Jason Statham's training method, diet and training program

Jason Statham's complete weekly exercise routine + his training method + his diet + tips from actor Logan Hood's personal trainer.

Jason Statham is a popular Hollywood actor, known for his participation in the action films Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, The Fast and the Furious, Adrenaline and other equally killer films.

In order to not only look impressive, but also perform most of the dangerous and physically demanding stunts, during preparation and during filming, Jason Statham trains according to a special program that is significantly different from those offered in popular fitness magazines.
Men's Health not only interviewed the actor (which I translated here), but also spoke with his trainer, who tore down Jason Statham's training method, diet and six-day workout program.
You will learn about how Jason Statham pumped up in preparation for the film “The Expendables” in this article.

Jason Statham's training method

Statham trains every day except Sunday with trainer Logan Hood

, a former Marine and now the creator of
Epoch Training
, a special training service for preparing for film shoots. On Saturday, Jason usually goes for an hour-long run in the Hollywood Hills, and on weekdays he visits the 87Eleven gym, which provides services for filming complex stunts for films using motion capture technology, as well as training stuntmen. The range of exercise machines and equipment at 87Eleven is significantly different from a regular gym. There are not only barbells and dumbbells, but also trampolines, ropes, weights, as well as a complex set of simulators specific to stuntmen, for example, an emergency capsule for simulating car accidents.

Translator's note: in this article I describe Jason Statham's training program, but I do not provide a detailed description of the exercise technique - if desired, this information can be easily Googled, plus I added pictures with explanations. For some atypical exercises, I found it necessary to give the original name in English. Working weights are for a specific training week and may be too light or too heavy for Statham in general.

Logan trains his ward using various methods, but they all obey general rules that allow them to combine everything into a single Jason Statham training method:

1. No repetitions.
   “During the entire six-day cycle, I never repeat the same exercise twice,” says Statham. – “Each training day represents a completely different set of loads. Of course, sooner or later the exercises will begin to repeat themselves, but for an entire training session to be repeated, this has never happened.”
2. Write everything down.
   The repetitions, weights and time of all exercises are recorded in the training diary. Next, an analysis of this data is carried out, which allows you to understand how much you need to further increase or decrease the weight or intensity of the exercise. “If you want to get faster, stronger and healthier, you need to track your progress. Understanding progress in exercises is probably the main goal of any training I do,” says Statham.
3. The importance of attitude.
   During training, all emotions should be turned off; training pursues only one goal: to win. “If you come to train, train! Your body is like a piece of dynamite. You can sharpen it like a pencil for weeks and never achieve results. But all it takes is one hammer blow and you will explode your body! Well, seriously, you just have to work out hard for 40 minutes and the results will follow.”
4. Study of stabilizers.
   When building a workout, Logan pays special attention to training the stabilizer muscles, or “core” muscles, which help build a strong and strong back and abs, as well as prepare the body for functional loads. As stabilizer exercises, Jason regularly has to perform more than 500 variations of squats, various jumps, planks, and leg raises.
5. Weaving elements of martial arts into the training program.
   Jason Statham is a fan of mixed martial arts, and, knowing this, Logan loves to weave combat elements into his regular training. Shadowboxing, practicing punches and kicks on a punching bag and sandbags, jumping strikes and other exercises help maintain the tone of the workout and warm up the muscles, although they have little effect directly on training Jason’s fighting qualities.
6. Active use of body weight exercises.
   Statham always uses plyometric exercises to train explosive strength and reflexes. These short but very heavy complexes do not require special equipment. “I start with jumping rope, followed by squat thrusts and burpees, jumping jacks, push-ups, jumping jacks, jumping jacks. The key to the exercises is explosive execution. For example, during push-ups, I lower my body very slowly, and then boom! “I sharply straighten my arms.”
7. “Pocket workout” as a backup plan.
   Even in the absence of free time, Jason always has a simplified training option that does not require equipment or space.

How to do squat thrusts?

How to do burpees?

