Last updated on July 3rd, 2022 at 01:02 pm

This man has been involved with [just about!] every awesome, nerdy franchise we love here at SHJ.

I mean we’re literally talking Eomer in Lord of the Rings; Bones in Star Trek (sorry I’m a Star Wars guy); John Grimm in Doom; Skurge in Thor: Ragnarok; Judge Dredd in Dredd; Julius Caesar in Xena: Warrior Princess; Vaako in Riddick; and even freakin’ Gavin in Pete’s Dragon.

What more can we ask for out of a man!?

Oh, more superhero badassery?

Okay, well he’s also set to star as Billy Butcher in a new Amazon Original Series called The Boys, which Amazon labels as: “A group of vigilantes set out to take down corrupt superheroes who abuse their superpowers.”

That’s what I thought.

Karl Urban Stats:

Height: 6’1

Weight: (approximate) 205 lbs.

Age: 47 years old

Karl Urban isn’t the tallest or the lightest around his stats, but he does just make it to the average height range.

Originally I thought I should make it 6’2-6’3, but we’ve seen plenty of male celebs fall in at 6’1 for me to include it now.

The average height falls in the range of 6’1-6’3 with celebs like Chris Pratt, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Adam Driver, Stephen Amell, Clive Standen and so many more.

Guys around 5’10-6’0 are dudes like Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Jason Statham, but the ACTUAL shorter range is filled with guys like Mark Wahlberg, Zac Efron, Kit Harington, Tom Holland and more.

Even taller than them are guys like The Mountain, Joe Manganiello, Ben Affleck, Jason Momoa, Ray Fisher, Winston Duke, Alexander Skarsgard and a few others.

But, don’t worry either way.

We write these routines to be utilized by any shape and size.

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Karl Urban Diet and Nutrition

Keith Urban has had his fair share of preparation for some of the roles he has been in.

I mean, when you land as many awesome gigs as he has you have to expect it.

Recently one of those roles was Skurge in Thor: Ragnarok.

Not only did Urban have to train to become a superhero (or villain), but he also needed to eat like one.

In an interview with IGN they share:

I asked if that also means eating like 10 chickens a day and all the other actor regiment things we often hear about when stars are prepping to play superhero roles.

“Yeah, all of that sort of stuff,” laughed Urban, though he did say he doesn’t really need to do that this time out. “The irony is that you won’t actually see my body in this movie under the costume that I have, but it’s important for me to get into the zone and feel [the part].”

During another prep face, this time for Dredd, came with 14 weeks of intensive training and a diet to match.

In an interview with Metro UK, which we’ll jump back to again for the training research, Urban states:

When you saw the results, did you think about keeping it up?

The best beer I have ever tasted in my life came at the end of the shoot – I hadn’t had a drink for four months. Quality of life matters more to me than vanity – I like beer, fries and burgers. There’s only so long you can eat chicken and broccoli.

I also like beer, fries and burgers.

That’s why I generally try to fit them all in within our programming (that means my own as well).

It seems like outside of his role prep Urban does the same!

We see a lot of celebs opt for a sustainable approach like this.

That’s why our Academy Nutrition Classes (Monks, Minimalists, SuperHumans, Vikings, Spartans, Hunter Gatherers, Greek Gods, Samurais) revolve around helping you find the specific diet that is right FOR YOU.

Of course, there are a lot of reasons to HAVE the strict guidelines.

We’ve seen a lot of celebs opt for specific restrictions. 

For example: Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart incorporate 80/20 dieting with big weekly cheat meals, Hugh Jackman, Benedict Cumberbatch and Terry Crews utilize intermittent fasting(something I use daily as well), 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.

And, that’s just to name a few celebs from each, by the way.

You can check out our Nutrition Pillars for more information and articles on all of the above and more.

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Karl Urban Workout Routine Research

So we talked about both of Karl Urban’s intense training protocols for both Dredd and Thor: Ragnarok.

Now we’re going to take a deeper dive into the training instead of the dieting side of things.

