BEN AFFLECK is still in serious shape at 53, something he makes abundantly clear in Netflix’s new action thriller The Rip. That level of conditioning didn’t come out of nowhere. Over the past decade, Affleck was required to maintain a superhero physique to play Batman, appearing as the Dark Knight in three films between 2016 and 2021.
In preparing for the role, Affleck enlisted the help of personal trainer Magnus Lygdback. The pair worked together so that Affleck could really take advantage of his 6 foot 3 frame and athleticism, with Lygdback highlighting the exact four-day training split he employed to achieve results.
Day one consisted of legs, day two incorporated chest and the front delts, back and shoulders were then hit on day three, with arms reserved for the fourth and final day of the split. The Hollywood star also completed cardio and core work every day to fulfil the requirements of the role.
“For this role we wanted Ben to not only put on mass and strength, but also to work on his balance and core. Since the bat suit is heavy, we needed to make sure that Ben was able to carry that thing around all day without getting tired – and even worse, injured,” Lygdback said.
Affleck’s trainer also revealed the exact back and shoulders workout he had Affleck completing in the build-up to filming. So, eager to see what it takes to become Batman, I gave the session a go.
Ben Affleck' upper body workout
- Bent-Over Row x 5 sets of 12, 10, 6, 4, 10 reps
- Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown x 4 sets of 10 reps
- Single-Arm Row with Oblique Twist x 3 sets of 10 reps
- Side Lying Lateral Raise x 3 sets of 10 reps
- Lateral Raise x 4 sets of 10 reps
Is Ben Affleck's workout worth trying?
This is a workout that, when hit with the right intensity, will provide some huge gains. It’s not a flawless session – I do have a couple of gripes – but it’s one I thoroughly enjoyed on the whole. It’s also highly specific. Targeting exactly what Lygdback describes in creating a strong back capable of carrying a heavy Batman suit around during filming days, each movement either builds back density or rounds the shoulders as much as possible to fill out the suit.
Employing pyramid sets for the bent-over rows is a smart way to shock the muscles in the back, with the range of different weight all providing a different type of stimulus. It does take time having to alternate between the different weights to ensure each set felt suitably challenging. But the result proved incredibly fun – the higher reps, lower weights for the starting sets allowed me to dial into the exercise, before then getting as much as possible out of the lower rep, heavy sets. I swear I could feel my muscle fibres tearing when I then dropped back down to 10 reps at the end, which proved a lot more difficult the second time around.
I would have preferred a similar approach for the lat pulldowns. Perhaps a drop set might have been a good way to follow the initial theme of Affleck’s workout, or even alternating between wide and narrow-grip pulldowns to offer a slightly different stimulus. Wide-grip lat pulldowns are still an extremely solid exercise, just like the lateral raises that complete the workout.
I’ll reserve my criticism for the single-arm row with oblique twist, though. It’s an exercise that I felt was ineffective just for the sake of efficiency. I find the single-arm row a great option to really zero in one that specific portion of the back, but adding the twist took a lot of the emphasis away from the working muscles. Twisting also used a lot of momentum, so it didn’t really do much for the obliques at the same time, either. The work felt wasted for that reason, because, by the end of the third set, it didn’t feel as if I had done anything significant that would require the muscles to rebuild stronger. Just lose the unnecessary twist and it’s a far better exercise.
What did make total sense was the side lying lateral raise, however. Prior to this workout, it’s a movement I had never done. By the end, my rear delts had been properly challenged and I knew I’d be getting some pretty heinous DOMS in the morning. Similar to sitting sideways on a rear-delt fly machine and using just one arm to move the weight, this exercise provides tension throughout when controlled and becomes a struggle towards the end of sets. For that reason, I’d also suggest you go a little lighter with the dumbbell than you might think.
Aside from my obvious confusion about the oblique twist, I still believe Affleck’s back and shoulders workout for Batman gets the job done exactly as it should. There was intensity throughout, but crucially doesn’t overdo it with an abundance of exercises or a stupid amount of sets and reps to work through. It’s demanding, and will certainly build muscle.
