Last updated on August 6th, 2020 at 03:02 pm
It’s time for some more Star Wars.
We recently saw some celebs from our new show The Mandalorian that just came out on Disney+, but I think it’s time to hit another character (and maybe continue on with some more).
We saw Pedro Pascal and Gina Carano most recently, but of course we’ve also seen a handful of other celebs that have appeared as Star Wars characters (like Daisy Ridley, Samuel L. Jackson, Natalie Portman, Adam Driver, Lupita Nyong’o, John Boyega, Gwendoline Christie, Donald Glover, Emilia Clarke, Donnie Yen, Riz Ahmed, Paul Bettany, and a handful more)!
But, prior to that we decided to finally host two characters routines from Star Wars, and they were a huge success.
Those two are: Yoda and Ahsoka Tano!
So with the launch of Disney+ and the surge of people watching and re-watching Clone Wars, I thought it was a perfect time for Asajj Ventress to make her appearance on the site.
Asajj Ventress Stats:
Height: 5’8-5’9
Weight: 132 lbs.
Real Name: Asajj Ventress
Powers: Yes
Asajj Ventress is fairly tall.
Ahsoka is 6’1, which is super tall among female characters and celebs, but Ventress is in a taller range as well.
Supergirl and Erza Scarlet were our shortest at 5’5 before Wasp came in at 5’4 and Kale, Anna and Nina Williams matching her there. BUT, now we have Caulifla at 4’8 and Sailor Moon at 4’11! Katana is just behind her at 5’2.
We had Wonder Woman come in standing 6’0 tall, Mockingbird and Hawkgirl at 5’9, Mystique, Miss Martian, and Sonya Blade at 5’10, and Storm 5’11.
But the average height for female celebrities on the site is generally more-so ranging from 5’4-5’6 – and our Black Widow is just above that at 5’7 with Spider-Gwen, Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy at 5’8.
And, the tallest we’d seen before She-Hulk was Starfire at 6’4!
But don’t worry, either way.
Not only are these routines for all shapes and sizes – they also work for both men and women – regardless of the gender of the hero!
Take The SHJ Program Quiz and find the perfect program for YOU.
Asajj Ventress Diet and Nutrition
**Keep in mind: this section will be nearly identical for each hero, unless I mentioned differently (for example someone like Hellboy may get something specifically different)**
Every hero 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!
Take The Free Workout Placement Quiz and find the best free workout for you.
Asajj Ventress Workout Routine Research
We’ve made it to “the fun part”.
And, if you don’t know by now, I say that every single time we get to the workout routine research section for character workouts.
This is where I get to break down the “how” and “why” of the workout we’re going to build based on the characters, in this case Asajj Ventress’, powers and/or abilities.
When we took a look at Ahsoka and Yoda I explained that this would be a little different than we normally do with character workouts.
Well, the same goes for Asajj Ventress’ workout.
Right off the bat, let me tell you who Asajj Ventress even is:
An assassin trained in the ways of the dark side by Count Dooku, Asajj Ventress yearned to be considered a true Sith, but such status wasn’t allowed under the Sith’s Rule of Two. Ventress fought with twin red-bladed lightsabers, and clashed with Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker many times.
So Ventress could not be considered a true Sith because there was always two other Siths.
BUT, the key thing to realize here is that she was trained in the ways of the dark side by Count Dooku, whose Jedi Master (and who therefore trained him) was Yoda!
Which means in stealing some of the key concepts of the Jedi training that we saw from Yoda, we are actually seeing them passed down in a way that lines up how they would be passed through Count Dooku in Ventress’ actual training.
There are a couple differences in Sith style training, though.
Here’s a quote from Darth Sidious on selecting Sith apprentices:
“Choose someone as a successor and you will inevitably be succeeded.
Choose someone hungrier and you will be devoured.
Choose someone quicker and you won’t dodge the blade at your back.
Choose someone with more patience and you won’t block the blade at your throat.
