When you first watched the Batman v. Superman saga, I’m pretty sure that the first thing you noticed was how bulgingly stunning Ben Affleck was under the Batsuit. Of course, the suit’s features had something to do with his Dark Knight outlook; however, it wasn’t just that alone. The Ben Affleck Batman workout is series of body-wrenching routines to bulk up his physique for the role.
He stated, in an interview, that his physical look was something the audience would be looking out for. His physicality was something he actually had power over, so he was determined not to get slated for something he could have done something about earlier by simply just working a little bit harder. Then the legendary Ben Affleck Batman workout routine was born.
Zack Snyder directed this edition of the franchise, though that Affleck was the best Batman he’d seen. He claimed that his persona as booth Bruce and Batman was top-notch, and they fit into Affleck’s personality like a glove. His exact words were, “He’s an amazing Bruce Wayne; let’s be frank about that. And then when he puts the cowl on, you know he’s got the chin for it.”
To accomplish the proper build for the role, Affleck sought a veteran in the workout field, Walter Norton Jr., who runs the Institute of Performance and fitness. Affleck had been training with him for movie roles since 2010 when he was to play a role in the movie The Town.
The Trainer for The Ben Affleck Batman Workout
Norton, who was based in Boston, had to fly to and fro almost weekly to meet with Affleck wherever he was for their training sessions and spend time with his own family. That was how important the role was. Affleck later remarked that getting ready for the role entailed that he made many sacrifices to train day in and day out with his trainer. He felt that this work was beneficial to his physical attributes and his mental and physical health.
It was almost too easy to train with Norton as they had a prior history. They were friends, so Norton could tell him something that Affleck didn’t want to hear, but it would be taken in with no bad blood whatsoever. They also took certain precautions so that his joints and body did not take unnecessary damage, so Affleck needed to listen to every instruction Norton gave.
Their history did not mean Affleck had it easy, though. Norton created a new workout regime every single week for Ben to follow. These sessions target each muscle group relentlessly. This got them to actually overachieve the target numbers that they had to tone down a bit as Affleck weighed 231 pounds after the workout regimes. They dialed it back to 225 pounds.
The physical goal was for him to have the body shape of a thick MMA heavyweight puncher. With the Dark Knight supposedly having over 20 years of optimal training and intense lifting under his belt, Affleck just had to look the part.
A Glimpse of The Ben Affleck Batman Workout Routine
Below is a glimpse of the training program Norton custom-made for Affleck. This is a two-day glimpse of a two-year training program. Do not try this on your own, except you have a personal trainer working with you. It would always be best if your trainer draws up a plan that would fit your physical goals.
Day 1:
Block 1 (32 minutes): Warm-up & Movement
- Elliptical (Strength Program): 15 minutes
- Rumble Roller (Hip/TEFL/VMO/2 Way Glute/Calf): 9 minutes
- Plank with Arm Extension: 10 seconds (then 8 reps of 2-second extension for each side)
- Spiderman: From a plank, bring your right foot next to your right hand. 3 reps for each side (hold for 2 breaths)
- Inchworm: From touching your toes with straight legs, walk your hands out to a plank, then walk your feet back under you, 5 reps (hold for 1 breath)
- Calf Stretch: 15 seconds (each leg)
Block 2 (40 minutes): Torso & Strength
- Dumbbell Farmer’s Walk: 4 walks with appropriate weight for 1 minute
- Alternating Hanging Knee-Up: 11 reps (for each leg)
- ½ Kneeling Row: Kneel on your right knee in front of a cable machine, row with your right arm, 4 sets of 12 reps on each side
- Back Bridge: 2 reps of 15-second hold (5-second pause between)
- Alternating Dumbbell Reverse Lunge: 8 reps (for each leg)
- Pull-Up: 6 sets of 4 reps (hold for 4 seconds up and 4 seconds down)
- Shoulder Bridge: 10-second hold (then 8 reps of 2-second extension for each side)
Block 3 (22 minutes / Doing As Many Sets As Possible): Strength & Fitness
- Airdyne Bike Sprint: 20 seconds
- V-Grip Pulldown: 15 reps
- Seated Row Handle Grip: 12 reps
- Alternating Dumbbell Open Curl: 5 sets of 5 reps (each arm, then 5 reps together)
- Goblet Squat: 8 reps
- Lateral Squat: 6 reps (each side)
Day 2:
Block 1 (30 minutes): Warm-up & Movement
