As I was watching Creed at the movie theater, I could not help but notice how much Michael B. Jordan has to offer the world of cinema. The now 33-year-old made noticeable transformations to play the son of fictional Rocky franchise character Apollo Creed, including packing on 24 pounds…of muscle!
And what a way to be recognized for the hard work by being featured on the cover of Men’s Fitness Magazine. During an interview at the cover photo shoot, a happy Michael B. Jordan detailed his diligence and dedication towards becoming his character. He might as well be a real boxer because he looks and fights just like one.
Now, he's graced the cover of many magazines including his 2018 cover of vanity fair.
MUST READ: Michael B Jordan Explains: 'When A Man Is Ready, He's Ready'
An excited Michael B. Jordan explained, “Being on the cover of Men’s Fitness is like a dream come true. It’s also when the plan comes together. When you work so hard at something, you know you try to impose your will and make something happen.”
The first scene that we see Michael B. Jordan in is right before his boxing match begins. Sitting alone in a dim room, mentally preparing himself for the fight, Jordan suddenly gets up and heads up the stairs for the start of the match. For this shot, the camera is behind him, so we have a direct view of his back.
His back muscles popped out like The Incredible Hulk! “Gaining 24 pounds of muscle for Creed was super intense: exercise, diet, sleep, and consistency. Then I went out and got the best trainer. He stayed there every step of the way everyday. He was in the gym with me putting time in,” says Jordan.
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As we all know, exercise alone will not give you the results that you want. Diet, diet, diet. Changing his eating habits was certainly a challenge for Jordan - a challenge that he accepted and conquered.
“I love food. To take away all the food that I love, and to give me boiled chicken, broccoli, rice, fish, and asparagus consistently is a little brutal. I would say bulking up was the hardest thing because I had to eat a bunch of stuff that I didn’t enjoy.” Even with...
...the hardships, Jordan had an end goal in mind, so he was able to stick with it with persistence. For those that want to lose weight or build muscle, picture yourself looking like that. You always have that image in your head to strive for.
The best part about Jordan’s challenges in becoming Creed is his changed mentality. “The boxing training that I had to go through for Creed definitely changed the way I work out, the way I approach work, my work ethic; discipline has all been elevated over the course What you project. What you put in is what you get out. I feel great, I feel healthy, tons of energy. It’s pretty cool.” This was a goal that Jordan worked towards day in and day out. Physically, Jordan is now bigger than ever before, and it is healthy weight. His mentality of persistence directly influenced his physical activities, and his body followed.
When Men’s Fitness asked about what Michael B. Jordan’s next steps were, he revealed, “Moving forward, I want to continue to raise the bar, do great work and work with creative people…As far as fitness is concerned, after you make it over that hill and you start to see your body physically change and you went through the diet and exercise.
With the blood sweat and tears you put into it and you see results and you’re happy with it, you don’t want to go back to the other side and have to go through that process all over again. For me, I’m gonna keep up with it. It’s all about finding that balance; I think I found mine.”
Speaking of next moves, Jordan seems to be interested in a sequel. “A character so rich as this, and the world he's in, I want to see what happens to him next and what he does," Jordan said in a recent interview. "Especially the way it ends off, it's pretty cool. I think with success and time and circumstances, it would be exciting to come back and work with (co-stars) Sly (Stallone) and Tessa (Thompson) again." Director Ryan Coogler, too, has expressed enthusiasm for another “Creed."
Creed was brought to theaters Thanksgiving week, so there has been no public talk of a sequel so far. I can only hope that Jordan is hinting to something that actually will happen. But in the meantime, he will continue to take care of himself. With 24 pounds of new muscle and actual boxer training, I would not look at Michael B. Jordan the wrong way.
