Want the body of an Adonis? Then you need Michael B. Jordan’s workout and diet plan. Recently crowned as the sexiest man alive, the American actor remains best-known for his role in the popular “Creed” movies. An extension of the “Rocky” series, both films centre on Adonis Creed, son of deceased boxing legend Apollo Creed. Despite his inherited wealth, Adonis must work his way up from the bottom rung to the boxing ring. It’s a feat that requires serious muscle, discipline, and agility; so too did the performance.
As one might expect, stepping into the shoes of Adonis Creed was no easy task for Michael B. Jordan. With help from personal trainer Corey Calliet, the actor maintained a strict workout and diet regimen. Anyone who’s seen either movie (or other Michael B. Jordan movies like Black Panther) knows that the effort paid off. Put simply, the man is shrouded in muscular definition.
Whether you’re vying for sexiest man status or trying to bring out your own inner boxing champion, the Michael B. Jordan workout and diet plan will help get you where you’re going. Here’s how the actor whipped himself into shape for the first Creed movie and presumably the second one as well. Stick to the plan and you may very well end up with a Michael B. Jordan body of your own.
Who is Michael B. Jordan?
Born in Santa Ana, California, Michael Bakari Jordan grew up in New Jersey and attended Newark Arts High School. The son of Donna and Michael Jordan (no, not that Michael Jordan), he has two siblings, one of whom played football for Howard University.
Jordan’s show business career took off at a young age. As a child in the late 1990s, he modelled for a number of brands before moving into acting. He scored brief spots on shows like The Sopranos and Cosby and then a role in the 2001 Keanu Reeves film Hardball.
A number of fans first took notice of Michael B. Jordan for his recurring role as Wallace in the iconic HBO series The Wire. Soon after, the actor replaced Chadwick Boseman to play a troubled teenager on the soap opera All My Children. His subsequent performances as quarterback Vince Howard in the football drama Friday Night Lights and Alex in Parenthood brought his star potential to new heights.
Michael B. Jordan’s big-screen breakout came in 2013, when he played real-life shooting victim Oscar Grant in Ryan Coogler’s acclaimed movie “Fruitvale Station.” It was the start of an illustrious film career, punctuated by the occasional misfire. In addition to Fruitvale Station, the best-known Michael B. Jordan movies are both Creed films and Black Panther. He was also named “Sexiest Man Alive” by People Magazine in 2020. He currently lives in Los Angeles.
Age: 33 years
Height: 6 ft 0 inches
Weight: approximately 184 lbs
Acting career: 1999 to the present
Michael B. Jordan’s Creed Diet Plan
Even before landing the role of Adonis Creed, Michael B. Jordan was in pretty fantastic shape. Of course, that didn’t mean there wasn’t room for improvement. Enter personal trainer Corey Calliet, who cranked up the intake dial to the point that the actor was eating up to six meals a day. This was both in anticipation of the original film and also during production, where he maintained an impressively ripped physique.
“Literally in the middle of takes, I would just be eating food. Chicken and rice and broccoli—a lot of it,” Jordan said during an E! Online interview back in 2015. Chicken and other lean proteins would play a particularly important role in the actor’s diet plan. He was likewise consuming whole grains to ensure smooth digestion and fresh veggies for vital nutrients. Predictably, the goal was to build muscle while retaining optimal digestive health and nutrition levels.
Calliet was reportedly kind enough to share Michael B. Jordan’s Creed meal plan with Men’s Journal. Here’s an example of the actor’s daily eating regimen:
Meal #1
- 6 egg whites
- 1 whole egg
- 45 g carb (ex: oats, rice, etc.)
