“Go Bag” features interviews with our favorite actors, musicians, chefs, athletes, and thought leaders on how they stay mentally and physically fit on the road.
Corey Calliet met Michael B. Jordan in Georgia while the actor was filming his 2015 comic book action movie, Fantastic Four.
“One of the crew said he was looking to get in shape,” says Calliet. “That same day, I met up with him for a workout at the gym.”
The rest is fitness history. The two have continued to work together, with Calliet guiding Jordan through body transformations for Creed, Black Panther, and, most recently, Amazon Prime’s Without Remorse. And though the trainer has gotten increasingly busy, he still travels with the superstar actor to film sets all over the world.
So it seemed only fitting to kick off our “Go Bag” series with Calliet and hear how he kept Michael B. military-level fit while living overseas in Berlin, Germany. All words are his.
ENERGY | Trail Mix
On the road, trail mix is one of our favorite snacks to have. I like that it is a healthy, fun snack and Michael likes that too. I could lie and tell you that we eat the super organic, dried fruit kind, but that’s not the truth. The truth is we like that classic trail mix with the chocolate pieces. I like dried fruit as a snack too, like apricots, cherries, and bananas, but you have to have the chocolate in the trail mix.
For a drink during the workouts, I like Reign energy drink, which has BCAAs and electrolytes. It is important to get something in the body before a workout.
BUY CLASSIC TRAIL MIX HERE: $2
STRENGTH | Iron Infidel Resistance Bands
I think having a set of resistance bands is crucial. The bands can address the whole body, but they are especially great for the arms and the back when you are isolated. They are also great to increase the difficulty of your pushups — put them around your back and they help the resistance both ways.
I like to put together a little high-intensity cardio workout, that could use bodyweight, but adding the resistance band in there to increase the tension. 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off. Curls, Thrust, Squat.
That hits everything.
BODY ARMOR | Wolf Tactical Weighted Vest
Michael was wearing a lot of military gear for Without Remorse so we got him prepared for that by putting a weighted vest on him during our training sessions. That was during our prep, and when we got out to Germany we went into a store and purchased a vest. I think that we will use one during our training for Creed 3, too — I like how it adds that continuous load and makes him stronger.
We started training last week for Creed 3, I want to make sure that we outdo what we did before.
BUY A TACTICAL WEIGHT VEST HERE: $119
HYPE | Beats By Dre Headphones
The music is important to keep the vibes right. I like these noise-canceling headphones so that you can hear your tunes without bothering others. They are great for traveling too. Michael and I will have a lot of rap going when we are training, like Drake, DaBaby, Young Jeezy, and Old Jeezy too.
I particularly like The Recession. I also don’t mind a little different vibe like Tuxedo.
MUSCLE FUEL | Dymatize ISO 100 Whey Protein
I like for us to hit a shake after we do our workouts. We train hard and we want to make the most out of all of them. This protein powder is great, just adding water. Michael likes the classic chocolate flavor, but I personally prefer the Fruity Pebbles version.
BUY HERE: $30
INTELLIGENCE | Whoop
My biggest thing these days is recovery, and I have been able to track that closer with the Whoop band. It provides a lot of great information that I want to know, like what our heart rates were at all times of our session. That is when you know the real work that is being done. I like to track my sleep as well. This is a whole other level to our game, and given us a deeper focus on meditation and sleep.
It is always good to know where your body is at. It is good to know whether or not you should go hard or not.
SUBSCRIBE TO WHOOP HERE: $30/MONTH
RECOVERY | Hyperice Go
I am a big fan of Hyperice for massage guns, and I like their new model which is smaller. Great for taking on the road, and makes sure that we are ready for the next session.
