In This Series
- Introduction
This article was first published in Men’s Fitness in 2014, it has since been updated
The key to Jason Statham’s workouts is variety, not excessive training. Logan Hood has worked on getting Statham’s body into action star shape and he says the secret is variety. Statham rarely does the same routine twice, and uses a blend of big compound lifts – such as the deadlift and front squat – and bodyweight exercises to work multiple muscle groups in a single workout. Combined with a sensible diet, this sort of routine will burn fat and build muscle.
Try the week-long training plan below that Statham actually used to get into fighting shape for his role in The Expendables 3. Still unconvinced as to how bloody hard he is? Try doing the workout with the same weights Statham uses, he might be an actor, but you just can't fake that kind of strength.
Monday: Short circuit
- 10-minute row
- 40kg rope pull (rope attached to a weighted sled), 20m bear crawl. As many rounds as possible in 10 minutes.
- 10-minute row.
Tuesday: Pushing supersets
- Five-minute row.
- Three pull-ups, five press-ups, seven squats. As many rounds as possible in five minutes.
- Snatch grip deadlift (five at 45kg, five at 60kg, five at 85kg, five at 95kg).
- Superset (4 sets of 10 reps with 90sec rest between sets): incline DB press (42kg), standing military press (30kg), skullcrushers (25kg).
- Superset (4 sets of 10 reps with 90sec rest between sets): narrow grip press-ups, lateral raise (15kg), triceps extensions (6kg).
- Ab rollout (five sets of 10).
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: Pulling supersets
- Five-minute row.
- Three pull-ups, five press-ups, seven squats. As many rounds as possible in five minutes.
- Bulgarian split squats (five at 20kg, five at 30kg, five at 35kg).
- Superset (4 sets of 10 reps with 90sec rest between sets): one 10m rope climb (no feet), 10 shrugs (85kg) and 10 ex-bar curls (26kg).
- Superset (4 sets of 10 reps with 90sec rest between sets): 10 pull-ups, 10 incline front raises (12kg) and 10 hammer curls (20kg).
- Hanging knee raise (five sets of 10).
Friday: Intervals
- Warm up with two 50m sprints.
- Cardio complex (complete five rounds, rest period is half the time it takes to complete the round): Suicide run (run 10m then run back, 20m then run back, 30m then run back, 40m then run back, 50m then run back), 80m kettlebell (48kg) farmer's walk, 80m one-arm kettlebell overhead carry (16kg, switch arms at 40m), 80m tire drag (SUV or small truck).
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Rest
