Featured image credit: Jason Statham via Instagram



It seems that ever since he broke into the film industry back in 1998, starring in Guy Ritchie's cult classic Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Jason Statham has been a fucking badass.

Now, 18 years later, the 49-year-old is still ripped to fuck.

Growing up, Statham was a typically sporty lad, and was actually introduced to football by none other than Vinnie Jones, his childhood friend, who'd he later act alongside.

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Statham was also a keen diver in his younger years, starting when he was just 11-years-old. He went on to be a part of Britain's National Diving Squad for 12 years, and even represented England at the 1990 Commonwealth Games.

Eventually he was picked up by an agency called Sports Promotions which specialised in sports modelling, before he became a model for French Connection.



All of that, grouped with his many action roles, most of which he performs his own stunts for, have required him to stay in great shape. But how's he maintained it for all of these years?

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Statham ripped as fuck in Death Race. Credit: Universal Pictures

Well, the 49-year-old, who has studied Wing Chun, kung fu, karate, and kickboxing, applies himself to a strict diet, as well as a strict workout regime. And by strict, I mean fucking strict; this is Jason Statham we're talking about, he's a no nonsense kind of bloke.

Statham only eats 'good food', saying 95% of what he eats is clean - the other 5% being small treats every now and again. He also swears by cutting out all the sugars and heavy starch in the afternoon. If you eat carbs later in the day, it's harder to work off - if needs be, have them in the morning and your daily activities should work off the calories.

In an interview with Men's Health, the star revealed that for breakfast he goes for either granola, fresh fruits and oats, porridge, or poached eggs.

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For lunch, he says in the interview to broaden your horizons, but fair warning, it's not going to sound too appealing.

"I'm certainly no vegan, but there's this little place down on Sunset that I'll go to, the California Vegan, and they do a really good steamed vegetable and brown rice," he said. "You put that in your body and you feel good. Or try a nice miso soup. There's nothing better than that stuff."

He goes on to say that the latest you should ever have your evening meal is 7pm, and it should be high in protein. He specifies chicken, fish and lean beef, accompanied by vegetables or salad. The icing on the cake, as well, is to drink a minimum of three litres of water a day; he has knocked fruit juices, full of added sugar and fructose on the head, as well as alcohol.

So, unfortunately, you're not going to get as stacked as The Transporter star while chugging lagers every other day of the week, and then ending the night with a sweaty kebab.

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Jason's workout plan is a different kettle of fish. The martial arts expert believes in never repeating the same workout as he feels you see more results from varying your exercises. Therefore it's hard to pinpoint a solid plan.

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According to BodyBuilding.com, the 49-year-old has two rules when it comes to hitting the gym: 1) "Never repeat a workout - it is virtually impossible to go through a training plan without repeating the exercises but each and every workout would be varied.

2) "Take notes of everything - as you progress through the workouts, it is inevitable that you will get fitter, faster and stronger. Therefore, it is vital to a successful plan to record all lifts and times so that intensities can be calculated."

Whatever workout he chooses to do, he will do a five to 10 minute general warm-up, which will be him using an elliptical machine (cross fit trainer), or something else that works the whole body.

He told BodyBuilding.com that following this warm-up, he does another 10 minutes of medium intensity exercises. This will include the likes of front squats, dead-lifts, exercises carrying kettle bells, sandbags or dumbbells, a variety of explosive medicine ball exercises, and circuit training.

The Snatch star has a specific non-iron circuit training regime, too, which requires no equipment. He told Men's Health that he picks five exercises from exploding push-ups, squat thrust, burpees, sit-ups or crunches, step-ups, tuck jumps, squat jumps, star jumps or pull-ups, and does 10 reps of each. Anyone else out of breath just thinking about this?

Statham's high intensity boxing workout begins with shadow boxing, working the back and shoulder, with lunges and some quad, groin, and hamstring stretching in between to work the legs.

He then moves onto five three minute rounds on the pads, and once that is completed, steps it up to three, three minute rounds on a heavy bag. The workout is then finished off with three rounds on the speed bag and a warm down.



For a weight based high intensity workout, Statham's trainer will choose a combination of six exercises, set a required rep range for each individual exercise, and then repeat five times.

The time taken to complete the five circuits is recorded, and is how the level of intensity is measured. The times are then turned into targets so they can be used to increase the intensity of the workout as fitness levels increase.



Of the exercises, BodyBuilding.com says they include barbell front raises, dumbbell burpees, farmer's walk, pull-ups, bear crawl sled drag, close-grip pull downs, front squats, hanging knee raises, weighted step ups, and one-arm cable rows.

No wonder he's fucking jacked.

Words by Mark McGowan