Mark Wahlberg’s Workout To Stay In Amazing Shape

Take one look at Mark Wahlberg and you can see that he’s in absolutely amazing shape. Look at a picture of Mark from 20 years ago and you can see that he’s always been in absolutely amazing shape. We’d venture a guess that if you could glimpse 20 years into the future and take a peek at Future Wahlberg, he’d be in absolutely amazing shape, too. The man knows what it takes to keep his body looking great.

Yes, Mark Wahlberg is ripped, but he has no particularly special advantage when it comes to working out aside from his knowledge and dedication. If you dedicate your mindset the way Wahlberg does to building his body, you can look like that too. This article will give you the benefit of Mark’s many years of experience. His workout isn’t complicated, but it is effective.

Wahlberg’s workout is always evolving, but there are a few moves he keeps in regular rotation to keep his body looking, feeling and functioning at its best.

Pull Ups

Mark Wahlberg is really good at pull ups. Like, really good at pull ups. On the Ellen Show, Wahlberg banged out an impressive 22 solid pull ups in 30 seconds, raising $25,000 for breast cancer research. He demonstrated amazing upper body strength and a philanthropic outlook on life. Needless to say, he didn’t get that kind of physical strength just thinking about pull ups; he practiced. He worked hard at it.

Pull ups are obviously a great upper body workout, and they deserve credit for more than just bulking up your arms. Pull ups are a compound exercise, engaging muscle groups of the back, shoulders, chest and arms. They require significant effort but offer an efficient way to increase muscle mass. Slight variations of form will target different areas, making them a super versatile exercise. Correct form is essential to avoiding injury. The strength you’re building with pull ups is functional, too. You’ll even build the strength of your grip.

You don’t need a ton of equipment to make pull ups work for you either. Just a bar that can bear your weight, and it doesn’t have to be in a gym. Wahlberg knows how to make the most of his workout moves and there’s nothing more versatile, challenging or simple than pull ups.

Barbell Bench Presses

Barbell bench presses are pretty standard, but they’ve become such a mainstay because they’re so effective. This is another move Mark regularly incorporates into his training. It’s effective, it’s simple, it builds muscle. With a flat barbell bench press, you’re going to be working your triceps, pecs, deltoids, traps and back. Much like the pull up, slight changes in grip and hand position can, when done right, target different areas and increase the intensity of the workout for different muscle groups.

While you’ve got your back on the bench and your hands on the bar, make sure your feet are planted firmly on the ground. Don’t lift up to your toes. Don’t squirm around with every rep. Keep your feet flat and grounded and you’ll get a more effective lift with less chance of injury. Make sure your elbows are aligned with your wrists as well. This will keep the bar steady and supported and make it less likely for you to hyperextend your wrist as you lift.

Dumbbell Rear Lunges

Mark Wahlberg may be most revered for his hulking arms, but that doesn’t mean he neglects the rest of his body. He doesn’t miss a leg day. To get quads and glutes that match his arms, Wahlberg does dumbbell rear lunges. With weight in each hand, step back with one leg into a deep, even lunge. Keep yourself safe and don’t let your knee dip down too far. Keep your torso upright and strong while you bend into it and feel your quad catch on fire. Use the ball of your foot to push yourself back up and return to standing. Repeat on the other side, because no one wants one skinny leg.

Taking a short step back is going to better engage your quads, while making your lunge a bit longer is going to bring your butt into the game, emphasizing your glutes as you perform the move. You can change up your lunge, too, adding a press to the move or swapping out the dumbbells for a barbell across the back.

One Legged Barbell Squats

That barbell across the back is the perfect segue into another of Mark Wahlberg’s staple moves: the one legged barbell squat. Also known as the Bulgarian split squat, this move is sure to make your quads burn in the best way possible. It’s not for the novice, but, of course, Wahlberg is no newbie to the weight room. Work your way up to it carefully. It will take some serious work.

To make a one legged barbell squat work for you the way it does for Mark, get yourself in front of a bench and properly position that barbell. With your back to the bench and the barbell balanced across your back, lift one leg and rest your toe on the bench behind you. You might end up looking like a flamingo for a second, but your legs won’t be nearly that scrawny after a few rounds of these. Keep your head up, keep your back straight and settle into that one-legged squat. Your standard squat safety rules apply. Lift yourself back up, complete your reps and then move on to the other leg.

As with any workout, don’t push yourself too hard. Wahlberg knows that working out means taking care of your body, and sometimes that means easing up a bit. It can also mean bringing a buddy to the gym with you. Mark told Ellen DeGeneres that he wakes up at 3 a.m. (3 a.m.!), has a healthy breakfast and hits the gym with a friend. Not only will there be someone with you to have your back if you bite off more weight than you can chew, studies show that working out with a partner can actually make your exercise more effective. One study published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine found that participants that exercised with someone they interacted with showed improved physical performance due to greater persistence. A partner can inspire you as well as improve your safety. Performance, inspired.