Joe Manganiello has shown off the physique he works hard for, saying many other actors just create an illusion of being fit.

The True Blood star appears on the cover of the September issue of Men's Health and revealed how hard he works to keep his muscles so defined.

He said: "A lot of the actors who are on the cover of lifestyle magazines look like they've had their waistline airbrushed or they're wearing winter clothes or whatever.

"I see them and think, 'That guy doesn't work out, I know that guy and he smokes two packs of cigarettes a day and is a complete drunk on the weekends. Now he's putting out an illusion on the cover of a glossy magazine.'

"It's absurd to me. I'm athletic and I'm healthy. I'm like a unicorn in the world of actors."

Joe gave a hint at the hard work involved: "I didn't just train after work. I hit the gym like an animal. I pushed myself to the point where people around me were borderline frightened."

The actor appeared in stripper film Magic Mike and said revealing scenes had focussed his mind: "When you're shirtless every day there's no let up.

"So we spent a fortnight doing thousands of push-ups, thousands of curls, thousands of lat raises. We basically spent every day working out for two weeks in a row."

Unsurprisingly, Joe said his fitness and career hero was Arnold Schwarzenegger: "Arnold has built an empire and he didn't build it by being lazy. I thought I was always busy, say an eight out of 10. He made me realise I was really busy at a two. Hang out with Arnold and you really find out what busy at an eight is."

The full interview appears in the September issue of Men's Health, on sale Friday, August 1 and also available as a digital edition.