Chris WilliamsonA very slow training session with Zac Efron.
Chris Williamson
A hot day of training in Austin 0:00
Zac Efron trains outdoors in the Texas heat with Ben and Chris, joking about intensity level and keeping things breathable while poking fun at Ben's push for functional exercises versus Zac's preference for simple bodybuilder-style lifts. They banter about soreness from days of nonstop training, with Zac referencing the physical toll of past movie prep, and they settle into a session mixing curls, overhead presses, and push-ups that Zac calls kind of broy, kind of functional.
Building mass for Iron Claw 2:01
Zac describes his training for the wrestling film Iron Claw, built around two-minute all-out cardio bursts supersetted with moves like deadlifts, Nordic curls on a stability ball, and pull-downs, all fueled by about 6,000 calories a day for four months. His waist grew from 29 inches to 34, and he reached 205 pounds at his heaviest, compared to his current 175, while also layering in wrestling training on top of the lifting. He calls the bodybuilder lifestyle boring and extreme, split between eating huge amounts of food, training to failure, or struggling to move, and admits he over-ate salmon to the point of getting mercury poisoning.
Comparing Baywatch and Iron Claw prep 5:31
Zac contrasts his Baywatch preparation, which relied on heavy cardio and supersets after three months of bodybuilding, with the harder demands of Iron Claw, noting he also used too many diuretics for Baywatch and dealt with constant dehydration-driven training. He recalls doing the ninja warrior obstacle course in one take despite the director's doubts, then falling about 15 feet on a second take after the stunt mats had only been laid for the first half of the course.
Lessons from a CrossFit phase 9:00
Zac talks about his CrossFit period around 2016 to 2020, naming the snatch as CrossFit's most valuable movement despite the risk of high-rep lifts under heavy load. He credits that era with teaching him that active recovery, like riding an assault bike on rest days, clears soreness faster than simply resting, though the intensity also left him with injuries, including two herniated discs from deadlifting at Chris Hemsworth's house.
Preferring indie films to superhero roles 12:02
Zac says he has never wanted to do a superhero movie, explaining that trends like that lose their appeal once everyone is doing them, and that his heart has always been with independent films, pointing to 2007 and 2008 as a peak era with movies like There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men before the industry shifted toward superhero films. He'd rather play real people than jacked-up characters, valuing the challenge of trying new genres and calling acting fundamentally about listening.
The strange effects of fame 14:30
Zac reflects on the hardest part of his job being the distorting effect of fame, comparing it to how people act differently around Joe Rogan or a very beautiful woman, becoming self-conscious and unable to behave normally. He extends this to political figures like Trump or JD Vance, arguing that most people aren't hiding an agenda but are simply overwhelmed by who they're talking to, which makes it hard to trust that anyone around him is behaving genuinely.
The grueling schedule of film shoots 16:30
Zac describes how brutal the physical toll of filming can be when he's the lead in a movie, since he's typically first in and last out every day. Shoots run ten to twelve hour days but regularly go over, and the mandatory ten-hour turnaround between shifts means call times keep shifting, starting at 4 a.m. on Monday and creeping to noon by Wednesday, then swinging back to early mornings and finally sixteen or seventeen hour days on weekends. He estimates he ends up getting only about four hours of sleep a night during these stretches, essentially living like a shift worker for months at a time, which wears him thin even though he loves the collaborative, elite-level teamwork the film industry brings together.
TRT and recovery benefits 20:01
Ben explains that testosterone replacement therapy has mainly improved his recovery, letting him train hard one day and bounce back to train hard again the next without the muscular-skeletal fatigue lingering, even though the nervous system fatigue stays about the same. He also notes a mild libido effect, along with a strong boost to brain function and motivation, calling it a kind of molecule of forward motion.
Hyperbaric chambers and biohacks 23:00
Zac calls hyperbaric oxygen therapy elite, describing a protocol with Gary Brecka where he did eighteen consecutive days of two-hour sessions at altering depths, which left him with sustained energy and good enough focus to beat Elden Ring inside an upright hyperbaric chamber with his PS5 hooked up. He admits the treatment is inaccessible for most people given the driving, time, and cost involved, so as a cheaper travel hack he relies on rubber resistance bands for workouts anywhere.
Blood flow restriction training explained 24:04
Ben and Zac discuss occlusion or blood flow restriction training using Katsu bands, which trick the body into perceiving a higher stress level by cutting off blood supply, allowing a strip-set style protocol of thirty, twenty, then ten reps across squats, pull-ups, lunges, and push-ups as a travel workout. They note the real risk is a cardiovascular incident or stroke if the pressure, measured in millimeters of mercury, gets too high, though checking blood return under a fingernail helps gauge safe tightness, and Japanese-made cuffs even include an electronic controller to dial in exact pressure.
Facial and fascia manipulation stories 27:31
The conversation turns to unconventional bodywork, including a coffee enema and an ozone enema Ben once gave Zac shortly after they met, and a story about someone inserting a finger through Zac's nose to manipulate fascia, based on the idea that the gastric system and fascia develop at a similar embryonic stage, so working through the mouth or nostril can affect the legs, neck, or back. Zac also mentions a jaw injury from age twenty-two, when he slipped on a granite ledge near a fountain while running in socks, leaving his jaw uneven and still prone to aching in the cold.
Podcasting, sponsorships, and authenticity 31:00
Chris reflects that his podcast becomes more commercially effective the more honest and open he is, since audiences resonate with sincerity, though he admits there's always a nagging tension between staying authentic and needing to keep the business running. Zac reassures him that as long as he avoids selling shoddy products he has room to make moves, pointing to Eight Sleep as an example of a sponsor he'd endorse regardless of payment because the product genuinely helps with sleep, especially when the body's detox pathways are struggling and cause overheating at night.
Lymphatic drainage for facial puffiness 33:30
The conversation turns to a technique for reducing under-eye puffiness through lymphatic drainage rather than cosmetic procedures. The idea is that puffiness comes from fluid buildup in the face, the same kind of impaired lymphatic clearance that happens after a bad night's sleep, since the body normally does this cleanup while asleep. One practitioner with a large following demonstrates the effect by treating only half her face with brushes and other tools, leaving a visible contrast, and there's discussion of whether this could become a service like a facial massage, done by a professional rather than at home. The topic shifts briefly to sleep problems, with one speaker describing ongoing insomnia tied to an irregular movie schedule and a mind that won't stop working creatively at night.
Workout pace and packed schedules 36:04
The pace of the training session comes up, with both men agreeing they like a slower workout where there's room to talk, get a pump, and then go eat afterward. One of them explains that his own schedule is tightly packed, since mornings need to be finished by a set time to prepare for a podcast, so his workouts usually have to be rushed to fit everything in. The discussion moves to how much content one of them produces, recording almost daily at home and pointing to intense productivity, along with newer names in the health and biohacking space worth watching, including a science newsletter writer and another figure described as still underrated.
Movies, method acting, and set stories 38:30
The talk shifts to film, including a favorite recent movie and a shared dislike of scary films, with one man recalling walking out of a horror movie years ago and never watching another. Favorite actors mentioned include Russell Crowe and Daniel Day-Lewis, followed by a story from working with Crowe on The Greatest Beer Run Ever, where he insisted a camera be repositioned despite pushback, turning out to be right, which sparks discussion about how such firmness gets misread as difficult behavior when it actually protects the production. A parallel story about Christian Bale losing his temper on set after hours of strain leads into an account of working with Nicole Kidman on The Paperboy, who stayed fully in character and accent throughout filming, blurring the line between actor and role.
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