With more images of male sports stars and actors and their toned physiques appearing in the press and on social media, men are becoming increasingly body conscious. Steven Thompson hits the gym to find out how hard it really is to achieve the perfect celebrity look.

BODY image used to be purely a female issue.

Headlines pointed the finger at stick thin models in the fashion industry for prompting young girls to develop worrying eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia.

In turn, the media itself was blamed as airbrushed snaps of cover girls, glamour models and celebrities pushed the image of an unachievable picture perfect body.

Magazines made it worse with headlines such as ‘Find out how so-and-so achieves her bikini body’ alongside a diet plan and glossy pics of a tanned beauty.

The celebs themselves don’t help, with many of them playing down the amount of work they put in at the gym and with their diets to keep in shape.

Then paparazzi pics of the same folks partying into the small hours sends the mixed message that you can go out on the town whenever you like and still look like a supermodel.

It is tough to be a woman. Luckily, us lads don't worry about all that — or do we? These days men have it almost as bad.

We are now bombarded with almost as many images of male sports stars, actors, and celebs with their tops off.

Even BBC period dramas on Sunday night television are not immune.

There is not an episode of Poldark that goes by without Aidan Turner whipping off his top to mine some copper or rebuild a wall.

And wouldn’t you know it? He’s got bulging biceps and a perfect set of rippling abs.

Now I don’t doubt that intensive farm labour combined with a few shifts down the mine does not provide a good workout, but I do not think the gentleman of the late 18th century looked like cover models from Men’s Health magazine.

I’ve long wanted to see if it is possible to achieve this “celebrity body”. Can someone with a regular nine-to-five find time to fit in the sort of fitness regime needed to develop and maintain this impressive physique?

My own body idol — and that of a lot of other men my age (I turned 35 in February) — is David Beckham. He was perhaps the man who made male personal grooming okay in the UK.

But could I get biceps like Beckham and pecs like Poldark?

I want to become a real-life Mr Muscle — but at the moment I look more like the weedy man from the TV adverts for the product of the same name.

With the help of Bolton News fitness columnist Chris Bramah, over the next 12 weeks, I will undertake a new training programme — radically changing my diet and cutting out alcohol — to see if I can transform my body.

It is something Chris thinks I can achieve — so long as I am fully signed up to his training plan.

“You need to really commit 100 per cent to achieve that cover model body,” Chris says. “This doesn't just include hitting the gym every day, but also eating right and taking the right supplements.

“It is definitely achievable even with a nine-to-five job. Everyone can fit in a workout no matter what your working shifts and hours are.

“Gyms open as early as 6am and close at 11pm with some even open 24 hours a day.

“My own training is mainly done at home and can vary from 20 minutes to an hour depending on the workout I am hitting that day.

“You don't need to be a gym member to workout either — some of the best sessions I do are in people’s homes and gardens.”

I started work with Chris last week. He has given me a weights regime for the gym while sessionns with him are a lot more varied.

He also gave me a new diet plan. Out go sausage butties from Greggs in the morning and a glass of Malbec with my dinner — in come three-egg omelettes, steamed chicken breasts with broccoli and protein shakes. And strictly no booze.

“Diet is the most important part of any training programme,” adds Chris.

“If you have a poor diet then no matter how hard you train you will never hit your target to the full.

“Sacrifices need to be made — and these are mainly alcohol consumption and sweet treats.

“You don't have to completely take these out of your diet but these should be limited to once a week in a small amount if you are serious about your training and nutrition.

“Alcohol is empty calories that people seem to forget about. Before a night of drinking, you eat more to line your stomach then you drink hundreds of extra calories and then to finish it off, you get the munchies and end up eating a kebab or a pizza or toast when you get in from a night out."

My desire for a celebrity physique is not unusual either.

“Men are definitely more self conscious nowadays," says Chris. "Social media has a huge part to play in this with pictures of the ‘perfect body’ being posted all the time.

“Celebrities like David Beckham have led from the front in men being more conscious of grooming and physical appearance."

A week into my training and things are going well. I have successfully avoided alcohol — and managed to get to the gym each day. I've had two sessions with Chris too — which left me in agony (unsurprising since I had not been to the gym since November before this week.

I am so far managing to fit in gym visits in and around work — either going first thing in the morning before work or later in the day after I've finished my shift.

I don't look any different yet — but I already feel healthier. Watch this space to see how I get on.

* Contact Chris Bramah at chris@hityourfitnesstarget.co.uk