A few general rules by which Statham trains:

The main difference between Statham’s classes and the training that is often promoted by athletes is the lack of a clear scheme of weekly circuit training, where the exercises go in order; you will never find such groups as “leg day” or “back day”. During a training cycle, each exercise can be performed only once, after which there is always a new combination of loads. The mood is to win. Don’t keep any emotions in your head, just focus on the training and the result. Each workout consists of a concentrated intensity. A short 35-40 minutes that explode the body and bring results - more strength and vitality. The results are in pencil. Exercise times, weights and number of repetitions should be recorded in a diary. This data allows you to determine the optimal load by increasing or decreasing the weight.

Don't hang up your gloves! Until the end of the workout. Complexes of combat tasks with elements of kickboxing, Jiu-Jitsu and Thai boxing are often practiced; they help to warm up and improve overall tone. There is shadowboxing and striking techniques with hands and feet on bags, pears and paws.

Jason Statham Diet

In his interviews, Statham says that he adheres to a special diet only during the preparation and filming of the film. The rest of the time, he does not try to follow any specific diet, but, in general, he stays within 2000 calories per day.

.

Jason Statham's diet follows the principles of healthy, natural nutrition and is based on three basic rules:

1. No sugar or flour products.
   Bread and pasta are excluded, as well as any sweets. According to Jason, this is always the hardest part of the diet.
2. “If something goes down your throat, write it down on paper.”
   Along with his training diary, Jason Statham keeps a detailed diary of his nutrition, recording the composition of all his meals, including even water. This allows you to keep your diet under control.
3. Calorie division.
   Here Jason adheres to a sports recipe as old as time: dividing the daily diet into five to six small meals. The composition of the food is also not surprising - egg whites, vegetables, lean meat, fish, nuts and protein shakes. And all this fits within the 2000 calorie limit.

As you can see, Jason Statham’s diet is very simple, its principle can be called classic: cut calories, refuse junk food in favor of healthy proteins and carbohydrates.

Nutrition

To stay in shape you need to eat right. Of course, Jason Statham adhered to this rule. However, he did not indulge in any “celebrity diets”, but stuck to the simple basics of healthy eating, without any foolishness. Statham abstains from any foods with a high glycemic index - sugar, sweets, honey, etc. He also forbids himself to eat flour products. This means that bread and pasta remain out of the question. The actor’s diet does not include fruit juices, which contain excessive amounts of fructose, and some juices also contain added sugar. The main rule is not to drink alcohol. Every evening, Statham prepares himself a dessert - a fruit cocktail with regular yogurt. Jason believes the best way to stay in shape is to write down everything that goes through your mouth. He carries a notebook with him everywhere and writes down everything he eats. The actor eats “no more than 2,000 calories per day” per day, and this is his main diet. He divides this amount of calories into 6 small meals, which he absorbs evenly throughout the day. After training, she supplements her diet with protein shakes.

Jason Statham training program

So, let's move on to the most delicious. Logan shared Jason Statham's weekly training program. Each day is dedicated to a specific topic, which creates enough variety for continuous muscle growth and maintaining motivation to train. If you want to train like Statham, I don’t recommend simply copying his workout - as already mentioned, Jason Statham’s training programs are not repeated, and he does not constantly do these specific exercises in that order and with so many approaches. Your goal here is to grasp the basic principles of the given training (which I will once again specifically list at the end of the article) and, based on them, select exercises for yourself.

Do some stretching

When you go to the gym every day and do barbell squats, the only thing that grows is your ego. “If you don’t understand this, you will get injured,” Statham shares his experience. “I remember a few years ago I raised the working weight to the maximum and came down with a muscle injury for several months.” To avoid this, approach your training wisely, like Jason. “Later I began to figure out what was what. I discovered exercises to stretch muscles and understand how joints work.”

But at the root of his philosophy is more than just muscle safety. Statham really wants to get stronger. “Buff guys can spend hours twirling in front of the mirror and flexing their biceps. And what from this? I want to gain real strength that will help me run faster and jump higher.” In a word, if you want to achieve real results, do not forget to approach your training wisely.

