This weekend, audiences didn’t just appreciate the cultural significance of Marvel’s Black Panther movie—it made a cool $192 million over the weekend—they also were in awe of how jacked its stars Chadwick Boseman and Michael B. Jordan were.
Michael B. Jordan, who plays the “villain” (we prefer anti-hero) Erik Killmonger, packed on 15 pounds of muscle in the months before filming. He was already shredded, thanks to working with trainer to the stars Corey Calliet for Creed in 2015.
Jordan teamed up with Calliet again to make himself believable as a marine-turned-Wakandan insurrectionary.
“He told me, ‘I need to look like this,’ and it’s a picture of Killmonger fighting Black Panther,” Calliet told Business Insider. “He was very big, so I knew I had to make Mike look like a free safety or a Marine. If you want to be a villain you have to have that savage type of demeanor.”
Their routine was by-the-book: Calliet trained Jordan six times a week and made him eat six meals a day. The emphasis was not on fancy plyometric or TRX routines, but rather mass-building compound moments like bench press and dead lifts.
You may not have a celebrity chef, but any idiot with a gym membership can follow Michael B. Jordan’s workout routine. Here, some of his moves:
Bench Press
Muscles worked: Chest, Triceps, Shoulders
Incline Dumbbell Press
Muscles worked: Chest, Triceps, Shoulders
T-Bar Row
Muscles worked: Back, Core
Lat Pull-Downs
Muscles worked: Back, Biceps
Dead Lifts
Muscles worked: Legs, Glutes, Core, Lower Back
Leg Press
Muscles worked: Legs, Glutes
Here, their more detailed four-day workout split for Creed:
DAY 1. Chest, Back and Arms
1. INCLINE DUMBBELL PRESS
Sets: 3 Reps: 12
2. DUMBBELL FLYE
Sets: 3 Reps: 12
3. PUSHUP
Sets: 10 Reps: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
4. DUMBBELL KICKBACK
Sets: 3 Reps: 15
5. TRICEPS PUSHDOWN
Sets: 2 Reps: 20
6. BENCH DIP
Sets: 10 Reps: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
DAY 2. Biceps, Triceps and Lats
1. ONE-ARM DUMBBELL ROW
Sets: 3 Reps: 12
2. NEUTRAL-GRIP PULLDOWN
Sets: 3 Reps: 12
3. BENTOVER ROW
Sets: 3 Reps: 12
4. DUMBBELL CURL
Sets: 3 Reps: 12 (Alternate arms.)
5. BARBELL CURL
Sets: 3 Reps: 12 How to
6. HAMMER CURL
Sets: 3 Reps: 12
DAY 3. Legs and Abs Circuit
1. DUMBBELL LUNGE
Sets: 3 Reps: 30 sec. (each leg)
2. SINGLE-LEG HIP EXTENSION
Sets: 3 Reps: 15 (each leg)
3. LEG CURL
Sets: 3 Reps: 12
4. ROMANIAN DEADLIFT
Sets: 3 Reps: 12
5. SQUAT
Sets: 10 Reps: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
6A. CRUNCH
Sets: 3 Reps: 25 Rest: 0 sec.
6B. LEG RAISE
Sets: 3 Reps: 25 Rest: 0 sec.
6C. REVERSE CRUNCH
Sets: 3 Reps: 25 Rest: 0 sec.
6D. TOE TOUCH
Sets: 3 Reps: 25 Rest: 0 sec.
6E. SPRINTER SITUP
Sets: 3 Reps: 25
DAY 4. Chest, Arms and Abs
1A. DUMBBELL BENCH PRESS
Sets: 5 Reps: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6
1B. PUSHUP
Sets: 5 Reps: 15
2A. DUMBBELL FLYE
Sets: 5 Reps: 10 to 6
Perform 10 reps your first set, then nine on the second set, and so on down to 6 reps.
2B. PUSHUP
Sets: 5 Reps: 10
3. DUMBBELL CURL
Sets: 4 Reps: 12
4A. DUMBBELL KICKBACK
Sets: 4 Reps: 15
4B. BENCH DIP
Sets: 4 Reps: 20
5A. CRUNCH
Sets: 3 Reps: 25 Rest: 0 sec.
5B. LEG RAISE
Sets: 3 Reps: 25 Rest: 0 sec.
5C. REVERSE CRUNCH
Sets: 3 Reps: 25 Rest: 0 sec.
5D. TOE TOUCH
Sets: 3 Reps: 25 Rest: 0 sec.
5E. SPRINTER SITUP
Reps: 25 Rest: As needed