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Right on Target

American Fitness, Jan, 1999 by Bonnie Siegler

Actor John Bradley takes personal fitness seriously for his role as medieval hero Robin Hood.

While Robin Hood was born Robert Fitzooth in the late 12th century, John Bradley, the star of TV's The New Adventures of Robin Hood, hails from Orlando, Florida. While Robin Hood learned basic reading and writing, Bradley earned a B.A. in philosophy from Florida State University at the young age of 19, and was soon accepted for graduate studies at Cornell University. And while Robin Hood worked out in Sherwood Forest, Bradley goes to the gym. Thanks to Bradley's health regimen, both the actor and his alter ego have good looks, chiseled physiques and keen athletic prowess.

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Cooking up some breakfast in the Lake Arrowhead home he shares with his wife of seven years, Laurie, and their two children (daughter Alec, 4, and son Cole, 2), Bradley is happy being able to relax and enjoy his beautiful surroundings. Robin Hood films from April to September in Lithuania, just north of Poland on the Baltic Sea. "It's a long five months," says the 37-year-old actor. "I love the people and their work ethic. We moan about a 40-hour work week in America, but they're working 80-hour weeks-and happy about it!"

In an attempt to maintain family unity, Bradley had the family join him for a few weeks last summer, but next year it will be for a few months. "I work on the set six days a week from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and go to the gym four days a week, so I don't know exactly how that will work out."

Somehow, Bradley's life has always been inextricably intertwined with fitness and acting. After his freshman year at Cornell, John got some disappointing news. "I got straight B's and was used to doing better," he says. He quickly took a leave of absence and began earning money by bartending. As fate would have it, the strapping 6'4" graduate student was introduced to an agent. The rest, as they say, is Hollywood history. Guest starring roles in TV series such as ER, Dream On, The Naked Truth and Melrose Place occurred in rapid succession. He even appeared on the big screen with small parts in Independence Day and Mars Attacks. However, he never forgot his athletic background and fitness skills, which helped him land the role of Robin Hood, the outlaw who robbed from the rich to feed the poor.

Sports have been part of Bradley's life since childhood. A loving, patient dad (Dick Bradley) who came right home from work to play ball with his son everyday was the catalyst. "He was my role model," Bradley says. "My mom died from breast cancer in the early '50s. That galvanized my father to eat right and get healthy. I was inspired by him. I played just about every sport. I was the soccer goalie, football quarterback, short stop in baseball and a forward in basketball. My big dilemma was how to get from acting rehearsals to sports practice. There was always a conflict."

Bradley had the team's highest batting average in baseball. As a junior, he was a star quarterback who ran a wishbone offense. "But I wasn't very fast, so I got killed a lot," laments the 196-pounder. "My coaches would always tell me that quarterbacks don't want to be muscle-bound. I had a really good arm, but they discouraged me from lifting weights because they thought I wouldn't be able to throw. That was false, though."

In January, 1989, after a failed romantic relationship, Bradley turned his efforts toward athletic endeavors. "I picked an Ironman triathlon called `Liberty to Liberty.' You swim around the Statue of Liberty, bike from New York to Philadelphia and run around the Liberty Bell. I started training in January for the July 4th race." Preparatory training seven days a week shaved crucial seconds off his swimming time. "It came down from the high 20's to the high teens," Bradley says. "I was always strong on a bike because I didn't have a car during school and pedaled everywhere. My best 10K time was in the high 30's, so I knew I was ready. I just had to put it all together." Out of more than 200 entrants, Bradley finished a very respectable 27. "I still have the shirt to prove it," he says. "But that long distance endurance training was different from what I'm doing now."

These days, the actor has modified his exercise routines to a less grueling pace-just four days a week. "When I was hired for Robin Hood, I had 10 weeks to get ready for the role," Bradley says. "The producers paid for a trainer, Philip Golian at Fitness Concepts (who puts other stars like Gillian Anderson and Jeff Goldblum through the paces). My workouts were at 5 a.m., so I'd get up at 3 a.m. to make the drive from Lake Arrowhead to Venice. In two months, he took me from being 198 pounds with 13% body fat and a maximum bench of 185 to a person of solid, lean muscle with 6% body fat who can bench 270. I lost 12 pounds of fat and replaced it with eight pounds of muscle. My body is totally transformed now. My wife loves it."

At the gym, Bradley works his chest on Monday. Tuesday is "leg day," Wednesday is a day of rest, Thursday is "back day" and Fridays are for shoulders and arms. "For the first three weeks, I lifted a high number of reps at about 60% of my maximum capacity," he says. "For instance, the chest would be three sets of five various exercises and a maximum of one-minute rests between sets. As my tendons and ligaments became conditioned to weightlifting, we started going heavier and dropping the number of reps. However, I never really went below 10 reps. I'm at 85 to 90% of my maximum capacity. Now I'm trying to add mass to my arms and chest for the role." Crucial to every workout is a 10-minute stretch routine to keep optimum flexibility and limit injuries. "I do yoga stretches like the dog, dolphin, cat poses and others."

Right on Target

American Fitness, Jan, 1999 by Bonnie Siegler

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