How to Get Bruce Lee's Amazing Physique

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Learn all about the MMA icon’s training and dietary guidelines

Co-authored by Dean Theriot and Amber Crain

Last Updated: January 28, 2026 Fact Checked

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Bruce Lee’s Physique

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How was he so strong for his size?

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Training Workouts

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Diet & Nutrition

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Video

Bruce Lee was a groundbreaking actor, martial arts pioneer, and cultural icon. His charisma and athleticism were legendary, as was his incredible physique. In this article, we’ll be discussing Lee’s physique at length, including how it was classified and how he achieved it. We’ll also tell you all about Lee’s training philosophy and share some of his workouts so you can try them yourself, along with insights from personal trainers and martial arts instructors. If you’re ready to learn all about Lee’s next-level physique, scroll on down!

Bruce Lee’s Physique Explained

Bruce Lee had a lean, strong, compact physique with minimal body fat. He was muscular, but not bulky–he prioritized strength, speed, and agility over bulky muscle. In his prime, his body fat percentage was estimated to be 5-6%. His training routine was intense, and he followed a strict diet to maintain his leanness.

Section 1 of 4:

What type of physique did Bruce Lee have?

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Bruce Lee had a lean, strong physique with minimal body fat. Lee’s natural frame was small and compact, and he had very little fat on his body.^{[1]
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Research source} He trained his body with intense exercise and ate a strict diet to maintain his leanness. In his physical training (which was extensive), he focused on building strength and agility over bulky muscle. That said, he was still a pretty muscular guy for his size. His body fat percentage during his prime was estimated to be 5-6%.^{[2]
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- What were his height and weight measurements? Bruce Lee was approximately 5’8” (172.3 cm) tall. His weight usually fluctuated between 130-140 pounds (59-63.5 kg).
- Is Bruce Lee’s physique achievable? Many elements of Lee’s physique were genetic, so you may not be able to look exactly like him, but you can achieve a similarly lean and powerful physique. However, it requires intense training in multiple disciplines, a strict diet, and complete dedication.
Meet the wikiHow Experts

Dean Theriot is a personal trainer and the owner of Timberline Fitness in Houston, Texas. He has over 25 years of experience in the fitness industry.

Joseph Bautista is a martial arts instructor with over 18 years of instructing and martial arts training experience.

Adrian Tandez is a martial arts and self-defense specialist based in Mountain View, California. He opened the Warrior Combat Arts Academy in 2005.

Jesse Pichardo is a certified personal trainer based in Fresno, California. He specializes in providing structured and personalized fitness programs for his clients.

Section 2 of 4:

How was Bruce Lee so strong for his size?

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Lee trained incredibly hard to build strength despite his small size. His approach to physical training was meticulous and strategic, and he incorporated a wide range of disciplines to achieve full-body strength. He was a devoted student of physical conditioning and even developed his own training system that focused on daily discipline, functional strength, explosive power, speed, and agility. His willpower was extraordinary, as was his devotion to fitness.
- Lee’s exercise routine was incredibly diverse and included barbell training, isometrics, martial arts, plyometrics, circuit training, running, and stretching. He was constantly experimenting with and refining his training programs based on his own research.^{[3]
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Section 3 of 4:

How to Train Like Bruce Lee

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Weightlifting Lee typically did full-body strength training workouts 3 days a week. Instead of lifting the heaviest weights possible, though, he lifted 70% of his one rep max. He also experimented with speed training, which means completing sets as quickly as possible (without sacrificing form, of course). His goal was to build explosive strength by working fast-twitch muscle fibers–he wanted to be strong and toned, not bulky.^{[4]
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Research source} Here’s an example of one of his lifting routines:
- Clean and press: 2 sets of 8-12 reps
- Squats: 2 sets of 8-12 reps
- Barbell pullover: 2 sets of 8-12 reps
- Bench press: 2 sets of 6-8 reps
- Barbell curl: 2 sets of 8-12 reps
- Upright row: 2 sets of 8-12 reps
- Behind-the-neck press: 2 sets of 8-12 reps^{[5]
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Cardio Lee was a dedicated runner. He usually ran 4 miles 3 days a week (in between his lifting days). He was an early adopter of interval training, which means alternating your pace to include short bursts of high-intensity cardio (similar to today’s HIIT training). His goal was to increase his aerobic and fat-burning capacity. On some days, he would do longer runs at a slower pace of ~70% MHR (maximum heart rate).^{[6]
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- Lee called running the “king of exercises” and also enjoyed the meditative qualities of being alone with your thoughts.^{[7]
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- To incorporate interval training in running, personal trainer Dean Theriot says, “Start by jogging at a speed that you could maintain for long distances. Build up to full speed gradually and only for a split second at maximum intensity. Once maximum speed has been reached, immediately start slowing down back into a jog.”^{[8]
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- Lee also enjoyed other high-intensity cardio exercises like jumping rope and using a stationary bike.^{[9]
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Martial arts training In addition to his weight lifting and cardio, Lee was doing hours of martial arts training every week (which counts as both cardio and strength training). He typically did martial arts a minimum of 3 days a week; at some points in his career, he may have been doing 6-7 martial arts training sessions per week. He would typically alternate sessions of upper-body strikes and lower-body strikes.
- To get started, martial arts instructor Joseph Bautista says, “Do a little research on the different styles of martial arts out there, find the one that works best for you at this moment in time, find a school near you that offers that specific style, and take a class from them.”^{[10]
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- What martial arts did Bruce Lee practice? Lee mainly focused on Wing Chun Gung Fu, but his martial arts journey included a wide variety of disciplines, including boxing, Tai Chi, Judo, Karate, and Taekwondo. Eventually, he even developed his own philosophy and martial arts training system called Jeet Kune Do (JKD).^{[11]
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  - According to martial arts instructor Adrian Tandez, Jeet Kune Do is a “combination of several different arts from both the east and the west, such as Western boxing, Wing Chun, fencing, as well as…Muay Tai, French Savate, which is French kickboxing, some elements of the Japanese jujitsu and Judo, and wrestling.”^{[12]
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Core work Core strength was very important to Lee, and he believed core stability was fundamental to his performance. He did core training at least 3 days a week, and some sources say he trained his core 6-7 days a week at certain points of his career! Lee once said about the core, “The abdominal and waist region coordinate all parts of the body and act as the center or generator.”^{[13]
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Research source} Here’s an example of one of his core routines:
- 5 sets of sit-ups (to failure)
- 5 sets of side bends with dumbbell (to failure)
- 5 sets of leg raises (to failure)
- If you want to try one of Bruce Lee’s favorite core exercises, personal trainer Jesse Pichardo recommends dragon flags. “Dragon flags are an exercise where you keep your core tight and raise your legs in a straight line until your feet, legs, hips, and torso form a straight line, with only your head and shoulders on the bench or ground. It’s very tough, though.”^{[14]
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Stretching Flexibility was extremely important to Lee for optimal athleticism, especially for martial arts, so he stretched daily (sometimes even multiple times a day). He started each day with at least 20 minutes of full-body stretching and used stretching as a warm-up for other types of exercises. Lee was known for constantly doing stretching exercises wherever he was, even on movie sets in between takes!^{[15]
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Research source} Try this full body stretch routine:
- Seated & standing hamstring stretches (hold for at least 30 seconds)
- Seated groin stretch (hold for at least 30 seconds)
- Standing hip stretch (hold for at least 30 seconds)
- Lunging stretch (hold for at least 30 seconds)
- Thigh stretch (hold for at least 30 seconds)
- Calf stretch (hold for at least 30 seconds)
- Side stretch (hold for at least 30 seconds)
- Lower back stretch (hold for at least 30 seconds)

Section 4 of 4:

Bruce Lee’s Diet & Nutrition

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You probably won’t be surprised to learn that Lee followed a pretty specific diet, which helped him stay fit and maintain his incredible leanness. His favorite food was traditional Chinese cuisine (tofu, steak, liver, beef in oyster sauce, etc), and he wasn’t super restrictive–he ate a wide variety of foods, including meat, veggies, fruits, legumes, nuts, etc. Here are the key fundamentals of his diet:
- He ate 4-5 small meals per day (rather than 2-3 large meals)
- He ate until he was satisfied but not full
- He ate a balanced diet that fulfilled his daily macro goals
- He snacked on fruit between meals to boost metabolism
- He consumed fruits and veggies raw (rather than cooked) as much as possible
- He completely avoided empty carbs like baked goods and sugary sweets
- He disliked dairy but made sure to eat it regularly for the protein
- He was a big fan of juicing with a blender and made his own concoctions daily (his favorite ingredients were celery, carrots, apples, along with other fruits and veggies)
- He drank daily protein drinks early on, but later gave them up in favor of juicing
- He did not drink alcohol
- He consumed supplements containing vitamins C and E, Lecithin, rose hips, Acerola-C, Shilajit, B-Folia, royal jelly, and ginseng^{[16]
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