Ahead of the release of Creed II, the latest Rocky installment’s trailer and posters have made one thing abundantly clear about Michael B. Jordan’s Adonis Creed: He’s a muscle-bound monster.
Like Josh Brolin of Deadpool 2 and Rob McElhenney of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, the movie star enlisted the expertise of a celebrity trainer to get in power-punching shape.
Men’s Health spoke with Corey Calliet, the same trainer who helped Jordan get superhero-sized play Killmonger in Black Panther.
“We time our projects, so we used Killmonger to get ready for Creed II,” Calliet told MensHealth.com. “I bulked him up on Killmonger, and then used that bulk to shred him down for Creed II.”
Jordan’s cut got him down to 190 bulging pounds of what looks like pure muscle. It was no easy feat.
“My goal with [Jordan] is to always look better than the last time he was on-[screen],” Calliet said. “We always go until we can’t go anymore.”
Because Jordan had already learned to box for 2015’s Creed, preparation for the sequel was less about working on fundamentals and more focused getting his body as chiseled as possible.
“We knew how to box already, we knew how that felt,” said Calliet. “This was about actually getting him to look better than the last time.”
“We would actually do those exercises at home, in the gym, wherever,” Calliet added. “To look a certain kind of way, you’ve got to bring the intensity up.”
If you want to build a body capable of fending off Viktor Drago, follow Jordan’s Creed II workout below:
Post-Ring Circuit
Perform one round of each exercise, in order. Repeat the circuit four times.
Jumprope
3 minutes.
Kettlebell Swings
8 reps.
Dumbbell Goblet Squat
8 reps.
Pushups
15 reps.
Situps
20 reps.