Bourne Again: The Jason Bourne Workout at Rich Man’s Gym

Posted onAuthorDavid Bradley

The Jason Bourne Workout

The Jason Bourne Workout at Rich Man’s Gym

Why this is my story and maybe yours.  While I’m not a super soldier black opp modern day ninja bad ass, I am in my 40’s.  What’s important about this story is that you have a man with miles on his body and a few injuries (shoulder and back problems) still able to get into what probably is at this point, the best shape of his life.  What else is important?  It was also accomplished while handling a uber busy schedule.

Does this sound like you?  Early to mid 40’s, some wear and tear, busy as fcuk, no time to workout, diet a little out of whack and you not feeling at 100% most of the time?  If so, read on because The Jason Bourne workout will get you back to 20 something in no time at all.

Tracking Jason Bourne

Matt Damon’s ACTUAL training regimen for Jason Bourne is about as elusive as Jason Bourne himself.  Every fitness magazine and blog on the planet has something on it.  It can be challenging to find out what the real deal is.  Truth be told, Damon’s trainer is Jason Walsh who owned Rise Fitness is Los Angeles.  Walsh puts a lot of attention on the VersaClimber.  It’s a hard-hitting piece of cardio equipment that delivers a full body workout, jacks the heart rate and scorches calories.   It also will set you back about $2,000.  So if you’re not a gym goer, you don’t have an extra two grand lying around, nor the space for one, what do you do?  Are you screwed?  Not at all.

At Rich Man’s Gym, we got you covered

From doing the research, we find that Damon was shooting multiple action films back to back, so for him, going to a traditional gym wasn’t all that real either.  There was also a real focus on mobility and flexibility.  Celebrity or regular joe, flexibility and mobility should have a real seat at your strength and conditioning program.  Injury sets back everyone.  Poor mobility and flexibility will derail any solid strength program.  So let’s dig in…

Warm Up:  Jumping Jacks or Jump Rope 10 minutes.  45 seconds of alternating standing quad stretch, 45 seconds of alternating posterior shoulder stretch, and 45 seconds of alternating standing hamstring stretch.  No rush on these.  This is about getting the blood flowing, body temp up and heart going strong.  Follow this warm up before getting started with any training listed below.

Workout One:  Extreme Ways (see what I did there?)

After the warm up, there will be a circuit of three drills.  NOTE:  If you’re not clear on form, see a trainer or do enough research online to be confident in the movement.

  • Bulgarian Split Squats: 5 reps per leg.  Focus on strength, balance, and form.  Move slowly and deliberately.  If the five reps is too easy with just your bodyweight, grab an appropriate pair of dumbbells or kettlebells.  Pick a weight that’s challenging but leave your ego out of the decision.  Here’s an example: http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Quadriceps/DBSingleLegSplitSquat.html
  • Single Leg Romanian Deadlifts: 5 reps per leg.  Again, focus on strength, balance, and form.  Move slowly and deliberately.  Use a kettlebell on the heavier side.  If you don’t have a kettlebell…  get one.  Here’s Pavel:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsmcOKML8V0
  • Shoulder Bridges: :30 seconds.  Once you’ve handled those two drills, you’ll want to do :30 seconds of shoulder bridges.  Keep your core nice and tight, go as high as you can, flex at the top.

Repeat this circuit 3 times and then work up to 5 rounds.

  • Finisher Drill:  Mountain Climbers :30 work with :30 seconds rest (transition time) + Battle Ropes :30 seconds work / :30 seconds rest.  In lieu of not having a Versa Climber, you want to find a drill that ultimately works the entire body, jacks the heart rate AND is doable from home.  Here comes the mountain climbers and Battle Ropes.  There’s a lot to be said for the conditioning power of the battle rope.  The Mountain Climbers will continue the hip flexor lower body assault while elevating  the heart rate.  The Battle Ropes will put the cherry on top. Your shoulders will be screaming, triceps on fire and you’ll be sucking mucho wind.  If there is no room in the budget for the ropes, you can use a bath towel and swipe it up and down as hard as you can.  How many rounds you do of this is up to you, but should be somewhere between 8 and 12.  You want to give this a good go.