Day 1 – Progression to 1 rep with maximum weight

The goal of this workout is to build pure strength using one of the most effective exercises in the powerlifting arsenal, the deadlift.

. During the training process, Jason goes from warm-up light weights to the heaviest one, which he can only lift once. Before moving on to deadlifts, Jason performs a two-part warm-up.

First warm-up:

10 minutes on the rowing machine at an easy pace, at least 20 strokes per minute. Distance – 2274 meters.

Second warm-up:

“pyramid” superset. The superset includes three exercises performed in a circle: simple push-ups, push-ups on gymnastic rings, squats (without load). The essence of the pyramid is that in each of the circles the number of repetitions increases by 1, for example, if in the first superset you need to do one push-up and squat, then in the second - already two, in the third - three, in the fourth - four, in fifth - five. Starting from the sixth round, progress unfolds - four repetitions, in the seventh - three and further to one.

Basic workout:

includes only one exercise, the deadlift. Jason starts with a light weight, about 35% of his maximum, and gradually increases the weight by decreasing the number of repetitions and increasing rest time.

Reps x weight x rest 10 x 60kg x 1 min 5 x 85kg x 2 min 3 x 100kg x 3 min 2 x 130kg x 3 min 1 x 150kg x 3 min 1 x 155kg x 3 min 1 x 160kg x 3 min 1 x 162 .5kg x 3 min 1 x 165kg x 3 min

Hitch:

10 minutes on the trampoline. Cooling down on the trampoline is a special feature of Jason’s training program and, on the one hand, allows you to relax without interrupting activity, and on the other hand, it trains motor skills well.

Fast and Furious 8

This film with Jason Statham was included in the most anticipated films of 2017.

The actor again played the difficult role of the avenger Deckard Shaw. This time his target is the treacherous but charming villainess Cypher. At one time, she betrayed Owen Shaw and is now hated by Deckard no less than Toretto and company.

The eighth installment of the popular franchise delighted longtime fans and attracted new fans. This is largely due to screenwriter Chris Morgan, who has once again come up with a wildly twisted plot for “Fast and Furious.”

The director's chair was taken by F. Gary Gray, who directed the crime thriller "The Italian Job." It was on the set of this film that Gray met Jason Statham.

They worked well together, and this time the picture turned out to be spectacular and exciting. The film contains many street racing scenes. This is exactly what deceased franchise member Paul Walker wanted. The creators and actors decided to support his idea and thus honor the memory of their colleague.

Photo source: Mashable

The first antagonist in the history of the franchise also brought a lot of interesting things to the film. The villain Cypher was played by Charlize Theron (“Atomic Blonde”). And although a negative role was new to her, she coped with the task with a bang.

Interestingly, she, like Statham, starred with F. Gary Gray in The Italian Job. In the film, the actors played positive heroes, while in Fast and Furious 8 both found themselves on the other side of the barricades from the main protagonists.

As expected, Theron excited the male half of the fans, but the female fans looked in a different direction. They immediately dubbed the eighth “Fast and Furious” the hottest film in the franchise, because, in addition to Statham, it starred Dwayne Johnson (“San Andreas Fault”), Vin Diesel (“xXx”) and the increasingly popular sex symbol Scott Eastwood (“ Suicide Squad").

Although Diesel and Johnson had a conflict on the set over common scenes, the film was released on time. The film premiered in the United States on April 14, 2022.

The film grossed over a billion dollars worldwide.

Day 2. Functional superset

This workout is designed to stimulate metabolism and provide the necessary loads to several muscle groups at once.

First warm-up:

rowing machine, 2238 m.

Second warm-up:

superset of three static exercises. Repeated four times, each exercise lasts 30 seconds, and another ten are given to move on to the next one.