Meal #2
- Protein shake
- 35 g carb (ex: steel-cut oats)
Meal #3
- 8 oz lean protein (ex: chicken, ground turkey)
- 65 g carb (ex: rice, sweet potato)
- 1 cup green veggie
Meal #4
- 8 oz lean protein (ex: chicken, ground turkey, or fish)
- 35 g carb (ex: rice, sweet or red potato)
Meal #5
- Protein shake
- 35 g carb (ex: steel-cut oats)
Meal #6
- 8 oz lean protein (ex: chicken, ground turkey)
- 1 cup green veggie
- 1 tsp oil (ex: olive oil, coconut oil, macadamia nut oil)
And there you have it. Michael B. Jordan’s diet plan includes lots of lean protein, green veggies, healthy fat, and nutritious grains. In addition to protein shakes, Jordan also supplemented with both a “pre-workout” supplement and a “recovery” supplement.
Before you scoff at the general blandness of Jordan’s meal plan, you should know that he was allowed one cheat day per week. That’s presumably when he scarfed down local Philly cheesesteaks. To quote Calliet: “I don’t know if a person has ever eaten as many cheesesteaks as I saw Mike eat.”
When in Philly, as the saying goes…
Even Kate Save, Accredited Practicing Dietitian, Exercise Physiologist and Diabetes Educator recommends ”if we always try to have a ‘perfect’ diet then we will surely fail, its about getting it right 90% of the time and then leaving room for all of the ‘fun’ foods and not feeling guilty about it. I like to use the idea of the ‘compensation theory’ which allows for make-up days and these can either done through mild caloric restriction or intermittent fasting”.
Michael B. Jordan Workout Routine
Between his ripped body, palpable agility, and 6 foot height, Michael B. Jordan makes for a truly dominant presence in both Creed films. If you’ve seen either one, you know that the actor was both a literal and figurative Adonis on the big screen. You also know that even the strictest meal plans can’t account for his shredded physique. To improve upon Jordan’s muscles and his endurance levels alike, Calliet incorporated a training regimen lifted straight out of the nearest professional athletic gym.
“The training was pulled from the fundamentals of athletic conditioning, as well as from bodybuilding,” Calliet said during an interview. That meant employing a four-day program, which combined regular cardio with high-quality circuit training to trim the fat and tighten muscular definition. Each particular muscle group was also trained with volume to yield maximum results. Should you want a Michael B. Jordan body of your own, prepare to push yourself to extremes while demonstrating a little patience. After all, these kinds of results don’t happen overnight.
We’ve culled a Michael B. Jordan Creed workout plan from Muscle and Fitness magazine and laid it out below. As per their suggestions, you should kick off each training session with a moderate one-mile jog to warm-up. Then perform all the strength-building exercises as straight sets, completing every set for one lift before moving onto the next. Take as little rest as possible between each set or exercise, except during day three. On that day, complete the first five exercises as a circuit, performing one set of 25 reps for each exercise. Rest between exercises and repeat the circuit a total of three times.
Also, when you see the reps exhibited in count down fashion (10, 9, 8, etc…), that means you should do 10 reps on the first set, take a brief rest, and then shed one rep for each subsequent set. Don’t stop until you’ve performed the total number of suggested sets. Got it? Good. Here we go.
But first….please understand this workout is NOT suitable for those who are not in good physical health and an annual medical checkup is recommended with your trusted medical professional.
