The dehydration thing is definitely real, and I'm sure a lot of actors do it, but you can definitely achieve a physique like the one in the photo without it. It's different for women/afab people because their bodies naturally store more fat. The dude in the photo is probably about 8-10% body fat which is completely achievable and healthy without dehydration, but it requires a very specific diet, exercise and sleep regimen. Professional bodybuilders usually walk around at a body fat percentage like that and then dry themselves out to 4-6% which is not healthy at all. It's also very common in combat sports with weight classes. Fighters will drop 20+lbs in water weight for a weigh in, sometimes barely able to stand up just to be in a lower weight class, and then spend the next few days refeeding on pasta, pizza and tons of water.
Water weight is pretty wild when you think about it. The more carbs you consume the more water weight you hold on to. When I was into fitness, I'd weigh in at 165 on Friday morning after a week of eating right and working out and then I'd get shit faced and eat pizza and burgers and weigh 172 by Saturday night, only to be back to 165 by Tuesday without restrictive eating. It was just a ton of water weight from carbs and alcohol. You sweat and piss it all out. It's also why people drop a lot of weight fast when they go on keto or quit drinking. They lose their water weight but not really their body fat.
The dehydration thing is definitely real, and I'm sure a lot of actors do it, but you can definitely achieve a physique like the one in the photo without it. It's different for women/afab people because their bodies naturally store more fat. The dude in the photo is probably about 8-10% body fat which is completely achievable and healthy without dehydration, but it requires a very specific diet, exercise and sleep regimen. Professional bodybuilders usually walk around at a body fat percentage like that and then dry themselves out to 4-6% which is not healthy at all. It's also very common in combat sports with weight classes. Fighters will drop 20+lbs in water weight for a weigh in, sometimes barely able to stand up just to be in a lower weight class, and then spend the next few days refeeding on pasta, pizza and tons of water.
Water weight is pretty wild when you think about it. The more carbs you consume the more water weight you hold on to. When I was into fitness, I'd weigh in at 165 on Friday morning after a week of eating right and working out and then I'd get shit faced and eat pizza and burgers and weigh 172 by Saturday night, only to be back to 165 by Tuesday without restrictive eating. It was just a ton of water weight from carbs and alcohol. You sweat and piss it all out. It's also why people drop a lot of weight fast when they go on keto or quit drinking. They lose their water weight but not really their body fat.