Mark Twight balances weights with rock climbing to sculpt Jason Momoa’s physique for the silver screen.
If you’re looking for a top-notch fitness trainer with serious Hollywood credentials, look no further than Mark Twight. You might recognize his work from movies like The 300, Man of Steel, and Wonder Woman — he’s responsible for crafting those seriously chiseled physiques on screen. And one of those guys he’s crafted to host beefy muscle on the silver screen is Jason Momoa. This article will cover Jason Momoa’s chest workout to prepare for his Aquaman sequel, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, set to hit theaters in December 2023.
Mark Twight has some serious experience: He was a world-class mountain climber before he got into the fitness game. If that’s not impressive enough, he’s also known for the viral “300 Workout” developed to prepare actors for that famous movie. He’s even trained US Marines and a ton of other pro athletes. Long story short: If you want to get in incredible shape, Mark Twight is your guy.
For his role in Aquaman as Arthur Curry, who is Aquaman himself, Jason Momoa worked with Mark Twight to sculpt his body. In this post, we’ve got the exercises, sets, and reps involved in Momoa’s physique development and explanations for why they work and how you can apply them.
As an avid rock climber being trained by a legendary mountain climber, you can bet that there was some climbing in the Aquaman workout by these two. In fact, Momoa’s workout routine for this movie had to be adapted to accommodate indoor rock climbing 2-3 days a week. That was quite the feat, too, because he needed size for the role, and for climbing, you need to be lighter.
Well, if there’s one trainer who can hack an almost impossible challenge, it’s Mart Twight. They surmounted this by using high training volume and important recovery practices. Ultimately, they balanced weightlifting and climbing well in the carefully crafted workout routine.
While celebrity actor workouts are structured based on their roles, you can always learn something from them to implement into your training regimen. When the routine, like this Jason Momoa chest workout, comes from a renowned great coach like Mark Twight, paying even more attention is best. Here’s a sample chest day workout Jason Momoa did for Aquaman.
View this post on Instagram
Jason Momoa Chest Workout
| Exercises |
| Functional Crawl |
| Medicine Ball Catch and Throw |
| Pull up Ladder |
| Incline Bench Press |
| Standing Dumbbell Press |
| Dumbbell Push-up |
| High-Angle Cable Fly |
| Mid-Angle Cable Fly |
| Low-Angle Cable Fly |
Jason Momoa’s workout started with a warmup and was split into two blood-pumping circuits. Here are the exercises for Jason Momoa’s chest workout.
Warmup
Warmups prepare your body physically and mentally for the strenuous activity that is to follow. They increase your performance by increasing blood flow and oxygen to your muscles. A warmup also makes you more flexible; this study shows that it can reduce your risk of injury (1). Here are the exercises Jason Momoa did in this grueling warmup with 55 reps.
Functional Crawl
Functional crawls are a total body exercise that engages multiple muscle groups. These include your chest, shoulders, glutes, abs, hip flexors, forearms, lats, calves, groin, and hamstrings. You can use crawls to improve your coordination, build core strength, work on your conditioning, and improve your hip and shoulder mobility.
Medicine Ball Catch and Throw
The medicine ball catch and throw is a compound exercise that you can use to build your strength. This exercise is great for your back and targets the lats, abs, and shoulders. You can do this exercise with a partner or use a wall.
Pull-up Ladder
A pull-up ladder is a fast way to get big and strong. It’s a form of strength training that helps you do more work than usual by not maxing out each set. This leads to more sets and reps, muscle overload, and hypertrophy.
First Weightlifting Circuit
After the intense warmup, it was time for Momoa to start the first circuit of the day. This circuit features three exercises using a barbell and dumbbells. It went on for five rounds with no rest between the exercises and only a 2-3 minute rest between the rounds. Circuit training improves body composition, strength, and overall fitness (2). Here are the exercises he did in this first weightlifting circuit.
Incline Bench Press
Jason Momoa started his long workout with six reps on the incline bench press. This routine is done with a barbell and primarily builds three muscle groups — the triceps, the pecs, and your front delts. Incline bench presses enhance upper body strength and are good for hitting the upper chest muscles.
Standing Dumbbell Press
Next, Momoa went straight to 12 reps of the standing dumbbell press. This movement, also known as the standing overhead press, can be done with either barbells or dumbbells. It builds your chest, shoulders, and triceps. The standing dumbbell press is also considered a functional exercise, as lifting overhead is a movement we do in many daily activities.
Dumbbell Push-ups
Dumbbell pushups are a variation of push-ups that require more stability and balance. Using dumbbells increases muscle activation and improves flexibility and mobility in your shoulders. Dumbbell pushups work on your pecs, triceps, anterior delts, and abs. Jason Momoa did 24 reps of this exercise to finish a round and then repeated all the above for four more rounds.
Second Weightlifting Circuit
Jason Momoa did 108 reps of high, mid, and low-angle cable flyes for the second weightlifting circuit. In this circuit, he did one drop set of each routine, starting with six heavy reps, dropping two to three weight plates, doing 12 reps, dropping another two-three plate, and then rounding things up with 18 reps. Momoa did 36 reps for each routine and two rounds of the whole circuit with only 4-5 min. rest between the rounds. Let’s look at what you can target with this workout protocol.
High-Angle Cable Flye
The high-angle cable fly works on your triceps, shoulders, and chest muscles. The high-to-low angle specifically focuses on your lower chest muscles.
Mid-Angle Cable Flye
The mid-angle cable flye lines up your upper arm with the middle of your chest. It’s easier as the movement is more natural. The mid-angle cable flye works on your delts and chest, specifically focusing on your lower chest muscles.
Low-Angle Cable Flye
The low-angle cable flye further works on the chest muscles, with the low-to-high angle, in particular, targeting the upper chest muscles.
Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for more celebrity workouts!
References
- LaBella, C. R., Huxford, M. R., Grissom, J., Kim, K. Y., Peng, J., & Christoffel, K. K. (2011). Effect of neuromuscular warm-up on injuries in female soccer and basketball athletes in urban public high schools: cluster randomized controlled trial. Archives of pediatrics & adolescent medicine, 165(11), 1033–1040. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpediatrics.2011.168
- Ramos-Campo, D. J., Andreu Caravaca, L., Martínez-Rodríguez, A., & Rubio-Arias, J. Á. (2021). Effects of Resistance Circuit-Based Training on Body Composition, Strength and Cardiorespiratory Fitness: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Biology, 10(5), 377. https://doi.org/10.3390/biology10050377
