Anthony McCarron

Dont wish him a Happy Death Day just yet. Blum bends his knees, leaps, then tucks his legs tight. He lands with a smile.This, he says, is my specialty.

The way Blum sees it, theres nothing better than a rush of adrenaline and fear (and sweat, too!) to get him pumping out adrenaline-rush nail-biters like Paranormal Activity, The Purge, and Glass. So whenever the 50-year-old is in Manhattan, he heads to <a href="https://bricknewyork.com/" id="cdc28887-afa7-3537-a97a-6c9ec8a7cc0e"> Brick New York </a> gym, just as hes done on this day, to fight through a CrossFit-style metabolic-conditioning workout with trainer Ian Creighton. I tell myself that I do better work and I get more done if I give myself an hour a day to work out, Blum says between sets of landmine shoulder presses and ab drills. I dont know whether its true or not, but Ive never not given myself an hour a day to work out, so Im not going to find out.

Theres no reason to mess with success, and from the Purge films to Whiplash and Us and Glass, Blum has had plenty. He heads Blumhouse Productions, the Hollywood film factory that specializes in transforming micro budgets (try under $15,000 for 2007s ParanormalActivity) into major moolah (see: nearly$200 million at the global box office).

He traces his discipline back to when he decided to quit smoking at age 30. Hed smoked since high school, but at a nightclub during the 1999 Hamptons Film Festival, tired of being constantly out of breath, he resolved to quit and stomped his final cigarette butt into the ground. I replaced it with the gym, he says.

Not that he was a box-jumping badass right away. His first post-smoker workout as a 20-minute session on a hotel stationary bikeand it left him wrecked. But a decade later, while on the Vancouver set of the family comedy The Tooth Fairy, which he produced, he stumbled onto a CrossFit workout with a lunchtime group and loved how the pace fired up his muscles and had him dripping in sweat. Im very into efficiency, he says. Blum wanted more hardcore fitness, so he asked to work out with the films star, Dwayne Johnson, who trained at 3:00 A.M. No luck. I endlessly tried to get in there and work out with him, and I never pulled it off, Blum says. He was always super nice about it: Yeah! Well do it next week! But he never let me. His workouts are incredibly private. But whatever hes doing is working.

Whenever Blum trains, he makes sure to push himself to his limits. On this day, he rides his bike 30 blocks through Manhattan traffic (hey, more adrenaline!) to meet Creighton. (Creighton and Jeff Scarborough, Blums Los Angeles trainer, always keep their schedules flexible when hes in town.)

Forty-five minutes later,Blum is doubled over after busting through 40-seconds-on, 20-seconds-off intervals on the dreaded Airdyne bike, his T-shirt plastered to his midsection. He wouldnt have it any other way. I really like that my mind is totally blank, he says.

When Jason Blum hits the road, he cant do his beloved box jumps, but he still makes time to train, thanks to 15-minute sweatfests like this conditioning circuit from Ian Creighton. Grab your backpack (or empty out your roller bag and use it) and rip through this in your hotel room!

1. Alternating Overhead Lunge

<ul><li> Stand holding your luggage overhead. Step back with your left foot and lower into a lunge. Pause, then push off your right heel to return to a standing position. Repeat on the other side. Thats 1 rep; do 8. </li></ul>

2. Suitcase Thruster

<ul><li> Stand holding your luggage at your shoulders, core tight. Bend at the knees and push your butt back, lowering your torso until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Explosively stand back up and press the luggage overhead. Thats 1 rep; do 8. </li></ul>

3. Burpee with Suitcase Jump

<ul><li> Place your luggage on the floor; stand to the right. Jump over it to the left, land, then squat down and do a pushup. Return to standing as quickly as possible, then jump over the luggage to the right and repeat. Thats 1 rep; do 8. </li></ul>

How Horror Master Jason Blum Keeps in Killer Shape

Jason Blum knows things could get gory. Hes facing a 24-inch-high wooden box topped with five 4-inch-high rubber plates (44 inches in all, if youre keeping track at home). The stack is nearly at Blums chest, but the six-foot producer has every intention of jumping onto it.You might get a lot of blood, he quips, summoning visions of busted shins, split lips, and the all-around FUBAR-ness of a failed landing. I make horror movies.

So his day is organized down to the second. He has exactly 90 seconds to make it from Live to On Air, which is why the radio studio was built right below the Live set. And he has exactly 14 minutes, from 12:02 to 12:16 P.M., to eat lunch during an On Air commercial break.

But none of that is on his mind on this Monday afternoon at 3:00 as he sits on a sidewalk in the rain, thrashing his arms to make waves with two battle ropes while doing twisting situps. He grimaces only after his set. Man, theyre heavy when theyre wet, he says.

Not that it bothers him. Workouts like this one at the <a href="https://www.instagram.com/dogpound/" id="4282313b-7bb8-316a-a60b-93dacfacb7e8"> Dogpound </a> , one of Seacrests favorite Manhattan gyms, are precisely what keep him going. The way the 44-year-old sees it, the more he concentrates in the gym, the more energy hell have when he leaves it, surfing an endorphin wave the rest of the day and into the next morning.

