If you’ve seen him in Game of Thrones, or more recently in Aquaman, you’ll know one thing for certain: Jason Momoa has an insane body.
He’s big, muscular and impressively lean. Standing at a whopping 6 foot 4 and weighing a mighty 235 lbs, he is a mountain of a man.
With his full name Joseph Jason Namakaeha Momoa, the Hawaiian native has been making his name in Hollywood for his wild titan-esque look.
But what is his secret? And how did he get in the best shape of his life to play Arthur Curry in Aquaman?
In this short workout plan, we share information that we discovered from Jason’s personal trainer Mark Twight, along with some of our own speculations of how Jason attained such a great physique.
And before we get started, you need to know that Jason didn’t always look like such a Viking warrior. Just check out this crazy before and after pic:
Jason Momoa Aquaman Workout Overview:
The main workouts we managed to attain from Jason’s trainer was his chest routine and his leg routine. We also know that Momoa is an avid climber, and that it is a sport that he takes very seriously.
For the role however, to play Aquaman, Momoa needed some serious muscle. This means a combination of both high and low rep exercises to both build size and definition.
We believe he was undergoing a 6-day week of weightlifting with a lot of active recovery in-between in the form of rock climbing.
Here’s our thoughts;
Day 1: Chest Day
This is the first of 2 workouts in this week split that we have confirmed is a chest workout used by Jason for the Aquaman movie. It comes from Momoa’s trainer, Mark Twight.
It starts with some big compound movements of heavy weights, but it eventually turns into high rep torture to really burn and grow your chest.
Let’s take a look at it:
- Incline Bench Press: 5 x 6
5 sets of 6 reps. That’s a low rep range, for this you want to be looking to use heavy weights which allows you to really build up some thick dense muscle.
- Standing Dumbbell Press: 5 x 12
Here you want to go a lot lighter, but still a challenge. With a higher rep range, you can recruit more muscle fibers and develop and condition your shoulders and chest a lot more. This is a good balance to the incline bench in this session.
- Push Ups: 5 x 24
This is all about conditioning and toning here. Bodyweight push ups, 24 reps for 5 sets. It’ll give you a great pump and really work your chest. Don’t worry if you can’t do 24 reps, just do as many as you can for 5 sets.
The final exercise in this workout is arguably the toughest:
- Cable Crossover Drop-Set: 6 / 12 / 18
This is a drop set spread over 3 sets. Start with a weight you can just about manage at 6 reps. The lower the weight until you can just about manage 12 reps, and then finally again so you can do 18. Try to keep the shortest amount of time between sets – rest as little as possible and absolutely burn yourself out in those final reps.
Day 2: Aquaman Arms & Abs Workout
This workout is not one that we have had confirmed, but it is our interpretation of what an arm workout for Jason Momoa may look like.
We’re keeping within a similar rep range of the chest workout – a combination of heavy weights which get gradually more intense.
- Barbell Curls: 5 x 6
- Hammer Curls: 5 x 12
The normal barbell curls helps increase the overall size of your biceps, especially with those heavy reps. Whereas the hammer curls help with the shape of your arms as they help flesh out the brachii (side bicep).
- Alternate Arm Dumbbell Curls: 5 x 6
- Preacher Curls: 5 x 12
This is a similar strategy to the last two exercises giving your arms a mix of building raw power, but also shape of your bicep.
Finally, you finish your arms workout by performing some heavy cable curls, and then some individual arm curls in a drop set.
- Close Grip Cable Curls: 5 x 6
- One Arm Cable Curls Drop-Set: 6 / 12 / 18
That will really get your arms burning.
Finally, we think Jason Momoa would finish a session like this with some high rep ab workout:
- Hanging Leg Raises: 3 x 15
- Decline Crunch: 3 x 20
- Standing Cable Wood Chops: 3 x 20
This high rep stuff will get your abs pumping and is good for conditioning your torso.
Day 3: Jason Momoa Aquaman Back Routine
Again, this is another workout for Jason that we’ve been unable to confirm, however, from what we know we think this is a pretty good interpretation of what it would be.
Again, some heavy lifts in there with a big drop set finale:
- Wide Grip Lat Pull Down: 5 x 6
- Cable Row: 5 x 12
This is a good start, it can really help bring out the wideness of your back with the wide grip pull downs, but also build up definition in the center of your back with cable rows.
- Barbell Rows: 5 x 6
- Dumbbell Rows: 5 x 12
A lot of rows in this workout to really bring out the detail of your back, but also to work the main muscles to work up some real power.
