Michael B. Jordan.Photo:Anthony Harvey/Shutterstock
Anthony Harvey/Shutterstock
Michael B. Jordanis no stranger when it comes to getting in the gym, with fans seeing the results of his hard work on screen when taking on roles in theCreedseries,Black PantherandWithout Remorse.
But after a short hiatus following theCreed IIIpress tour, the 36-year-old actor is opening up to PEOPLE about getting back in the gym, but this time on his own terms.
Jordan — aPropel Fitness Waterpartner — often has to tackle a full body transformation for his on-screen characters, working with personal trainers, specialists and nutritionists who create a specific regimen to get the job done.
Now, he says he doesn’t necessarily need to rely on anyone for his fitness journey outside of work.
“At this point I know what works for me and what doesn’t,” he tells PEOPLE. “Now it’s just about being consistent. Coming off of the movie and the press tour, it was very stressful so I took a little break. I’m at the end of my hiatus right now, so I’m getting ready to actually get back into shape now.”
When Jordan isn’t trying to “mold” himself into a character, he admits that his fitness journey can be lacking a bit because he’s not the best at managing his eating habits. “Ilovefood,” he quips.
Michael B. Jordan in Creed III.Eli Ade/MGM/Courtesy Everett Collection
The actor tries to start each day the same, with “fast cardio” before eating a healthy meal and jumping into his workout for the day.
“Eating consistently is something that I found really helps change your body. Dieting, intermittent fasting, there’s different approaches to it. But for me, I kind of look at it as your body’s like a fire,” he explains. “Every so often you gotta keep throwing logs on a fire to keep burning that off. And the logs, that’s the food that you eat. So you’re constantly eating and you’re burning it off and eventually your body will start to burn off the fat that’s been stored up. So, that’s kind of been my approach to how I stay in shape.”
“As I’ve become a little bit more selective on the roles that I do, my downtime has increased a little bit more. I think I’m starting to redefine— finding a healthy balance of just breaking a sweat,” he adds, teasing that he loves forms of fitness that give him a workout without realizing it, like swimming, throwing a baseball or frisbee around in the park, or trying to keep up with his hyper 3-year-old nephew.
“At one point I was doing probably 300 push-ups and 200 sit-ups throughout the day. So at the end of the day, I gotta at least hit my number and that kind of keeps you tight,” he shares.
“A baseline fitness,” he calls it. “If you just kind of hit those things and not let yourself get too far gone, that’s the problem. When you rebound and you let yourself go too far, then it’s like the mountain that you gotta climb is that much steeper instead of just touching up along the way.”
Michael B. Jordan x Propel.Propel Fitness Water
Propel Fitness Water
As he gets back into a routine, Jordan — PEOPLE’s 2020Sexiest Man Alive— understands his fitness journey can be a mental game sometimes. But he keeps his mind focused simply thinking about the possibility of fans and the media seeing him unable to maintain his toned physique.
To relieve some of that pressure, Jordan keeps his friends involved in his fitness journey not only for motivation but for some friendly competition.
“We bet a lot on anything,” he says of working out with his core group. “So we’ll bet pushups, you know, if you lose a bet you’ll owe however many pushups and stuff like that. Something went viral years ago when [Black PanthercostarLupita Nyong’o] made me dopush-ups out in public. That was because of a bet I lost. And we’ve been keeping that up for a really long time. So that’s something that we kind of do just to bring a little competition into it. It’s the simple things.”
“Whoever wants to put in some hard work. I go pretty hard when it comes to working out so my friends know I’m always down,” Jordan boasts. “They know I’m in the gym at a certain time. If you guys wanna show up, show up. I’m down for whatever.”
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The appreciation he has for his workout community is why, in part, the actor has partnered with Propel for the launch of the “Propel Your City Project,” which is aimed at amplifying fitness communities and supporting the efforts of organizations that are dedicated to addressing barriers to exercise and wellness.
“Working with Propel has been great… just how they wanted to show up for the community,” he explains. “Getting information and access to health and wellness and the various forms of what that looks like, from information to access to facilities to supplements and products that support your fitness goals. I think it’s a mixture of all those things.”
source: people.com
