Last updated on March 15th, 2021 at 11:13 am

Starting with Moana and then landing on Maui!

Did you know Merida was the 11th Disney Princess to be added to the line-up and the first ever Pixar character to be added on May 11, 2013.

I literally only mention the exact date because May 11 is my birthday…

She’s also awesome at archery, swordsmanship and horseback riding.

So I hope you’re ready to prep for all those things!

Merida Possible Stats:

**We’ll be using height ranges that Disney looks for when getting actors for these roles.**

Height Range: 5’4-5’7

Movie: Brave

Alignment: Hero/Princess

Powers: No

Being that Merida is only the third female, we don’t have enough Disney Inspired characters to compare her to, so I’ll be naming other women we’ve seen below.

Mulan was 5’2-5’6 and Moana was 5’3-5’5.

Normally the average height we see for women is around 5’4-5’6 with ladies such as Jennifer Aniston, Margot Robbie, Olivia Munn, Alicia Vikander, Sophia Bush, Tatiana Maslany, Evangeline Lilly, and a ton of others.

But then there is also that taller range, and among the tallest (even taller than the 5’7-5’8), are ladies like Gwendoline Christie, Gal Gadot, and a few others – with Phoebe Tonkin, Gabrielle Union, Brie Larson, Nina Dobrev, Daisy Ridley, and so many more coming in around that 5’7-5’8 range.

And, let’s not forget the shorter ladies of SHJ like Ariana Grande, Scarlett Johansson, Mila Kunis, Emilia Clarke, Lucy Hale, Julianne Hough and a good handful of others.

But, either way, don’t worry.

I write these routines for anyone and everyone.

Merida Inspired Diet and Nutrition

**Keep in mind: this section will be nearly identical for each character, but I will add in something special for the Disney Inspired Characters if possible**

Every hero (or villain) needs to still have a good diet.

Unfortunately we can train like them, but I don’t think any of us are suddenly getting their powers, or the ability to magically stop caring about nutrition.

You can’t out train your diet, so I want to still give some pillars for nutrition.

You can start by checking out The Nutrition Pillars on the site, but I’ll break down some more information for you guys as well.

Guys like Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart incorporate 80/20 dieting with big weekly cheat meals, Hugh Jackman, Tom Hopper, Benedict Cumberbatch and Terry Crews utilize intermittent fasting (something I use daily as well), Ariana Grande, Mustafa Shakir and Madelaine Petsch are vegans, Brandon Routh and Frank Grillo opt for paleo, and tons of others utilize their own variations as well.

It’s all about sustainability.

AND, there are a thousand different ways to reach your goals, so finding the most sustainable way is what’s important.

Which is why our Academy utilizes multiple different Nutrition Classes (Greek Gods, Vikings, Spartans, Hunter Gatherers, Monks, Samurais, Minimalists, SuperHumans) to allow people to choose what is right for YOU!

THE MERIDA SECTION:

So what do we know about Merida?

I’m thinking we get some Scottish food for this one.

So here’s a list of some of the “must eat” Scottish foods:

• Haggis
• Neeps and tatties
• Porridge
• A full Scottish [breakfast]
• Bangers and mash
• Scottish salmon
• Apples (included in her likes)

And of course there’s a ton of others we can name – but that’s a fun list for those of you trying to really get into the Merida character!

I HAD to name the salmon.  We know Merida’s mother loves it! 😛

Merida Inspired Workout Routine Research

We’ve made it to “the fun part”.

This is the part when I get to tell you about the “how” and “why” of the workout we’re about to build.

So let’s start by grabbing some information from Merida’s Wiki Fandom page.

They tell us that her abilities are:

• Master archery
• Master swordsmanship

And we get to see her show off her archery in the movie on multiple occasions.

She even rips the bow while horseback riding – which she also does amazingly!

They also tell us her likes are as follows:

Archery, apples, training with her father, horseback riding, sewing tapestries with her mother, having control over her own fate and destiny

Although I think we could have guessed many of them.

So expect to see archery, horseback riding and swordsmanship as the foundations of this list.

Do you think you’re ready?

The Merida Inspired Workout Routine

Training Volume:

3+ days per week

Explanation:

Merida is a “Master” archer and swordsman.  In the movie we get to see her show off some of her skills, and they’re extremely impressive.  For that reason we can be under the impression she works on them quite often.  I’m going to program you days specifically devoted to those skills, and then also program you training days to strengthen those skills, body weight movements, and cardiovascular performance.

Want To Upgrade This Workout?

The Superhero Academy now comes with an Upgrade Your Workout Tool that allows Academy members to turn any SHJ workout into a 4-8 week fully planned regime detailing exact weights to lift and including reverse & tradition pyramid training, straight sets, super sets, progressive overload and more.

Bodyweight Training:

Complete the following throughout the course of a workout/day.

Scale if needed.

100 Air Squats

100 Push Ups

100 Sit Ups

50 Lunges

50 Pull Ups

50 Dips

Cardio, Horseback Riding and Other Activity

If you can get extremely active or go horseback riding that’s amazing!  If not, here are some cardio options to do a few times a week:

60 minutes of varied cardio from the following: treadmill, row machine, Stair Master, elliptical, bike, etc.

Archery Strengthening Movements:

Do three sets of ten reps for each movement below to strengthen for archery purposes:

One-Arm Dumbbell Row

Dumbbell Shrug

One-Arm Side Laterals

Push Ups

Pull Ups

Bench Dips

Dumbbell Alternate Bicep Curl

Mixed Martial Arts, Swordsmanship and Parkour

If you can take classes for swordsmanship and archery that’s even better, but we do have some programs from Coach Derek and Academy member Felix that are amazing as well and will get you started in the right direction.

Choose a mixed martial arts program below:

Check out MMA programs on the site from Coach Derek here: Moon Knight, Deathstroke, Daredevil.

For some Thai Boxing fun check out Anna Diop’s routine.

For Parkour I worked with Felix on this one: Nightrunner workout.

SUPERHUMAN SECRETS V.2

NOW UPDATED AND EXPANDED WITH A NEW SECTION & SEVEN BONUSES

USD$29  USD$14.95

• Research from over 300 of The World's Top Celebrities, their workouts, diets and lifestyles; picked apart and analyzed.
• How these celebrities REALLY transform & sustain their results.
• Dozens and dozens of Celebrity Case Studies showing exactly how YOU can achieve The Superhero Physique
  
•  The Top Training Styles and Diets Used Among ALL The Celebrities We Have Researched at SHJ
• Strategies on how YOU can take all that has been compiled from this research to create your path to the sustainable Hollywood Physique

YES! I want to unlock the secrets.

USD$29  USD$7.95

YES! I want to unlock the secrets.

UNLOCK THE SECRETS TO UNLEASHING YOUR INNER SUPERHUMAN

• Research from over 300 of The World's Top Celebrities, their workouts, diets and lifestyles; picked apart and analyzed.
• How these celebrities REALLY transform & sustain their results.
• Dozens and dozens of Celebrity Case Studies showing exactly how YOU can achieve The Superhero Physique
  
•  The Top Training Styles and Diets Used Among ALL The Celebrities We Have Researched at SHJ
• Strategies on how YOU can take all that has been compiled from this research to create your path to the sustainable Hollywood Physique

SIGN UP FOR FREE WORKOUTS!

Join over 100,000 member of The SHJ Army & receive:

• Instant Access to Over 1000 Celeb Researched and Anime, Superhero and Character Inspired Workout Routine PDF Downloads
• 10 New Workout Routines Sent To Your Inbox Every Week
• FREE Five Day SHJ Mini-Coaching Series

SUBSCRIBE