Mea Culpa star Trevante Rhodes takes us through his extremely thorough core workout that has gotten him in shape for roles like Moonlight and MIKE. He explains how his college athlete days still inspire him and his workouts.
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00:00 How y'all doing?
00:01 My name is Trevante and I'm here for a quick workout
00:04 and promotion for our film, "Mia Coppa."
00:06 "Mia Coppa" is a, we'll just leave it at an erotic thriller.
00:10 That's a fun ride for the viewer.
00:13 Today we're at the Men's Health Gym
00:14 and we're just gonna do some abs.
00:17 Do a maybe 30, 45 minute abs session.
00:19 Warm up with some abs
00:20 and just keep it moving until we get tired.
00:23 [upbeat music]
00:25 [upbeat music]
00:28 I've, throughout my entire life,
00:39 been a avid fitness enthusiast.
00:42 I think I started working out when I was six
00:44 or seven years old.
00:45 And then once we got to middle school,
00:46 I'm gonna brag real quick.
00:47 Once we got to middle school,
00:49 at seventh grade I had the opportunity
00:51 to start working out with the high schoolers.
00:53 You know what I mean?
00:54 'Cause I was so good at sports.
00:56 They wanted me to be on the varsity team.
00:58 So they were grooming me for that.
00:59 So I mean, working out has always been a big,
01:03 big part of my life.
01:04 I just competed in a Golden Gloves.
01:06 So I've been doing a lot of boxing training.
01:08 Boxing is a unique, it's juxtaposition
01:10 between high endurance and quick twitch.
01:13 So it's, I do a lot of long runs and also a lot of sprints.
01:17 So I think now actually I'm in probably
01:19 the best shape I've ever been in.
01:20 Through Mike, I had the opportunity to meet my coach
01:23 who is a hall of famer in Ann Wolf.
01:25 I mean, when you have the opportunity to work
01:27 with such a high caliber artist at what they do,
01:29 someone who's a master in their craft,
01:31 you have to take that wisdom on.
01:33 I feel training from Mike was intensive.
01:35 We did a full boxing camp mixed with a lot of eating,
01:39 but then having to not do as much cardio
01:41 as I would normally do.
01:42 So it was a unique balance of making everything work.
01:44 So every day I start off with a four mile run
01:49 and then I hit four rounds on a heavy bag
01:52 and then four rounds of agility.
01:53 Then I jump into the cold plunge, eat,
01:57 and then I'll go probably do an hour,
01:59 hour and a half weights, and then I start my day.
02:02 [upbeat music]
02:05 Today, I showed you how I work out my abs.
02:16 For all my ab workouts, I like to start off with a warmup.
02:18 A warming up is important because I'm getting old
02:21 and I pull stuff very easily.
02:23 So I do a combination of crunches, reverse crunches,
02:28 toe taps, knee to elbows, side crunches,
02:33 cobra stretches, supermans, and cat cows.
02:38 So that first little ab warmup section we did
02:41 is something that I took from my track coaches at UT.
02:44 When I go to the gym, I don't really have a set workout.
02:46 I just like to feel out the vibe
02:48 and let that take me where it goes.
02:50 [upbeat music]
02:53 For the first superset,
02:54 I started off with weighted heel lifts.
02:56 I feel that particularly in the lower abdominal region.
02:59 The second move in the superset
03:02 is a single arm oblique crunch.
03:04 Obliques are important to me
03:05 because women find them very sexy.
03:08 For me, cable ab exercises
03:11 are better than just straight body weight
03:12 because I need that added weight
03:14 to help the muscle be more pronounced.
03:17 [upbeat music]
03:20 For the next superset, I started with weighted crunches.
03:23 The thing I like most about weighted crunches
03:24 is because they give, again,
03:26 it just adds more prominence to the muscle.
03:28 So that in particular makes those boulders on your stomach
03:33 bulge out a bit more.
03:34 The next move is a decline crunch with reach.
03:38 I just add the reach to give it a little extra pizzazz,
03:41 a little extra salt in the stew at the tip of the peak.
03:45 Makes it a bit more pronounced.
03:47 The third exercise is seated reverse crunches.
03:51 I like to do reverse crunches
03:52 because they target the lower part of the abs,
03:53 which is the hardest part to get more defined.
03:56 I typically aim for four sets of 24 reps,
04:00 mama mentality.
04:01 Third superset starts with barbell side bends.
04:08 Today was a barbell day because just,
04:10 I like that movement, that counterbalance movement.
04:14 Just feels better to me some days.
04:17 We always slow down the last rep
04:20 just to accentuate the movement, accentuate the pain.
04:24 And since it's at the end of the work
04:25 or into that particular rep or set,
04:27 it just adds that extra punch to the end of it.
04:31 And the second exercise is Russian twists.
04:36 Russian twists actually, I guess like all ab workouts,
04:40 add more stability to the core.
04:41 So it makes just moving around better.
04:45 Hydration is key.
04:47 I try to get a gallon and a half to two gallons a day
04:49 just because I love water and also I love being hydrated.
04:53 There's nothing worse than being dehydrated.
04:55 For the fourth superset,
04:59 I did weighted reverse oblique crunch.
05:02 This is coined by our director, by the way.
05:07 Just so you know, these are not my descriptors.
05:10 I think being conscious about whatever you do is important
05:14 so that mind muscle connection,
05:17 particularly obviously when you're working out,
05:19 gives you a better understanding of what you're doing.
05:22 So whenever you feel the weight actually,
05:24 or the muscle actually contract, keeps you present,
05:27 it gives you that zen feeling.
05:30 So it's dire.
05:32 So for the last and the final movement,
05:35 I do the lean back oblique thing,
05:38 also coined by our assistant director.
05:42 I do that particular movement
05:43 to stretch out the upper part of the obliques,
05:45 but also to contract them to, again,
05:48 feel that mind muscle connection.
05:51 All right, guys, we're wrapping up.
05:52 This is my ab workout.
05:53 Thank you for tuning in.
05:54 Be sure to check out "Mia Coppa"
05:56 February 23rd on Netflix.
05:59 Hey, man, get active, be consistent, and get to it.
06:04 Psych.
06:07 (laughing)
06:09 [BLANK_AUDIO]