MIKE COLTER HASN’T always had to look swole. The 46-year-old actor describes one of his earlier notable roles, Lemond Bishop in CBS’s The Good Wife, as having one real physical requirement: looking good in a suit.
Then, he was cast as Marvel’s Luke Cage for the Netflix series of the same name. To play the super strong, invulnerable Harlem hero, Colter had to gain 30 pounds of brawn. That meant lots of big meals and heavy lifting—which set him up perfectly for his most recent role as Louis Gaspare, a mysterious, high-security prisoner with a particular set of skills in the well-reviewed action romp Plane.
For Plane, Colter needed to have a strong set of guns—and while most of the promos show him hauling a rifle or some other weapon, we’re talking big arms here—but that wasn’t all. He took on a strength training routine that engaged his whole body, as he showed off when he visited the MH crew in NYC to talk about his prep for the role.
Along with his workouts, Colter credits his focus on recovery for keeping his body feeling good. “When I was working on Plane, it was easy for me to have access to a cold plunge, a sauna, and a hot tub,” he says. “Those things were essential in my recovery. Game changers. There’s a lot more to working out than just working out—it’s the recovery, it’s the preparation, and those things are essential to maximizing your gains.”
Mike Colter’s Plane Workout
Warm-Up
Sprint Intervals
3 sets of 30 seconds max sprint, 1 minute rest
Strength Training
Barbell Deadlift
4 sets of 8 reps
Face Pull
4 sets of 12 reps
Pullup
4 sets of max reps
Stability Ball Chest Press
4 sets of 12 reps
Want more celebrity workout routines? Check out all of our Train Like videos.
Brett Williams, a fitness editor at Men’s Health, is a NASM-CPT certified trainer and former pro football player and tech reporter who splits his workout time between strength and conditioning training, martial arts, and running. You can find his work elsewhere at Mashable, Thrillist, and other outlets.