1. Extended arm stand on gymnastic rings.
2. Holding weights while standing with your arms down (I don’t know what to call this exercise correctly, but it is similar to the “standing” version of the “farmer’s walk”)
   .
3. Stand on parallel bars with legs extended forward.
4. Stand in a crouching position with your arms extended forward.

Core workout

This training program is called the Big Five 55 Workout.

, and Jason will have to perform a superset of 5 exercises a total of 10 times.

There is no specific time to rest, so move from one exercise to another as soon as you feel strong. The main emphasis here should be on correct technique, and therefore it is recommended to use light weights. Jason starts with 10 repetitions of each exercise, and in subsequent sets reduces this number by 1. The result is exactly the same 55 exercises from the name.

1. Front squats with barbell (45 kg)
2. Pull-ups
3. Dips
4. Power clean (Power Clean)
5. Raising the knees to the elbows on the horizontal bar (Knees to elbows)

MEG

Basically, all of Jason Statham's films are action films and crime thrillers. This time he got the chance to play in a horror film.

Toothy predators have been scaring humanity since Jaws. But now people have to meet the ancestors of sharks - giant and even less friendly megalodons.

In the film, Statham plays the main role. His hero is professor of paleontology Jonas Taylor, who in the past piloted deep-sea vehicles. On one of the expeditions he saw something that he could not forget.

To prove that he is not crazy, Taylor makes a new diving attempt, which poses even greater danger.

Photo source: Den of Geek

The horror film was directed by Jon Turteltaub, who directed the famous film “National Treasure” and its sequel.

The script was written by Belle Avery, Dean Georgaris, John and Erich Hober, and James Vanderbilt. Since the plot is based on Steve Alten's debut novel Megalodon: Terror from the Deep (1997), the writer also participated in the creation of the script.

The film was conceived more than 10 years ago. Initially, New Line studio was going to release it back in 2006, but did not invest in the budget. Instead of the provided 80, filming threatened to cost $200 million.

As a result, in 2007, Steve Alten received back the rights to his novel and entrusted the work to Warner Bros. However, this adaptation also faced delays. Instead of March, the film will premiere only in August 2022. The creators do not want to name the reasons for the delay, but promise that they will not deviate from the target date.

In addition to Jason Statham, the film will feature Australian model, DJ and actress Ruby Rose (John Wick 2), American actor Ray Wilson (The Office) and Chinese star Li Bingbing (Transformers: Age of Extinction).

In addition to these films, other Statham projects will be released in the future. A sequel to the 2022 film “Spy” is approaching, in which the actor played one of the key roles.

There is also a mysterious untitled project in the works, about which all that is known is that Statham will play the main role, and the script will be written by Kurt Wimmer, the creator of the legendary “Equilibrium”.

While the premiere of new projects is only looming in the foreseeable future, rewatch your favorite films with the actor.

Fans of action films know that one of the signs of the quality of the film is Jason Statham in the title role. All his films are distinguished by their drive, excellent production and dashing plot.

Day 3: Interval training

Warm-up:

rowing machine, 2102m

Training:

performed on a rowing machine. Interval training consists of six 500m sprints followed by three-minute rest intervals, done at a relaxed pace. In moments of rest, you can put down the paddle and drink water, but do not sit still, but keep moving.

Here's how long it took Jason to complete his sprints:

Sprint 1: 1 min 40.1 sec Sprint 2: 1 min 39.7 sec Sprint 3: 1 min 43.9 sec Sprint 4: 1 min 41.6 sec Sprint 5: 1 min 38.7 sec Sprint 6: 1 min 50.3 sec

Hitch:

To finish his workout, Jason Statham does a half-kilometre "farmer's walk" with two 30-pound kettlebells. There is no time limit, you just need to go the distance as quickly as possible.

How to do a farmer's walk?

Guardians of Martial Arts

A short film directed by Chinese actor and director Wen Zhang, best known for his role in Ocean Paradise (China, 2010).

He also wrote the script for the film himself. The short film is about a man practicing tai chi. In order to test his strength, he one by one challenges those who master other martial arts to fight.

