Just about every bodybuilder knows Michael Jai White. The 45 year old New York native is probably more famous for his film exploits such as Universal Soldier in the 1990’s and his appearance in The Dark Knight in 2008 however it is his workout routine that we are interested in for the purposes of this article. To put it simply, Michael Jai White is built, well-built. His background comes from martial arts and he currently holds 7 different black belts in disciplines such as Tae Kwon Do, Goju Ryu and Shotokan to name just a few but he is also an accomplished bodybuilder and his actual workout routine is something that is widely discussed and speculated on.
Where The Training To Teach Martial Arts Began For Michael Jai White
Watch this video where Michael Jai White talks about where it all started for him .
Building Muscle Over Time
Essentially Michael Jai White didn’t become the way he is overnight – actually, no-one has been able to achieve this (not through natural means anyway) although some do put the weight and muscle on a lot quicker than others. Perhaps one of the main aspects of the routine is that there is not a lot of cardio involved and the vast majority of it is focused purely on building muscle hence how he has got to the size and build that he has. Cardio is far more useful in losing fat and weight as opposed to trying to put it on and then convert it to pure muscle.
However, before we dive into what the workout actually focuses on we should look at what is avoids. As we have already said, cardio isn’t a big part of the routine but neither are shoulder shrugs. Why are these avoided? Well, according to the man himself, an emphasis on shoulder shrugs and building up the trapezius muscle makes wearing a shirt and tie look quite silly; we have all seen the guys with the massive traps that, quite frankly, look pretty ridiculous and out of place most of the time and if you want to be built but also hang around respectable company and look good then it is best to avoid these altogether.
So, What Is The Routine?
Now that we have talked about what the Michael Jai White workout routine is not we should really spend some time looking into what it is and what it actually entails.
Chest and tricep routines when combined can be great for creating some serious muscle. This is one of the cornerstones of the workout. A strong combination of different bench press exercises and dips will result in a muscle focuses workout. So, for example, 2 x 6 reps of dumbbell and barbell chest presses and 2 x 8 reps for parallel bar dips can be an incredibly effective combination.
One very important feature of the workout is that heavy weights should not be used. Seems pretty silly, no? Surely the heavier weight you use then the more chance there is of ‘feeling the burn’ during your workout and therefore creating more muscle. Well, not exactly. Research produced in April 2012 from the Journal of Applied Physiology essentially gave a scientific backing to the workout Michael Jai White does – lighter weights but more reps were shown to have a better impact on certain muscle groups and especially the ones that this workout focuses on. Indeed, heavier weights also focus more on bulk rather than toned muscle and this is not what the routine is about. So, by using lighter weights for some of the exercises but doing more reps than you normally would then you can build up some of your muscle groups quicker than normal.
Pull-ups are also a major part of the workout routine. Doing alternative style pulls ups like the ones shown in the video below are extremely beneficial to the kind of physique that you are after. However, ordinary pull ups should be undertaken as well and 3 x 8 reps are generally recommended.
Mistakes That You Can Make
OK, so when you see someone famous like Michael Jai White, the body that they have and you discover what they have done to get that kind of muscle then there are several mistakes that you can make.
The most obvious is over training. You see what you want and you want it fast. We mentioned earlier how Michael didn’t develop this kind of figure overnight in fact it took a lot of time and effort and this means that you should over train. Overtraining is actually recommended by some people and, for sure, many celebrities do it a lot if they need to bulk up in a shorter time period however the long term effects of doing this far outweigh the short term benefits. A variety of issues can arrive from doing too much in such a short space of time especially with some of the exercises in this workout; chronic fatigue, a loss of appetite (which will actually stop you building muscle), lack of sleep, depression and sickness are all symptoms of overtraining and cause more negative effects that positive ones.
The Michael Jai Workout Routine
So, we have given you a glimpse into what this routine is all about. Put simply it is designed to build muscle but not particularly bulky muscle rather the emphasis is more on toned. This means that you should concentrate on chest and tricep routines predominately in addition to pull ups as well. Combine this with the right kind of diet and you should start to see results – in fact, Michael himself consumes about 3 gallons of water every day. A diet of around 70% protein and removing processed sugars from the foods that you eat are also recommended for this lifestyle.
You will not transform in Michael Jai White overnight or even in the space of a month but if you stick at the routine, focus on the areas that we have told you about, allow yourself enough time to rest and recover and also eat the right kind of foods then you will find that your physique will become much better over time.
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