34 MUSCLE & FITNESS JUNE 2016 VINCE TRUPSIN
The big dig
DAVID RAMSEY used old-school
training principles to muscle up for
his role on Arrow. BY ANDREW GUTMANM&F: As a co-star on
Arrow and a regular on
Blue Bloods, how do you
find the time to train?
DR: Staying motivated can be
tough, but little things help, like
laying out my workout clothes
the night before, preparing my
meals, setting my alarm clock
and not drinking [alcohol] an
hour or two before sleep.Does your schedule make it
difficult to consume all
your macros?
On set, it can be tough
to get all my prepared
meals in, so I have a
blender in my trailer.Do you aim for a
specific number of
calories per day?
I’ve always been a thin guy,
so I eat around 5000 calories per
day. I’ll lose all my mass and get a
potbelly like my dad if I stop hitting
the weights. I feel good when I’m
around 200 pounds [90kg].You’re skilled in Jeet Kune
Do, Bruce Lee’s hybrid
style of martial arts. How
has JKD influenced you?
The art revolutionised my life. I took
to JKD because, philosophically,
it’s all about making a choice.When did you get into
weight training?
It was after being cast as
Muhammad Ali [in 2000], andI met world-renowned
kickboxer Benny “the
Jet” Urquidez. I still use
the traditional stuff I
learned from Benny – pyramid
sets, forced reps, dropsets.
I don’t worrytoo much about the
weight I’m pushing. I just want
to exhaust the muscle from
different angles. I also hold
the contractions to increase
blow flow; it’s all basic,
no fad stuff.John Diggle
has become
a popular
character on
Arrow, but he
wasn’t in the
DC Universe.
Why have fans
embraced him?
I appreciated how real
Diggle is; he’s not a goody-
two-shoes, but he’ll stand up
in your face and tell you the right
way to get something done.What’s the vibe like
on the set of Arrow?
Stephen Amell [Oliver Queen/
Green Arrow] and I have been
on a campaign to make [co-star]
Katie Cassidy crack, because
she has a tendency of playing
everything very seriously. We
make dumb noises, fart jokes,
Yo Momma jokes; we’ll put wet
thumbs in her ear and kiss her
during a take when there’s no
kissing. She won’t crack.WATCH
Ramsey in
Arrow on
Thursdays
on Fox8.TRAIN STAR POWER