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Boxing movies have given actors the opportunity to get into ridiculous shape for decades.
But the “Rocky” franchise brought it up another level. The physiques of Carl Weathers as Apollo Creed and Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa (who by the third film looks ridiculously cut) was the inspiration for many during the exercise-craze in the late ’70s to early ’80s.
Now the bar has been raised once more with the “Rocky” spinoff film, “Creed.”
Michael B. Jordan plays Adonis Creed in the movie, the illegitimate son of Apollo who with the help of Rocky as his manager, beings his path as a professional boxer.
To get the look of a pro boxer, Jordan called on personal trainer Corey Calliet. The two had first met on the set of “Fantastic Four” and hit it off.
“I remember on set of ‘Fantastic Four’ there was talk of Mike doing ‘Creed,'” Calliet recalls. “I grew up watching ‘Rocky’ and they were so ripped, but I knew with my skills I could do better.”
So even before “Fantastic Four” wrapped Calliet began a regiment with Jordan, who played Johnny Storm in the movie, that made him into, as Calliet calls, “an action figure.”
“I remember Hutch [Parker], one of the producers on ‘Fantastic Four,’ called me and said, ‘Corey, you’re doing a great job but tone it down a little bit because Michael can’t fit in the suit,'” said Calliet.
Once filming wrapped on ‘Fantastic Four’ Jordan brought Calliet out to LA where they continued to train and meet “Creed” director Ryan Coogler, who immediately agreed to have Calliet be Jordan’s trainer on the film.
By November 2014 Jordan and Calliet began training in Philadelphia, where filming would take place. In January 2015 shooting began and training continued. But by that point Calliet did different workouts depending on the scenes they were shooting.
“Ryan told me how Mike needed to look for certain scenes so I would feed him creation types of food so his muscles would pop on a specific day,” said Calliet.
And Stallone took notice.
“Sly has said he thinks Mike is in better condition than he was in for the ‘Rocky’ movies,” said Calliet. “That is very big for me.”
Here’s just a glimpse of the workout Jordan did six days a week:
– 45-60 minutes of cardio
– 3 sets of 25 reps of sit-ups every other day
– 1 mile warm-up on the treadmill
– 2 sets of 10 reps of push ups
– 4 sets of dumbbell curls
– 3 rounds of 20 reps of box jumps, jump squats, burpees
– Boxing training (heavy bag, speed bag, jump rope)
See Calliet’s complete work out regiment at Men’s Journal
“I remember when we started out Mike couldn’t lift 25 pounds, but then I started to see the confidence as he could see results,” said Calliet. “Now he jumps rope better than I ever could and I fought golden gloves.”
But Calliet said Jordan hasn’t even hit his potential. Like Rocky managing Adonis, there’s still more Calliet can show Jordan and hopes a “Creed” sequel will give him that opportunity.
“I promise you he’s going to be bigger and more cut,” said Calliet when asked about a sequel. “And if he becomes a heavy weight for the next movie? Oh my god, I’ve got a trick for ya’ll.”
“Creed” is currently playing in theaters nationwide.
SEE ALSO: How Jake Gyllenhall got ripped for his new movie “Southpaw”
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