The director did not want his creation to be taken too seriously.

Photo source: NextShark

In order not to offend anyone, he dressed the confrontation in a humorous form, making it more of a comedy than an action movie.

The main acting ensemble consists of oriental actors, little known to the general public. Jason Statham makes a cameo appearance in the film, but even a fleeting appearance is enough to have a lasting effect.

If you've watched Jason Statham's movies, you know how his signature looks and movements can create atmosphere in a frame without words.

The world premiere of the short film took place on November 11, 2017.

Day 4. “Classics”

Today Jason performs the classic barbell squat, one of the best exercises for building muscle strength and mass in bodybuilding.

First warm-up:

rowing machine, 2095m

Second warm-up:

Jason performs 20 bare squats to warm up and prepare for the main exercise.

Basic training.

Barbell squats, five sets of five reps:

Reps x weight x rest 5 x 80kg x 1.5 min 5 x 80kg x 1.5 min 5 x 80kg x 1.5 min 5 x 80kg x 1.5 min 5 x 80kg x 1.5 min

Hitch:

200 push-ups in 65 sets, the number of repetitions in a set is counted according to the “ladder”: in the first - one repetition, in the second - two, in the third - three, in the fourth - four, in the fifth - five, in the sixth - one again and so on . Jason does this cool-down together with Logan: the first one does push-ups - the second one rests, the second one does push-ups - the first one rests. After 195 repetitions, 5 more are added to reach the round number. This is another feature of Jason Statham's training program, a kind of competition in which everyone tries to do push-ups as quickly as possible so that the opponent has as little rest as possible between sets.

General information

Jason Statham England Born: September 12, 1967 Height: 178 cm Weight: 77 kg
Jason Statham was born into a family of a singer and dancer. He later moved to Great Yarmouth, where he mastered the art of street theatre. He also played football, but his favorite activity was diving. For 12 years, Statham was part of the British national diving team. Jason Statham's father was an actor and gymnast and often taught his son this. The brother was into martial arts and used little Jason as a punching bag. In the late 90s, an advertising agent who worked exclusively with athletes invited Statham to participate in an advertising campaign for Tommy Hilfiger. This is how her modeling career began. Some time later, the owner of the company that Jason Statham advertised became the main producer of Guy Ritchie’s debut film “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” and offered the director Statham’s candidacy for one of the roles in the film . The director really liked Statham's inflexibility. And so began his acting career.

Day 5. Consistent training

This Jason workout is designed to target your entire body with exercises that target multiple muscle groups at once. Unlike circuit training (supersets), here all exercises are performed only once with the required number of repetitions.

First warm-up:

rowing machine, 2149m.

Second warm-up:

"Crawling Bear" and "Crab Walk". These are two exercises that are performed alternately five times, during each of which you need to walk 15 meters in a handstand and footstand. The Bear Crawl is performed in a position similar to the original push-up stance, but with straight arms. The Crab Walk is performed using the same principle, but in a position with your back to the bottom, facing up.

This is Crab Walk And this is Bear Crawl

Basic workout:

consists of a series of exercises. Exercises are performed with maximum intensity, ideally with minimal rest time. Each of them uses several muscle groups at once and gives the body a killer load.

Exercise x reps x weight Rope climbing 7m x 5 x body weight Front squats x 5 x 85kg Ball Slams x 5 x 12.5kg Tug of war 15m x 10 x 40kg Bench press x 10 x 80kg Ball Slams x 10 x 12, 5kg Pull-ups x 15 x body weight Dips x 15 x body weight Ball Slams x 15 x 12.5 kg Tug of war x 20 x (no weight) Smashes x 20 x (no weight)

Jason's training time is 23:53

Translator's note. Ball Slams refers to “jumping” from a sitting position while raising a special heavy athletic sword above your head, which is also called a Ball Slam. If desired, this projectile can be replaced with a sandbag. It is unclear what Logan means by Smashes (literally, “crushing blows”), but it can be assumed that these are Whip Smashes - lifting and hitting the floor with a thick, heavy rope, the ends of which are in the hands, and the middle is fixed to the opposite wall; This exercise is quite in the spirit of the training method of Jason Statham and the 87Eleven gym.

