Jean Claude Van Damme Fitness Workout Program

Jean Claude Van Damme first arrived on the Hollywood movie scene as a martial arts superstar in 1988 when he starred in “Bloodsport.” Not only did he have the well-defined, hard-core muscular physique that dubbed him “The Muscles from Brussels,” but he had speed, flexibility and a can-do attitude. He attributes his near-perfect physique to weight lifting, martial arts, stretching and diet-conscious choices. Not only does he look good, he makes sense too.

  1. Work It Out

    • In 1978, Van Damme won the Mr. Belgium contest in Etterbeek. He’d been training in Shotokan karate since 1971, at the age of 11, followed closely by tae kwon do, kickboxing and muay thai. Jean Claude relied on martial arts for his speed and weight training for his toned physique. At his peak, his morning workout routine consisted of biking, running on a treadmill and weightlifting followed by a second workout in the evening focusing on a different body parts with weights. He alternated between upper body and lower body with core addressed in every workout.

    Lead By Example

    • Taking a closer look at Van Damme’s chest and back workout clues you into the demanding training required to obtain his build. The workout begins with five sets of bench presses and incline bench presses doing 15, 10, 8, 6 and 4 reps. This is followed by three sets of the dumbbell fly (10, 8, 6 reps); dumbbell pullover (15 reps); and triceps dip (15, 3, 8 reps). Then it’s time for four sets with 10 reps each of both chin-up and close-grip chin-ups; four and three sets respectively of T-bar rows (15, 12, 8 and 6 reps) and bent-over rows (12 reps) leading to three sets of the crunch, machine ab crunch and oblique crunch doing 40 reps of each.
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    Return of the Van Damme

    • In 2012, after a 10-year hiatus, Jean Claude returned to the Hollywood limelight to shine in the much-toted “Expendables 2.” To get his body Hollywood ready, he readjusted his past workout plan to take into consideration his age, 50 plus, and incorporate the bits of wisdom he’d learned along the way. He ate healthy, focused on his cardio goal of almost 170 beats per minute and listened to his body. His weight routine is now based on doing lots of reps with slow and precise movements and paying attention to what muscles want to be worked out, not a series of robot-like barbells, dumbbells and curls with predetermined weights and reps that in the past led to several injuries. In addition, he’s also added ballet to his workout routine. So there you go, tough guys.

    Mind Game

    • Jean Claude Van Damme is a proponent of believing in yourself, maintaining the discipline to create what you believe in and never giving up. In an interview with Don Warrener, teacher and author of Traditional Goju Karate, he repeats a quote he heard often in Judo: "If you fall down seven times, get up eight." He went on to say, “They would have to kill me before I ever give up on anything I believe in. This is the code of the samurai.”