Here’s How Michael B. Jordan Got Jacked AF For His Role in ‘Black Panther’

The ‘Creed’ star needed to get superhero big.

(Photo: Marvel Studios)

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.

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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

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