Workout Two:  Bourne Ultimatum 

After your warm up, you’re going to do 100 pull-ups.  Get under the bar and get the 100.  For the next 100 reps, you’re either on the bar or under it.  No water, no walking around, none of that.  It’s you vs the part of your mind that’s going to try to get you to quit.  After the pull-ups, take a couple minutes and then hit the deck and gimme 500 Push-Ups.  Same idea as the pull-ups, either standing at attention or hitting the deck.

  • 100 Pull-Ups
  • 500 Push-Ups

Now, before you decide you’re not capable of this kind of volume, reconsider that.  Remember this volume is not only a physical exercise, it’s a mental one.

You are capable of so much more.  And in every aspect of your life.

Remember, Rich Man’s Gym is about strength, of body, mind, and spirit.  In addition to your body, train your mind, exercise your spirit.  If you are new to high volume calisthenics, then you can work up to this volume.  If you can’t do a pull-up or push-up yet, I would suggest finding a variation that you can do.  Check out a book called Convict Conditioning for alternative and progressive pull-up and push-up drills.

  • Finisher Drill:  Sprints!

…At this altitude, I can run flat out for a half mile before my hands start shaking.

Bourne runs.  A lot.  Consequently, Matt Damon ran a lot too.  Also, the goal here is lean and strong and worthy of looking intimidating.  Like having BMF on your wallet intimidating.  Different movie, I know, but it gets the point across.  From my research, during Damon’s prep work, he was on location filming other movies and found himself in places with no access to a gym so a lot of his conditioning work was spent on running and calisthenics.

You can run for distance and you can run for time or do both.  I’m going to suggest both.  On one sprint session, block out 50 – 100 yards and then run that as fast as YOU can.  Time it and record it.  The time it takes you to walk/jog back to the starting line is your rest.  Try and compress the rest period over your workout sessions.   Once back to the starting line, repeat.  In fact, repeat that 4 times in the beginning and work up to 10 rounds.

Another sprint variation is to run for 30 seconds then jog for 30 seconds.  Do that for 4-10 minutes.  The speed at which you run should be somewhere between running and a sprint.  Go hard.  Work up to 10 minutes of this.

Jason Bourne Nutrition

I found a blog that is speculative but says “He ate 6 times per day, with meals consisting of about 50% protein, 25% healthy fats, and 25% carbs.”  Another site said, “Damon also followed a restrictive diet consisting of vegetables and protein, and nothing more.”  One thing’s for certain, there’s a sh#t ton of bullsh#t on the internet.  Be careful what you adhere to when it comes to diet, nutrition and exercise.

So, since we’re speculating, here are my thoughts based on the main photo here.  Mainly he’s built like a fighter.  Fighters cut weight by dropping fat, sparing muscle and then dehydration.  Since you don’t have to weigh-in for anything and probably don’t have a photo shoot anytime soon, let’s skip the dehydration part.  You will, however, need to create a caloric deficit that spares muscle while burns fat.    So keeping it as simple as possible…  eat all the veggies you want.  86 all sugar, processed food, and starch.  Get 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body weight.  You’ll want to know your body fat percentage for this.  Example, if you weigh 185 with 20% body fat you have 37 pounds of fat and 148 pounds of muscle, bone, skin, organs, etc.  So eat 148 grams of protein a day.  Get it?  Also focus on easy to digest proteins like fish, eggs.  Dairy should be organic and fermented.  Yogurt and cottage cheese should be whole fat and organic.

Speaking of fats and on a personal note, I’ve been on a modified ketogenic / paleo diet since February of 2016.  I eat a lot of healthy fats.  I have more energy through the day, sleep better and have better workouts.  To figure out how much fat you should eat and what kind of caloric deficit is right for you, check out this website http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/  This can be very helpful for building a macronutrient budget you can follow and track.  You may also want to consider supplementing with exogenous ketones.  Been incredibly help for me.

Wrapping Up The Jason Bourne Workout

In conclusion here…  I’d suggest giving this routine 6 weeks.  Push yourself.  Train as often as you can.  Shoot for 4-6 days a week.  These sessions shouldn’t go over 90 minutes and I think once you get in your groove, should be doable in 45.  To give the fat burning part a boost, try this routine first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.  Coffee exception.  Also, wait about 45 – 60 minutes after training before eating to maximize the fat burning and hormone cascade of training.  Comment below with your questions and get to work!