How to do ball-slams?

Cardio loads

As you know, local fat burning does not exist, and reducing your butt while leaving fat in other parts of the body will not work. Fat deposits burn evenly everywhere. A set of aerobic exercises performed every day will help you lose weight quickly.

The most effective cardio exercises are presented in the table:

During aerobic exercise, you need to monitor your heart rate. Its effective and safe value should be calculated using the formula: (220 - age) x 80%. For example, a 20-year-old girl would do best to exercise at a heart rate of 160 beats per minute ((220-20) * 80%).

Favorite exercises

Jason Statham's height and other various facts about him
Why would such a serious guy do without strength training? One of the exercises that he rarely changes is front squats or deadlifts. As we already understood, he is not a permanent guy, so apparently he has special faith in these exercises. Jason is a big fan of the pyramid rule, so he does the same deadlift in 4 sets of 5 reps with a constant increase in weight. If it's squats with a barbell, then the principle is the same. As for the squat, Jason tries to lift a weight that is 25% heavier than his own.

the same number of approaches and repetitions - close-grip pull-ups, triceps extensions, dumbbell lateral raises. Many of Statham's workouts are aimed at developing explosive strength. Therefore, many of the actor’s exercises are based on jerks, and Jason really loves to literally throw a medicine ball. Well, in addition, weighted and dynamic step exercises.

Well, the main and favorite part of Statham is circuit training. This most often includes: hand lifting along an 8-meter rope, lifting bent knees to the chest on a horizontal bar, a set of basic exercises (bench press, squat, deadlift) with light weights, “farmer’s walk” (arms along the body, each with a kettlebell, so we walk back and forth around the hall), “triple kick” (we do push-ups from the floor, then jerk our legs to our chest, and jump up). This is just a part of the exercises that the actor constantly changes and alternates in different sequences.

It is worth noting that Statham trains in not an ordinary gym, but in a special sports complex for Hollywood stuntmen, in such a place there are much more opportunities for Jason’s frantic training. By the way, another brutal exercise by Statham in the literal sense of the word is “bear run”. Get into a bear pose (rest your hands and feet on the floor, and stand in a small accordion), then run back and forth around the hall three times with straight arms and half-bent legs.

On this day, you should perform exercises and sets of exercises that you either need to master specifically for filming or simply want to do. Jason's goal for that training day was to go outside and do any type of endurance exercise for an hour. Jason usually chooses trail running, the workout time is 73 minutes.

Jason Statham spends the seventh day without training, this is a day of rest.

Athletes were poorly paid. Statham sold fake jewelry for money

By the age of 24, Jason realized that the life of a professional athlete (unless you are a top football player) is a dubious pleasure.

He got up every day at 6:30 a.m. to get to training by eight. I returned in the evening, after 5-6 hours of monotonous exercises that never changed. And so on for several years in a row. “I missed the action! I was born into a creative family, participated in theatrical productions, but in sports everything was monotonous,” Jason later recalled.

In addition, Statham was angry about the poor results. He started at the age of 12 - this is too late for professional sports, which are played from 4-5. Jason understood that his ceiling was second ten in minor tournaments.

In addition, Jason was constantly short of money. The local federation paid the athletes a pittance, and most of it went towards renting an apartment. Statham came up with an unusual solution - he sold counterfeit goods. “I sold perfume, watches and jewelry. Everything was fake, but people were happy to spend £50 on a Cartier watch,” he recalls.

Late one evening, he was approached by two guys who introduced themselves as police officers and searched him. In the process, Jason realized that the guys were only pretending to be cops, but in fact they wanted to rob him. A fight broke out, Jason had to throw the goods and run away: “That evening I decided: I’ve had enough, I need a quieter job.”