Choose someone more devious and you’ll hold the blade that kills you.
Choose someone more clever and you’ll never know your end.
Despite these cautions, an apprentice is essential. A Master without an apprentice is a Master of nothing.“
After selection they have a process that looks something like this:
- The “Sacrifice”
- Training Regimes
- Combat training
- Force application training
But, since this isn’t a Mega Path within The Academy (hint, hint), which would allow us to go through each step of training (HINT), we will stick to applying the same things we did for our Jedi training methods.
The three pillars that we need to work on are: The Force, Knowledge, and Self-discipline.
And in our Yoda workout routine, which is actually one of the first routines to break down a sample workout schedule (which, if you’ve been utilizing newer workouts on the site you’ve seen we continue to utilize them), actually breaks down each one of these steps.
The only difference for Asajj Ventress’ workout routine is that we’ll also be including some of her assassin ways into the mix.
For that we’ll also be throwing in some of our SHJ Parkour training!
You think you’re ready?
Check out all The SHJ Programs and start unleashing your inner SuperHuman.
Asajj Ventress Workout Routine
Training Volume:
7 days per week
Explanation:
Jedi Explanation: As a Jedi you will constantly be working on your own personal pillars and strengthening not only your body, but also your knowledge, focus, discipline and connection to the force. For that reason I will be giving you multiple workouts to use throughout the course of a day, and it then I will give you a sample schedule of how you could format your actual week’s worth of training.
Asajj Ventress Explanation: We’re going to be training like Yoda’s schedule (Yoda trained Count Dooku who trained Ventress), but we’ll be adding in Parkour to get more of that assassin-like feel.
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.
Asajj Ventress Workout Routine: Workout Schedule
Feel free to change this schedule as needed.
Monday: Full Training Day (All Pillars)
Tuesday: Pillar Three and Pillar Five
Wednesday: Full Training Day (All Pillars)
Thursday: Pillar Three and Pillar Five
Friday: Full Training Day (All Pillars)
Saturday: Off Day Devoted to Knowledge AND Pillar Five
Sunday: Full Training Day
The Asajj Ventress Workout: Daily Training Plan
For this we’re going to have our own set of pillars to hit, and I will also be giving you an actual set of instruction and time frame to complete certain things.
Pillar One: Mind and Focus
Activity: Meditation
Duration: 5-30 minutes per session (1-2 times per day)
Notes: There are many apps that can be used to help you develop your meditation skills. It’s not something that can be rushed, and it could be as little as 30-90 second sessions when you first get started.
Pillar Two: Calisthenics and Bodyweight Strength
Activity: Bodyweight Training
Duration: 45-60 minutes per day
Notes: This training will be designed so that people can progress to a more advanced level.
Pillar Three: Lightsaber Skills
Activity: Lightsaber Training
Duration: 15-30 minutes per day
Notes: This will be done using a super-fun Star Wars lightsaber training program from Men’s Health!
Pillar Four: Bonus Mind/Body Connection
Activity: Yoga
Duration: 15-60 minutes per day
Notes: This is an extra pillar that can be subbed for calisthenics and meditation if you choose to go to a class or do a YouTube video for that day.
Pillar Five (New for Asajj Ventress): Parkour Training
Activity: Parkour
Duration: 30+ minutes per day
Notes: This is going to be done mainly in place of Mind/Body Connection and Knowledge days being that we’re training like an assassin who is learning the ways of The Dark Side. This will be done utilizing our SHJ Parkour Workout that I collaborated with Academy member Felix to create!