For Thor: Ragnarok we’ll jump back to the interview with IGN, which Urban laughed about the irony of us not even seeing his body throughout the film, in which he states:

Urban said he’s been putting on muscle for the part as the axe-wielding Asgardian.

“Definitely,” he said. “There’s a bit of a few hours at the gym lifting heavy things.”

But, it actually seemed like he trained a lot more for his Dredd preparation, so he must have been used to it.

Metro UK had him stating this about the Dredd prep:

You worked out a lot for the film. Did you enjoy it?

The training wasn’t my favourite part of the process but it was important for me to physically become the character. He has an incredibly fit physique so I had 14 weeks of intensive training.

So Urban states that it wasn’t his favorite part of the prep for the film, which is understandable being that it’s much more than he’s used to doing on a normal basis, but he can acknowledge the importance of the training.

In another interview, this time with Gizmodo, Urban tells us a bit more about his training regime AND his diet and nutrition for the Dredd prep:

Well I spent about 14 weeks in the gym lifting heavy things. I got into sick shape and I worked out twice a day, ate 6-7 meals and it was hell. I was not a nice person to live with. I was promoting RED while I was training for Dredd, flying around internationally meeting with you guys, then go with my trainer to find a gym and jump on a plane with a suitcase full of food.

And for some more fun information from that specific interview, Urban continues by stating:

Then I went through a huge process of reading every single comic of Dredd that I could and ended up compiling a book which would have source material that was relevant to the film, from descriptions to dry one-liners that I liked, or a strong image that should be incorporated into the film, and it was through that process where I found the description for the voice.

So this training is going to involve two-a-days and comic reading!

Better get ready.

I know you’re all probably like “Comic reading?  Lay it on me!”

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Karl Urban Workout Routine

Training Volume:

4 days per week

Explanation:

Rest is extremely important to recover.  That is even more the case when you’re training twice a day. Rest is going to be of utmost importance for this one, and it should be mentioned that this training protocol is only to be utilized in a short 8-14 weeks of training.  From there you should deload and move onto another program before picking this one back up.  We are training like Urban did for movie prep; and he does not normally train anywhere near this much during regular life.

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Karl Urban Workout: The Training Schedule

Two-A-Day Training Schedule

Sunday: Rest

Monday AM & PM: Chest and Triceps

Tuesday AM & PM: Leg Day

Wednesday: Rest

Thursday AM & PM: Shoulders and Abs

Friday AM & PM: Back and Biceps

Saturday: Rest

Karl Urban Workout Routine: Chest and Triceps

Morning Workout:

Bench Press

4×6-10 reps

Incline Dumbbell Bench Press

4×8-10 reps

Weighted Dips

4×8-15 reps

Afternoon-Night Workout:

Cable Flyes

3×15

Pec Deck Machine

3×15

Overhead Dumbbell Tricep Extension

3×15

Cable Kickbacks

3×15 each arm

Karl Urban Workout Routine: Legs

Morning Workout:

Back Squat

4×6-10 reps

Leg Press

4×8-10 reps

Romanian Dumbbell Deadlift

4×8-10 reps

Afternoon-Night Workout:

Hamstring Kickbacks or Curls

3×15

Leg/Quad Extension

3×15

Glute/Hip Thrusts

3×15

Seated Calf Raises

3×15

Karl Urban Workout Routine: Shoulders and Traps

Morning Workout:

Overhead Press

4×6-10 reps

Arnold Press

4×8-10 reps

Barbell Shrugs

4×8-10 reps

Afternoon-Night Workout:

Face Pulls

3×15

Dumbbell Lateral Raises

3×15

Dumbbell Shrugs

3×15

Shoulder Front Raises (DB or Cable)

3×15

Karl Urban Workout Routine: Back and Biceps

Morning Workout:

Barbell Deadlift

4×6-10 reps

Wide Grip Lateral Pulldowns

4×8-10 reps

Weighted Chin Ups

4×8-10 reps

Afternoon-Night Workout:

Straight Arm Cable Pressdowns

3×15

Preacher Curls

3×15

Dumbbell Pullovers

3×15

Hammer Curls (DB)

3×15 each arm

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