- Deadlift Drop-Set: 6 / 12 / 18
Here is where you’ll need a lot of effort, a drop set dead lift session. Pick a weight you can lift with good form for 6 reps, then lower the weight to pull 12, and then again for 18 reps.
Make sure your form is on point, if you feel that you can’t keep your back straight, lower the weight.
- Pull Ups: 5 x 15
Finally, you finish with pull ups. Don’t worry if you can’t do 15. Do as many as you can to get the most out of the sets.
Day 4: Shoulder Workout for Jason Momoa’s Aquaman
This is our view on what we think Jason was doing to get those great shoulders to play Arthur Curry in Aquaman.
Same as before, a combination of low and high rep exercises along with compound and isolated lifts.
- Barbell Military Press: 5 x 6
- Arnold Press: 5 x 12
Again, these are good for building solid boulder shoulders with some good compound lifts. Barbell Press will help to build size, whereas Arnold Press can help with the overall conditioning and definition.
Next we move onto more isolated exercises:
- Lateral Raise: 5 x 12
- Front Raise: 5 x 12
- Bent Over Dumbbell Rear Delt Raise: 5 x 12
This is just all high rep work, just to really bring out the shape of your shoulders.
- Barbell Shrug: 5 x 6
- Dumbbell Shrug: 5 x 12
This can help really bring out your traps at the end of the workout. Bigger traps can really add emphasis to your shoulders and make your frame look bigger overall just like Jason.
- Cable Upright Row Drop Set: 6 / 12 / 18
Again, with like most sessions in this split, you want to finish with a quick drop set. Keep good form and move from a heavy weight you can do 6 reps with onto 12 reps and finally finishing up on 18 reps.
Aquaman Workout Day 5: Triceps & Abs
This is the last upper body workout session before we move onto legs: your triceps. There is no doubt that Jason Momoa has fantastic triceps. We don’t have his exact workout, but we have a good idea on how to make yours pop like his does.
Again, start off big and work back:
- Close Grip Barbell Bench Press: 5 x 6
- Skull Crushers: 5 x 12
Make sure you really squeeze your triceps in those Skull Crushers when you’re going for those 12 rep steps.
Next you want to push hard on your cable exercises:
- Overhead Cable Triceps Extension: 5 x 6
- Cable Triceps Push Down: 5 x 12
And finally finishing off your triceps with some light dumbbell work:
- One Arm Dumbbell Extension: 5 x 12
- Dumbbell Tricep Kickbacks: 5 x 12
Now that you’ve finished off your triceps, it’s time to move on to your abs:
- Kneeling Cable Pull Down: 3 x 20
- Bicycle Crunch: 3 x 20
- Side Plank: 2 x 60 seconds (Each Side)
Day 6: Official Jason Momoa Leg Workout for Aquaman
This is the other workout we’ve managed to confirm comes from Jason Momoa’s trainer for Aquaman – his leg routine.
There’s one drop-set in here, but on the whole, it’s really interesting stuff. Why? Because instead of reps, it seems to focus more on distance. Sound confusing? Don’t worry, we’ll explain it.
- Sled Quad Extension (Push): 5 x 20m
- Sled Quad Extension (Pull): 5 x 20m
Sled pushes and pulls are great for working up your legs. It builds pure functional strength. This can help develop all the fibers in the muscles in your legs and the majority of the muscle fibers gets recruited to pull and push that sled along.
Make sure you put a decent weight on it to make sure you get the full benefit.
- Dumbbell Lunges: 5 x 40 (20 each leg)
This is an absolute killer, taking 20 steps with each leg with a dumbbell in each hand is a good way to really burn out your legs.
- Bulgarian Split Squat: 5 x 10 (each leg)
The BSS requires a lot more balance. Make sure you have a bench or box of suitable height to get the most benefit and really dip into the lunge.
Finally, we have the traditional Jason Momoa drop-set:
- Seated Quad Extension Drop-Set: 6 / 12 / 18
And that completes Jason’s workout! You can use the final day of this week to rest.
Other Things You Can Do
If you have it in you, one of other things you can do to keep you on Jason’s level would be to go climbing at indoor gym.
Jason is known for his love of bouldering, and tries to get on the wall as much as possible. Not only is bouldering a lot of fun, but it is also great for working the majority of muscles in your body and is a great choice for active recovery.
Here’s a great video of Jason Momoa rock climbing like a pro:
Summary
As you can see, it takes a lot to get a body worthy of ruling the seas. A lot of weight lifting, broken up with some serious climbing.
We hope that reading this article has inspired you to do some superhero training of your own and to start building a body like Jason’s.