The Asajj Ventress Workout: Calisthenics Training
Warm Up:
800-1600m jog
Workout:
- Air Squats
- 5×30
- Scale Up: Jump Squats
- Scale Down: Higher than Parallel
- Push Ups
- 5×25
- Scale Up: Handstand Push Ups
- Scale Down: Knee Ups
- Hanging Leg Raises
- 5×20
- Scale Up: Hanging Leg Raise w/ Knee Twist
- Scale Down: Lying Leg Raise
- Dips
- 5×15
- Scale Up: Weighted Dips
- Scale Down: Chair Dips (Walk in or out to scale from here)
- Pull Ups
- 5×10
- Scale Up: Weighted Pull Ups
- Scale Down: Jumping Pull Ups or Assisted
Cooldown:
15 minute yoga session (if no Pillar Four)
The Asajj Ventress Workout: Lightsaber Fun Training
**This fun Star Wars style training is courtesy of Men’s Health.**
The workout consists of a warmup, three intense circuits of four exercises (completed AMRAP for time), and a cooldown. Besides a lightsaber—which you can substitute with the light training tool of your choice, like a wooden dowel or a 3′ piece of PVC pipe—the only thing you’ll need is a pair of gliding discs. (And if you don’t have those, you can substitute with rags on a hardwood floor or paper plates on a carpet.)
After performing each circuit, rest for 60 seconds by focusing on your breathing and restoring your energy. “This will help to sustain you throughout the workout,” Lamb says.
Oh, and make sure you maintain proper form. “While performing the exercises, embrace the Light Side of the Force and emphasize form, technique and execution,” Lamb says. “Resist the temptation of the Dark Side, which means to just use momentum or simply ‘go through the motions.’”
Add this workout to your routine—Lamb offers it twice a week at New York Sports Clubs—and your endurance and total-body strength will become more powerful than you could possibly imagine. Oh, and this workout is spoiler-free.
WARMUP
Focused breathing
Stand relaxed, with your feet set slightly wider than your hips. Breathe only through your nose, with the tongue at the roof of your mouth. “As you inhale, imagine lifting your abdominals up,” Lamb says. “As you exhale, feel your abdominal wall compress. Your core should feel like it’s becoming energized without exerting effort.” Let your arms float upwards on the inhale, and let them fall naturally on the exhale.
Easy breathing air squats
The goal here is to sync your breath with your body’s motion, Lamb says. “Breathe OUT as you lower your body into a squat, and then breathe IN as you lift your body again.”
Circuit 1
Skywalker Lunges (with lightsaber chops): 45 seconds per leg
Begin in a lunge while holding the lightsaber in both hands. Flex your shoulders so your upper arms are near your ears and the lightsaber is behind the head, ready to chop forward. Press into the foot of the front leg to lift yourself out of the lunge. Bring the knee of the rear leg forward (hip flexion) while pulling the light saber downwards so that arms are in front of the chest (shoulder extension). Exhale strongly to engage the abdominals and latissimus dorsi on the “front chop”. Do this exercise for 45 seconds on one side, then 45 on the other.
You’ll feel this exercise in your legs (quads, hamstrings, glutes), abs, shoulders, and lats.
Dive-Bomber Pushups: 60 seconds
Start in a downward dog yoga position with your hands planted on the floor, slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, and push your butt in the air. Keep your back straight, so you look like an inverted ‘V.’ Lower your shoulders and swoop down so your chest brushes the ground. Hold the position for 2 to 3 seconds, then press yourself up so that your back is arched and your arms straight. Now reverse the movement by lowering back down so your chest brushes the ground again, and you return to the starting position.
You’ll feel this in your “pushup muscles”: deltoids, pectorals, lats, triceps, and erector spinae.
Front Kick while holding lightsaber: 45 seconds per leg
Hold the lightsaber up at your right shoulder with both hands. Keeping your right leg slightly bent at the knee, pivot on your right foot and kick forward with your left leg. Try to fully extend your left leg, making sure to keep a “soft” knee and maintain your balance. Repeat AMRAP, making sure to maintain your form and balance, for 45 seconds. After 45 seconds, switch sides: Hold the lightsaber at your left shoulder, pivot on your left leg, and kick with your right.
You should feel the burn in your abs, hip flexors, and your quads.