Day One: Chest, Back, and Arms
- One-mile jog as a warm-up
- Incline dumbbell press – 3 sets of 12 reps
- Dumbbell flye – 3 sets of 12 reps
- Push-up – 10 sets of 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 reps
- Dumbbell kickback – 3 sets of 15 reps
- Triceps pushdown – 2 sets of 20 reps
- Bench dip – 10 sets of 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 reps
Day Two: Biceps, Triceps, and Lats
- One-mile jog as a warm-up
- One-arm dumbbell row – 3 sets of 12 reps
- Neutral-grip pulldown – 3 sets of 12 reps
- Bentover row – 3 sets of 12 reps
- Dumbbell curl (alternate arms) – 3 sets of 12 reps
- Barbell curl – 3 sets of 12 reps
- Hammer curl – 3 sets of 12 reps
Day Three: Legs + Abs Circuit
- One-mile jog as a warm-up
- Dumbbell lunge – 3 sets at 30 seconds per leg
- Single-leg hip extension – 3 sets of 15 reps per leg
- Leg curl – 3 sets of 12 reps
- Romanian deadlift – 3 sets of 12 reps
- Squat – 10 sets of 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 reps
- Crunch with Swiss ball – 3 sets of 25 reps
- Leg raise – 3 sets of 25 reps
- Reverse crunch with resistance band – 3 sets of 25 reps
- Toe touch with medicine ball – 3 sets of 25 reps
- Sprinter sit-up – 3 sets of 25 reps
Day Four: Chest, Arms, and Abs
- One-mile jog as a warm-up
- Dumbbell bench press – 5 sets of 10, 9, 8, 7, 6 reps
- Push-up – 5 sets of 15 reps
- Dumbbell flye – 5 sets of 10, 9, 8, 7, 6 reps
- Push-up – 5 sets of 10 reps
- Dumbbell curl – 4 sets of 12 reps
- Dumbbell kickback – 4 sets of 15 reps
- Bench dip – 4 sets of 20 reps
- Crunch with Swiss ball – 3 sets of 25 reps
- Leg raise – 3 sets of 25 reps
- Reverse crunch with resistance band – 3 sets of 25 reps
- Toe touch with medicine ball – 3 sets of 25 reps
- Sprinter sit-up – 25 reps
Some of you may notice a lack of boxing exercises or shoulder workouts. For that reason, we’re also including the following workouts from Men’s Journal. This includes some favourite Michael B. Jordan training methods reportedly executed for his role in Creed 2.
Shoulders and Chest Workout
Rest 90 seconds between chest exercise and 60 seconds between shoulder exercises.
- Incline Smith Bench Press – 4 sets of reps in the following order: 15-12-12-10
- Standing Cable Fly – 3 sets of reps in the following order: 15-12-10
Supersets:
- Incline Dumbbell Press (lowest incline possible) – 3 sets of reps in the following order: 15-12-10
- Incline Dumbbell Fly – 3 sets of reps in the following order: 15-12-10
- Standing Barbell Shoulder Press (alternating bar position to front and back) – 4 sets of reps in the following order: 20-12-12-8
- Seated Dumbbell Lateral Raises – 3 sets of reps in the following order: 15-15-12
- Bentover Dumbbell Fly – 3 sets of reps in the following order: 15-15-12
- Smith Machine Single-arm Shoulder Press – 3 sets (each arm) of reps in the following order: 15-12-10
Post-Lift Boxing HIIT Circuit
Perform shadow boxing exercises during rest periods so as to keep your body engaged. Complete 3 rounds total.
- Shadow Box x 1 min. (use a 3-5 lb. dumbbells to increase intensity)
- Jumping Jacks (any variation) x 30 sec.
- Shadow Box x 1 min.
- Mountain Climbers x 30 seconds
- Shadow Box x 1 min.
- Burpees x 30 sec.
- Shadow Box x 1 min.
- Shoulder Taps x 30 sec.
This article has been reviewed for accuracy by Kate Save. Kate is an Accredited Practicing Dietitian, Exercise Physiologist and Diabetes Educator plus the founder of Be Fit Food.
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Michael B. Jordan Workout & Diet Plan FAQ
Actor Michael B. Jordan is reported to be exactly 6 feet tall.
Michael B. Jordan reportedly performed a 4-day workout regimen when prepping for his role as Adonis Creed. It combined cardio with traditional strength-building. He trained each muscle group for volume.
o bring out your inner Adonis, eat lean proteins, whole grains, and green veggies. Train four days a week and warm-up with some light cardio before moving on to strength-building.
To get Michael B. Jordan’s shoulders in movies like Creed 2, start with strength-building exercises like the incline dumbbell press and standing cable flye. Move on to supersets of exercises such as the incline dumbbell press, incline dumbbell flye, standing barbell shoulder press, seated dumbbell lateral raises, bent-over dumbbell flyes, and more.
