,' 'The Seventh,' and 'Firebreak' Parker is a professional thief. He works with a rotating crew of specialists. Harlan Ellison said that the author was the best writer he knew of.

Easy Rawlins and Fearless Jones by Walter Mosley. 'Fearless Jones' and 'The Devil In a Blue Dress.' Both men operate in LA circa 1946 to 1980. Fearless' adventures are narrated by his pal, a skinny bookstore owner who would rather avoid trouble, but rarely does. Easy is in more books, but they do team up occasionally.

Travis McGee by John D. MacDonald. 'The Deep Blue Goodbye,' and 'A Tan and Sandy Silence.' Trav is a Florida beach bum who lives in a houseboat he won in a poker game. When his retirement funds run low he reluctantly seeks out crime victims who are unable to go to the police. A con man who isn't afraid of a fight.

Any of these is miles ahead of any Reacher book.

In the case of Project Hail Mary they have an "answer" as to why. The book directly explains it and the movie nods at it in a scene where he writes "Muscles?" on the white board, but its the coma robot, Armindo. It was meant to work their limbs and apply electrical stimulation so they wouldn't atrophy on the trip.

Um guys come on it is simple. he lives at the gym between seasons.

The weird thing is that the first 2 seasons were ok. Not great, but ok. this season is very bad. Like they fired the writers and ChatGPT wrote it. The story is nonsense.

The books have one or two references to him working as a labourer or other jobs between books.

So he spent most of his time working out?

Labor jobs don't make you look like that. They make you hunched over and limping and kinda fat looking. Also an alcoholic

Source: worked labor in my early years and finally decided to quit just as the hunch started to develop

Hell yes brother.

Richard Stark is a pen name for Donald Westlake. He wrote tons of really smart funny mystery novels including the Dortmunder series - Parker but a sad sack.

If you like Parker you might really enjoy the Spenser novels by Robert Parker. He’s an ex boxer turned private eye that loves to cook, loves to read, has a strong moral compass, loves deeply, and was cool with gays and blacks when that was controversial for a Boston tough guy. His very smart girlfriend Susan is a full human outside of him.

The funny thing is that the first Dortmunder book started out as a Parker novel.

When the plot started getting too silly the writer realized that the Parker fans would hate the book, so he changed it to Dortmunder and Kelp.

I won't say much but 'Jimmy The Kid' by Donald Westlake has a brief cameo by Richard Stark.

Actually infuriating is that this show is touted by anyone as “the greatest show on streaming now” or even “greatest show ever.”

This show is popular because it has the moral intelligence of a toddler and stars a beefcake with way more charm than he has any right to.

Damn, I never knew Mr. Universe had all that hiding under his shirt!

I mean it's fiction. That part isn't half as unbelievable as the cops and feds being the good guys

Google homeless man abs

Constant walking, fasting, getting up with the sun and going to sleep at sunset... It might kill you but you'll be doing a routine whether you like it or not

Working outside, at least, doing physical labour.

What a stupid post.

Never see them inject performance enhancing drugs either but modern physiques are impossible without them.