Actor & Martial Artist Michael Jai White's Back Workout | Train Like | Men's Health - video Dailymotion

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Martial-arts icon and director-writer Michael Jai White shows off the workout he used to build his back and prep for his upcoming film "Outlaw Johnny Black".

Transcript

00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:03 Hi, this is Michael Jai White, and I'm

00:09 going to take you through how I train, especially

00:12 when I get ready for movies.

00:13 I'm more like a fighter who has to make weight.

00:19 For me, I usually walk around around 235,

00:22 but I train to get down to about 215.

00:26 That's my shooting weight.

00:28 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:31 I get a lot of cardio, eat right,

00:34 and I do conditioning to maintain the muscle.

00:38 Fitness for me is always balancing your body.

00:42 And being a martial artist, that's

00:43 very, very important to me, because it's

00:45 all about movement.

00:46 And if you have a body part that is overpowering another body

00:50 part, then your movement is compromised.

00:52 I used to be like this, because I

00:55 did a whole bunch of bench pressing

00:58 when I was quite younger.

00:59 And all the weight from my shoulders and my arms

01:03 were in front of my center line.

01:04 So for years, I had to really concentrate on back work

01:09 to balance myself out.

01:10 So then when I moved, I was on balance.

01:13 Everything you do in life pulls your shoulders forward.

01:16 So many of us lack back strength.

01:20 And that's very important to anybody moving up in age,

01:23 because that is going to be the most important thing,

01:26 that you have a strong back as you get older.

01:29 Allow me to take you through some things

01:31 that I think are very important.

01:34 The first thing I like to do when I work back

01:37 is the dead hang.

01:38 That's a good way to warm up, because you're

01:40 elongating your spine.

01:41 And the lower part of your body, you let your spine stretch.

01:45 It actually feels really good.

01:47 I'll do dead hangs for about three sets

01:49 and just try to hold it at least 30 seconds.

01:52 The way I start, I always start with pull-ups.

01:55 I definitely prefer a wider grip.

01:57 When I can, I like to face my palms toward each other.

02:02 I get a better squeeze that way.

02:04 I'll do four sets of 15 to 20 reps.

02:07 Next exercise would be this mag bar row.

02:11 A common mistake is people will grab the weight

02:15 and just pull it back.

02:16 They'll be engaging their arms and not using their back.

02:20 The thing that is bringing my shoulders together

02:22 is my back muscle.

02:23 You want to engage that in every movement.

02:26 That's very important that you get that squeeze

02:29 in every repetition.

02:31 I got the mag bars for my home, and I donated some to the gym

02:35 just because I don't want to transport my own mag bars

02:38 back there, because just the feel of them is so great.

02:42 Your hands are not as stressed.

02:44 You can relax your arms a bit more

02:47 and use your back without engaging your grip so much.

02:51 So that's why I love those things.

02:53 The next exercise is a reverse punch assisted with bands.

02:57 So that's pretty much the most powerful punch

02:59 that your body can muster

03:01 because you're driving with your hips.

03:03 So learning how to fire my hips from the ground,

03:08 that made the difference.

03:09 And so I applied that into my martial arts training

03:12 and developed a very, very strong punch,

03:15 a punch that people always said that was,

03:18 it felt a lot stronger than my weight class.

03:21 And so that's part of my training

03:23 that I think is very important with punching power.

03:26 And of course, if you ever had to defend yourself,

03:29 you want to arm yourself with the most powerful weapon

03:32 that you possibly can.

03:34 And so learning how to drive as much power as you could

03:39 is probably your fastest, most efficient tool

03:43 in saving your life.

03:45 The next exercise is an explosive bicep curl.

03:48 Even with curls, I fire, I'm doing explosive movements.

03:53 It's a Smith machine and it's got the tracks

03:55 and I fling that joker up as high as I can.

03:58 By the 15th rep, it's gonna be lower,

04:01 but I'm still doing nothing but explosion

04:03 and I'm full contraction, so I'm here.

04:05 Everything I do as a martial artist,

04:08 I try to use explosive movements

04:11 because that's part of what I do.

04:13 So it's not about the slow, bulky building.

04:18 So I'm never trying to build bulk.

04:21 It's only about efficient movement for me.

04:23 Thank you for training with me.

04:27 Look out for Outlaw Johnny Black.

04:29 I think you'll like it.

04:30 (logo whooshes)

04:33 [BLANK_AUDIO]

Actor & Martial Artist Michael Jai White's Back Workout | Train Like | Men's Health

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