Michael B. Jordan's body transformation journey has been remarkable. His toned muscular body can be seen in his character in Black Panther. This has left many wondering how he scaled up his muscles within 10 months after his last cast in creed 2.
Rumors started spreading that Michael B. Jordan took steroids. Well, this has made me embark on a journey to help determine if Michael's buffed-up body was a result of steroids or exercises and diet. Well, let us find out the truth.
Quick Summary
- Michael B. Jordan did not take any form of steroids to attain his buffed muscles.
- Michael continuously performed different exercise routines to help build muscles for a year, while training twice a day.
- When it comes to diet, Michael took low-fat meals, high-protein meals, and carbs.
- The combination of Michael's diet and his exercise routines can buff up your muscles within months.
Who Is Michel B. Jordan?
Michel B. Jordan is one of the top Hollywood stars of the last couple of years thanks to his role as Erik Killmonger in Black Panther and as the lead actor in both Creed movies.
Before these successes, his career seems to have been a bit of a rollercoaster.
He gained a lot of attention in a movie called Fruitvale Station, but when Fantastic Four kind of flopped, it was uncertain where he’d go from there.
But things changed.
It’s said that Michael had a direct role in selling the idea of a sequel to the Rocky Balboa movies and that Sly Stallone was immediately on board.
His Success As Adonis Creed
Before taking on the character of Erik Killmonger in Black Panther, his physical size had increased a lot for him to be prepared for his role as Adonis “Donnie” Creed.
In this role, he plays an aspiring young boxer who is the son of Apollo Creed from the early Rocky movies.
The movie was an immediate success with critics and movie fans with a 7.6-star rating on IMDB [1].
But what I liked about the story is that Michael bulked up in an incredible way and then proceeded to not use a body double to avoid the bruises and even knockouts.
Let’s take a look at his gains timeline and how his body changed.
Timeline Of His Physical Gains
If you look at photos from these three movies, you’ll see that he seems to have bulked up over a 3-year period from his initial box office hit with Creed.
Creed I
Apparently, Michael trained five days a week with a strict low-fat diet for about 12 months to get ready for real boxing.
This involved both physical training at the gym as well as learning how to box (it's one of the best exercises to lose weight and gain lean muscle).
He claims to have gained 24 lbs of pure muscle, which is not a crazy amount and certainly achievable with the right coaches and dietitians.
He looks ripped but not in the sense of a WWE star like The Rock.
Black Panther
When he was cast into the role of Killmonger for Black Panther, he wanted to make sure he did the comic character justice.
That meant he had to bulk up even more, and apparently, that involved gaining another 15 lbs of pure muscle.
Comparing images from the two movies does show that his arms, chest, and shoulders all seemed to be a lot bulkier.
His physique didn’t drastically change, but gaining 15 lbs on top of the 25 from Creed isn’t an easy task.
I say that because his training didn’t seem to involve a long bulking phase followed by a cutting phase to reduce his body fat again.
More on this shortly.
Do you want to improve your physique:
Creed 2
Now, things changed even more, and apparently, Michael gained another 10 pounds for Creed 2, which was filmed just a few months after Black Panther.
This would have involved a lot more training to lift even heavier weights.
Given the timeline of events, this made us a little bit suspicious that it wasn’t just the result of lifting and choosing the right protein powder.
So...
Is Michel B. Jordan On Steroids?
We’ve looked at Michael’s physique changes over several years, and it does raise the question of how he achieved this body transformation.
Did Michael B. Jordan take steroids?
We looked at two aspects to answer this.
His Physical Training
According to some reports, Michel B. Jordan was working out twice a day, five days a week, for about 12 months to prepare for Creed.
A lot of that time was spent lifting weights, but he also had to go through a lot of preparation to pull off the role of a professional boxer.
The gym sessions focused a lot on compound movements, which would target multiple muscle groups.
Research has suggested that this is the fastest way to build up a lot of muscle mass [2].
You can also check out Jocko Willink's amazing routine.
“I’m not good at everything, I just do my best at everything.” - Michael B. Jordan
During preparations for Black Panther, things didn’t seem to change from a workout perspective. And that would indicate that he did take steroids to gain the extra mass without putting in more effort.
And we also noted that it looked like the shape of his face changed a bit, which could be down to fluid retention from taking steroids.
A Carefully Planned Diet
He would have also had dietitians and nutritionists carefully plan out every single bite he took.
That’s something you can afford to do when you have a movie production budget to take care of those expenses.
It would also have helped that he was being paid to eat healthily and go to the gym.
Let’s face it, who wouldn’t want to work out under such conditions?
I would say that it would be possible to achieve that level of bulking naturally through workouts, but we should have seen some progress photos where his body fat increased.
And that’s another part we didn't see which would indicate the muscle gains may have been the result of a short steroid cycle.
Other Celebrities Rumored to be on Steroids:
FAQs
Did Michael B. Jordan Really Fight in Creed?
Yes, Michael B. Jordan really did fight in Creed, and he went through extensive boxing coaching to be able to do this. He was even knocked out on at least one occasion and regularly finished a day bruised and bloodied.
How Much Training Did Michael B. Jordan Do for Creed?
Michael B. Jordan spent about 12 months training for Creed. This involved a tough workout routine to build the muscle to look like a boxer. And he also worked with trainer Corey Calliet to learn how to box so that he looked and acted authentically.
How Did Michael B. Jordan Gain Weight?
Michael B. Jordan gained weight by sticking to a low-fat and high-protein and carb diet. On workout days, he probably burned through 4,000 to 5,000 calories, just to keep up with the demands on his body.
Does Michael B. Jordan Do His Own Stunts?
Yes, Michael B. Jordan did his own stunts, and he didn't use a body double to act in the boxing scenes. While most of the punches didn’t actually make full force body contact, there were numerous occasions where he took hard enough knocks.
Final Thoughts About His Steroid Use
The evidence of some fluid retention does make it look like he may have taken steroids.
But, the first stage of Jordan’s transformation seems legitimate and achievable, given the timeframe and the support he would have had.
I’ve worked with many clients who managed to achieve anabolic steroid results, with the help of intensive training, a balanced diet, and natural and legal steroids for men that have proven to raise testosterone levels and protein metabolism, helping you gain muscle in no time.
References:
- https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3076658/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4592763/
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