- Airdyne Bike Sprint: 10 reps of 5 minutes at 75% (finish with 15-second sprint, then 45-second rest)
- Soft Roller (Upper Back/Lat/Quad/Glute/Ham Junction): 8 minutes
- Pretzel Stretch: 2 reps for each side (hold for 5 breaths)
- Kneeling Lat: 1 rep each side (hold for 5 breaths)
- ½ Kneeling Quad Stretch: 2 reps for each side (hold for 5 breaths)
- Pretzel: 2 reps for each side (hold for 5 breaths)
Block 2 (32 minutes): Torso & Strength
- Off-Bench Oblique Side Crunch: 8 reps dynamic (followed withhold for 8 seconds)
- Valslide Body Slide: 4 sets of 12 reps
- Dumbbell Lateral Raise: 4 sets of 12 reps
- Back Bridge with March: Hold the bridge for 8 seconds (then 4 knee raises on each leg)
- Dumbbell Shrug: 5 sets of 6 reps
- Rear Delt Machine: 4 sets of 15 reps
- 1 Leg Hip Lift: 3 sets of 8 reps for each side (hold for 2 seconds)
- Tricep Pushdown: 4 sets of 10 heavy reps, then 10 lighter reps
Block 3 (36 minutes): Strength
- Dumbbell Deadlift: 4 sets of 6 reps
- Dumbbell Bench Press: 4 sets of 10 reps (count 3 seconds from up to down position)
- Pec Fly: 4 sets of 12 reps
- Ball Leg Curl: 4 sets of 6 reps (hold for 2 seconds)
Recovering From The Ben Affleck Batman Workouts
The one thing that people don’t take time to think about when it comes to workouts is that you can’t train hard if you don’t recover harder. If you want to be like Bruce Wayne and increase your Batman Factor, you need to recover from your workouts. We go into how to do this in-depth here.
We will cover some of the key elements of recovery.
The Demand
The first thing you have to think about is the demand you will place on your mind and body. Batman has a great recovery routine because he needs to fight crime every night. But it’s not like he can sleep all day, every day. He needs to be able to take care of Wayne Enterprises and make other appearances.
You have to know your demand. How hard will you be pushing yourself when you work out, and how often will you do it. When you know this, you can gauge what you need to do to recover much better. The simple way of looking at it is you need to spend 30 mins focused on recovery for every hour you spend working out.
Renovating The House After The Ben Affleck Workout
When you think about recovery, there are three elements to focus on.
- Working out
- Eating
- Sleeping
- Auxillary
Working out is the demolition part of the renovation. It’s where you tear your mind and body down in hopes of them building back stronger. You have to understand that your workouts can have a negative effect. Many athletes hurt themselves or burnout because they think they can just workout and never focus on recovery.
Eating is getting the materials to renovate. Do you want to get the best hardwoods and countertops, or are you trying to get the cheapest materials that you can find? Either can work, but you have to know both will bring different results. Some too many athletes try and cheat on their nutrition by eating crap all day. If you put crap in, you will build your new house with crap.
Sleeping is when the workers actually come in and use the materials and do the work. Sleep is crucial because if you have an amazing workout and have amazing food, sleep is when the quality work is really done.
If you want to dive into this some more, check out the full guide to recovering like Batman.
Training with The Batman Mindset
The last thing you need to understand here is that you need to change your mindset to train like Batman. The scene in Batman vs. Superman is dope because you see that he brings his Ben Affleck Workout mindset with him. He is 100% focused and locked into what needs to be done. There are a few things you need to do well to get this right.
- Focus
- Mind Over Matter
The first thing is the focus. When you’re focused, it means that nothing is distracting or bothering you. There is no looking at your phone in the middle of the workout. The only thing you want to do is put the work in. There could be a lot of stress and other things around you going all wrong, and you don’t care. Whatever you are doing at the moment is all that you care about.
Batman has this level of focus. He cares about the bad guy that is right in front of him. If he is doing detective work, then it’s all that matters. You don’t see Batman multitasking, and if you’re going to get after your workouts, you need to be the same way.
The second thing you need to be able to do is to put your mind over matter. What that means is you can’t just give up at the first chance that you get. You have to be willing to grind through and have the mind of a champion. The biggest problem with so many people is that they try and avoid discomfort. But Batman always heads towards it to face it. Go attack your Ben Affleck Batman workout.