I really have to focus on exercise, as well as eating and sleeping right, he says, so that I can make it through the day without being less than energetic, or even falling asleep.

And TVs busiest man can never have an off day. He got into training as a kid, partly because he was a chubby young adolescent who hated taking off his shirt. But now his workouts are even more important, which is why he aims to do two of them a day. His TV/radio gauntlet wraps up at 2:00 P.M., and his first stop is often Gotham Gym, a boxing spot, for 45 minutes of bag work. Then he heads to the Dogpound to meet trainer <a href="https://www.instagram.com/rjathayde/" id="51c4da6c-cbfc-35df-a2b0-355fc0fc0ca3"> Rhys Athayde </a> , making sure to leave his phone in his locker. Its the earliest he can find time to exercise.

Seacrest is disconnected from his jobs when he trains, which ensures that he can have fun. Between sets, he paces about the space, cracks jokes with Athayde, and tells the gym staff to switch up the tunes.

Turn up that Buble! he chirps between reps of cable flies as the Canadian crooners Home blares across the sound system. It sort of eases the brain, he says.

Seacrest goes hard for the rest of the workout, battling through bench presses one moment, sprinting 200-meter intervals on a SkiErg the next. He wraps things up by smacking a massive tire with a 20-pound sledgehammer. And immediately after the last smack, he shakes a few hands, gives Athayde a hug, then catches a cab.

Broke a little sweat, he says. So I can feel satisfied with that.

<h1> Quick Questions from Between Sets </h1>

<ul><li> Id like to put on a little more volume, muscle size. Also, I need to get more flexible. </li></ul>

Post-workout routine?

<ul><li> I have a skin-care line called Polished, so I use that. I micro-scrub in the shower, and I put on SPF moisturizer afterward, every time. </li></ul>

Favorite training music?

<ul><li> I listen to ballads when I run. It could be any cheesy song, like Shes Like theWind by Patrick Swayze. I find that when I pass people, I think, If they could only hear what Im listening to when Im running. I was listening to Andrea Bocelli most recently while jogging. </li></ul>

<ul><li> Great pizza, thin-crust pizza. Theres a place in Los Angeles called Gjelina that makes a four-onion pizza. Its shallot, red onion, caramelized onion, and scallion. And its amazing. </li></ul>

<ul><li> I have photos of David Beckham on my refrigerator. Okay, I dont, but I would if I were to put somebody on my refrigerator. </li></ul>

How does Seacrest train on the road? By taking a run, or by working through hotel room burners like this 7-minute, no-equipment crusher from Rhys Athayde, his Dogpound trainer. Try it when you need a dumbbell-free sweat.

Do each move for 20 seconds. Do 3 rounds.

<ul><li> Start in pushup position. Lower your chest until its an inch off the floor. Push back up. </li></ul>

<ul><li> Lie on your back, legs straight and arms extended overhead. Raise your legs as high as possible; simultaneously touch your hands to your toes. </li></ul>

Mountain Climber

<ul><li> Set up in pushup position. Keeping your core tight, drive your right knee to your chest, then return to pushup position; repeat with your left knee. </li></ul>

Start in pushup position, focusing on keeping your core tight. Hold for 30 seconds. Now tense your core even more and lift your right hand; touch it to your left shoulder. Return it to the floor and quickly lift your left hand; touch it to your right shoulder. Repeat this pattern for 30 seconds, fighting any urge to let your hips shift up and down.

Set a timer for 3 minutes. Try to complete the circuit below as many times as possible. Rest as needed.

Squat to Tuck Jump

<ul><li> Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and core tight. Bend at the knees and hips until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Stand back up and jump off the floor, tucking your knees to your chest. Thats 1 rep; do 30. </li></ul>

<ul><li> Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, then shift into pushup position and touch your chest to the floor. Stand back up and explosively and jump. That's 1 rep; do 20. </li></ul>

Plank to Pushup

<ul><li> Start in plank position, core tight. Keeping your hips level, push from your right elbow to your right hand, then do the same on the left side. Youre now in pushup position. Do a pushup, then shift back into an elbow plank. Thats 1 rep; do 10 leading with the right hand, then 10 leading with the lefthand, always keeping your hips steady. </li></ul>

How Ryan Seacrest Fits Fitness Into His Life

By Ryan Seacrest's own count, he has eight jobs. When American Idol is rolling, hes on live TV six days a week, flying from New York to L.A. to host the show Sunday night after cohosting Live with Kelly and Ryan Monday through Friday. Then he takes a red-eye back to the Big Apple to do Live on Monday morning, followed by On Air with Ryan Seacrest on KIIS-FM and AT40 with Ryan Seacrest on iHeartRadio. He just released a new mens skin-care line, Polished, and has a clothing collection at Macys.

How Does Ryan Seacrest Juggle 8 Jobs? Double-Session Workouts.

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Pulse Ghana is the most followed news and entertainment platform, informing and engaging young Ghanaians round the clock, providing updates by the hour.

Anthony McCarron

Articles written by the author

How Horror Master Jason Blum Keeps in Killer Shape

How Does Ryan Seacrest Juggle 8 Jobs? Double-Session Workouts.