With the end of summer 2014 in sight, we thought it would be downright rude not to take the opportunity to acknowledge the hard work put in at the gym by male celebrities to show off their merchandise for us on the beaches of Ibiza, Cabo, Hawaii and the rest of 2014’s A-list hotspots. Robert O’Connor narrows it down to a strict Top 5 of Grade-A Prime Hollywood Beef.

1. CHRIS PRATT

Once upon a time, this 35 year-old actor was just an average guy – and we still loved him. But now the whole world has gone wild for Chris Pratt and his seemingly overnight (actually it took five months) Bond-worthy body. Despite his reservations about auditioning for this year’s summer hit Guardians of the Galaxy due to failing at securing the GI Joe role, the stud’s first top-billing role has been a wise move, much like his extra gym time. Watch this star’s box office-pull grow like his muscles in the coming year. To the joy of regular Joe’s the world over, Pratt has provided the manual for his 60-pound ‘drop’ to ‘dead gorgeous’ over at Men’s Fitness. While we’re here, have you seen how much of a down guy Chris Pratt is on top of the fact that he looks like this? Check him out rapping Eminem’s ‘Forgot About Dre’ during a recent Shade45 interview.

2. JOE MANGANIELLO

The next time you think about skipping your twice-weekly workout routine, think about Joe Manganiello. Think about his choices, and the results they have provided him with in life – not only is the 6’5” Magic Mike man beast dating equally banging body owner Sophia Vergara, who he confessed to crushing on for years, but the actor has just 8 per cent body fat on his meticulous frame. How did he do it? Twice daily full-body circuit training sessions with someone who knew just what they were doing – celebrity trainer Rob Matthews, who got fellow muscle freak Hugh Jackman ready for his role in X-Men. Add to your daily routine 2,500 calories of lean protein, fibrous carbs and healthy fats and boom! you are suddenly Greek God. We’ve tracked down his full diet for you, and you can read it right here.

3. MARK WAHLBERG

Mark Wahlberg started his career out by getting his trousers off for a series of Calvin Klein billboard adverts, but today at 40, he has proven he’s not afraid of Pain & Gain, looking bigger, faster and stronger than he did in his youth. Of course it helps when you have a fully equipped mega-gym in the back of your Beverly Hills mansion, but those dumbbells don’t lift themselves you know. The Boston-born beefcake has even been kind enough to share a full break-down of his training regimen with Bodybuilding.com. Here he is off-duty on a beach day out with his son, still looking like he’s movie-shoot ready. Respect…(and envy).

Project Pain and Gain from Mikkel Zall on Vimeo.

4. NICK JONAS

There was a time the only people paying any attention to Nick Jonas were tweens. Cut to today and the Jonas Brothers have thankfully imploded – and while the tweens have probably moved on to a new floppy-haired cutie, we are welcoming the 15lbs heavier Nick and his buzz cut into relevancy with immediate effect. The singer, who suffers from Type 1 diabetes, attributes a low-carb, high protein diet to his new build, and it was all in preparation for his new DirecTV show Kingdom, in which he plays an MMA fighter at Venice Beach gym. The multi-talented 21 year-old told E! “I wanted to look like an animal”, but added that the other Jo Bros were poking fun, calling him The Hulk (a compliment surely?) It doesn’t hurt that he’s also just dropped a new solo single, ‘Chains‘, and it’s worth a look whether you choose to mute the volume or not.

5. RYAN KWANTEN

Ryan Kwanten got plenty of opportunities to show off his already-impressive body on True Blood, and now that the series has wrapped, the 37 year-old actor has even more time to take it to the next level – but wait – he doesn’t go to the gym! Instead, the Aussie hottie sculpts his body through competitive triathlons, which he once pursued professionally. Speaking about his outdoorsy adventures, he said, “Whether it’s a high peak or the end of a beach, it’s great to have something you can touch that lets you know you’re halfway there, you don’t have that on a treadmill”. We can think of a few things we’d like to touch Ryan, and we’d definitely be more than halfway there. Due to an apparent lack of video material about Ryan talking about working out (he’s too busy working out), we’ve included a brilliant video from TMZ called ‘How To Make People Forget Your Show Has Kinda Sorta Gone Downhill…Starring Ryan Kwanten’.