Aquaman hit theaters in January of 2019, and the film’s star, Jason Momoa, is in absolutely amazing shape. You’ve probably seen Momoa in his recurring role on Game Of Thrones as Khal Drago.
Well, he is now headlining the latest superhero franchise, and he’s built the body for it. In this post, I’m going to show you how you can achieve an Aquaman-level physique.
Now first we must understand there is a big difference between how actors train to play superheroes versus what most lifters do in the gym.
You see, if you look at Jason Momoa’s physique development, he’s holding muscle in the exact proportion that I teach. He’s got a well developed upper chest, wide and detailed upper back, and incredibly well-developed shoulders.
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What’s more, he’s maintaining a low body fat to showcase a perfect level of muscle definition and a taut waist. This gives Momoa’s physique a much more impressive look, especially on camera, and serves to enhance the shoulder-to-waist ratio (the key to an aesthetic physique).
Now, it’s absolutely clear and evident that Momoa put in a lot of attention into those three areas: upper chest, lats and shoulders. The reason for this is two-fold. When you have a limited amount of time to gain muscle for a movie role, it’s important to focus on the areas that will create the strongest visual effect. Secondly, by focusing on those three key areas, you give your physique an incredible and superhero-esque look.
How Big Is Jason Momoa?
Jason Momoa stands 6 feet, 4 inches tall and weighs between 220-225 pounds. As well, he has a fairly low body fat at around 10 percent. There was no need for Momoa to get leaner than this, as it would come at the expense of his size and strength.
When going below 10 percent, it becomes increasingly challenging to hold onto a significant amount of strength. The director of the movie wanted Jason Momoa to be big and powerful, while still having a sleek and proportionate look. This meant that 10 percent body fat was the sweet spot.
Key Characteristics of Jason Momoa’s Physique
Now, it’s important to realize the importance of camera, angles and lighting. When we see many of these actors get into superhero shape, we often forget that a huge contributing factor is how the director and director of photography actually position, light and shoot the actor.
If you take a look at the above photo, you see a more natural shot of Jason Momoa. While he certainly looks great, his physique doesn’t quite look as impressive as many of the pictures and video clips going around the internet.
Now, this isn’t to demotivate you, it’s simply to show you the truth about building a great body. Even with an amazing body, it won’t always look perfect. You must come to terms with that.
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Now with that out of the way, let’s focus on Jason Momoa’s physique development. The first couple of muscle groups that jump out at you are his chest and shoulders. He has built an incredible, well-developed chest from top to bottom.
It’s clear that the Jason Momoa Aquaman workout routine focused heavily on the upper chest and standing shoulder press. In fact, doing a lot of research around his workout routine , I was excited to see many of his workouts seemed similar to that in my Greek God Program.
There was a massive amount of focus on the incline press, standing press and pullups. This produces an incredibly proportionate and aesthetic-looking physique.
The incline press perfectly develops the chest with an emphasis on the upper portion of the chest. The standing press, done correctly, builds the entire shoulder girdle and further contributes to upper chest development. And weighted pull ups build a wide detailed back and muscular biceps.
The Jason Momoa Workout Routine for Aquaman
It’s important to mention that this isn’t the exact routine that Jason Momoa has followed. But I, myself, have built a similar physique and have helped thousands of everyday men all over the world do the same.
So, bottomline, this routine will get the job done like nothing else. Now, fundamentally, the secret to the Aquaman body will be getting stronger with the key lifts that promote the type of physique Momoa possesses. We’ll also supercharge muscle growth with something I call MEGA Training or Minimum Effort Growth Acceleration Training.
This is a training philosophy contained in my Greek God muscle building program, and it works like nothing else will. The concept is combining high intensity lifting (reverse pyramid training) with high-volume pump training (standard pyramid training). This maximizes muscle growth perfectly.
The workout routine will comprise of just two workouts. One workout we will be hitting the chest, shoulders and triceps. The other workout, we will be hitting the back, biceps and legs. You will be working out three times per week, alternating between Workout A and Workout B.
Now the beauty of this training routine is that it allows you to hit each muscle group once every 4-5 days. This is the absolute perfect frequency to maximize muscle growth and recovery. The reason is simple, it takes about 48 hours for the muscles recover. But what is often forgotten, is the local neurons that fire a specific muscle group take 3-4 days to recharge. So for maximum strength gains, it’s best to wait 3-5 days before hitting a muscle hard and heavy again.
Example Workout Schedule
Week One
Monday: Workout A
Wednesday: Workout B
Friday: Workout A
Week 2
Monday: Workout B
Wednesday: Workout A
Friday: Workout B
Now three workouts per week may not sound like a whole lot, but trust me, this is the perfect strategy. It’s important to remember that your body rebuilds and grows stronger when you’re resting and not when you’re in the gym. What’s more, when you are focusing on increasing weights every week, taking rest is absolutely critical.
Your body needs 48 hours rest between heavy lifting sessions to allow your nervous system to recharge. The nervous system is what recruits and signals to your muscles to contract. The stronger your nervous system is, the more muscle fibers your can recruit. If your nervous system is drained, you won’t be lifting at your true potential.
Workout A: Chest, Shoulders and Triceps
Incline Barbell Press: 3 sets – 4-6, 6-8, 8-10 (reverse pyramid)
Standing Barbell Press: 2 sets – 6-8, 8-10 (reverse pyramid)
Machine Flat Bench Press: 4 sets – 12, 10, 8, 6 (standard pyramid)
Lateral Raises: 4 sets – 12, 10, 8, 6 (standard pyramid)
Triceps Rope Pushdowns: 4 sets – 12, 10, 8, 6 (standard pyramid)
Workout B: Back, Biceps and Legs
Weighted Pullups: 3 sets – 6-8, 6-8, 6-8 (reverse pyramid)
Seated Cable Rows: 4 sets – 12, 10, 8, 6 (standard pyramid)
Barbell Front Squats: 3 sets – 6-8, 8-10, 10-12 (reverse pyramid)
Romanian Deadlifts: 3 sets – 10-12, 10-12, 10-12
Dumbbell Hammer Curls: 3 sets – 6-8, 6-8, 6-8 (reverse pyramid
Cable or Machine Curls: 4 sets – 12, 10, 8, 6 (standard pyramid)
Aquaman Workout Notes
This Aquaman workout routine will hit your entire physique perfectly. Now these are extremely intense workouts and, actually, more workout volume than I typically recommend. But this strategy is necessary to gain muscle fast.
To get the maximum out of these workouts, I recommend using the superhero-physique stack. This includes our Kino Octane Organic Pre Workout, our Kino Amino’s (key amino acids to support muscle growth and improve training capacity) and our Kino Gains formula (which contains creatine and carnitine to boost muscle growth and increase muscle recovery).
If you’re unfamiliar about reverse pyramid training and standard pyramid training, I discuss this in great detail in my Greek God Muscle Building program.
Essentially, with reverse pyramid training you are performing your heaviest set first (after a warm up). You should rest about 3 minutes between sets. For your second set, you should reduce the weight by about 10 percent and another 10 percent weight reduction for your third set. If possible, you want to perform 1-2 more reps on each set. Increase the weight the next workout once you can do the maximum number of reps.
For standard pyramid training, you will select a weight you can do for 12 reps. Rest just 60-90 seconds then perform 10 reps with the same weight. Rest and perform 8 reps. Rest and perform 6 reps. Finished.