Jedi Jacks: 90 seconds
Squat while holding light saber in both hands (one hand stacked above other). Jump up in the air and ADDuct at the hips. The legs come together while in the air. Land toe-ball-heel into the squat and repeat for 45 seconds. The next 45 seconds are a plank jack (hands on floor directly beneath shoulders).
You should feel the burn in your legs—glutes, quads, hamstrings, calves—as well as your transverse abdominis and shoulder stabilizers.
Circuit 2
Chewbacca Chop: 45 seconds to each side
This is a standard wood chop, except named after everyone’s favorite Wookiee. Start with your feet in a wide stance, holding the lightsaber in both hands over your right shoulder. Rotate your torso from your pelvis while rotating the ball of your right foot and “chop” the lightsaber dowards toward your left foot. Exhale during the chop and inhale as you bring the saber back up.
Targeted muscles: Quadriceps, adductors, abductors, gluteals, abdominals (particularly the obliques).
Starfighter Pushups: 60 Seconds
Grab your gliding disks. Start in the plank position with a disc under each foot. Bend your right knee, flexing at the hip, and bring your leg underneath you across your body. Extend your knee, so that ultimately your right leg is fully extended near your left hand. Bring your leg back to starting position. Do a pushup. Repeat on the other side.
You’ll feel this exercise in your shoulder stabilizers, abdominals, and hip flexors.
Front Snap Kicks: 45 seconds per leg
Holding the lightsaber up in front of you, perform front kicks, aiming to fully extend your leg. After 45 seconds, switch to your other leg.
This exercise will challenge your quads, glutes, calves, and abs (specifically your rectus abdominis).
Lightsaber Burpees: 90 seconds
Set your lightsaber on the ground, pointing forward. Stand on one side of it. Jump lightly to the other side of the lightsaber, then do a burpee. After you push yourself up, jump lightly back to the other side of the lightsaber, then do another burpee.
This exercise will leave no muscle group unscathed.
Circuit 3
General’s Curtsy: 90 seconds
Hold the lightsaber in both hands. Put one glide disc under each foot. Hold the lightsaber over your right shoulder, and chop diagonally downwards to your left leg. As you’re chopping, cross your right leg behind your left leg into a lunge. Bring the saber back up, and then alternate to the right. Continue alternating to sides. Make sure you move with control, and don’t move too fast.
This exercise hits your quads, adductors, abductors, glutes, hamstrings, calves, transverse abdominis, and obliques.
The Fall: 60 seconds
Start with a “crab” or “table” position, so your shoulders are externally rotated and your fingertips point to the back. Keep your feet flat, chest lifted, and knees bent. Push your hips up high and reach one arm over in an arch above and behind your head. Bring your arm back to starting position, and then repeat on the other side.
Muscles targeted: The entire back, plus hamstrings.
Roundhouse Flutter Kick: 45 seconds per leg
Bring your lightsaber up to your right shoulder. Pivot on your right hip [AGAIN, IS HIP WHAT YOU MEAN HERE?], keeping your right leg bent slightly at the knee. Kick your left leg from the knee, keeping your upper left leg still, and just kick the lower half of your leg. Switch to the other leg after 45 seconds.
Besides testing your balance, this will target your hip abductors, quads, hamstrings, abs (specifically the obliques and transverse abdominus), and calves (both the gastrocnemius and soleus).
Rey’s Speeder Jumps: 90 seconds
Run in place with your arms held naturally. Every few seconds (vary the intervals depending on how winded you are), jump and bring your hands to your knees, then go back into running in place.
This demanding exercise will challenge your lower body and your cardio ability.
Cooldown: Focused breathing (a.k.a. the “Yoda Flow”)
“During the Yoda Flow, you want to feel as though you’re breathing through your whole body—not JUST the lungs,” Lamb says. “The goal is to sync your movement with your breath.”
1. Start with your feet apart. Think of anchoring your feet into ground. Let your muscles settle and relax as much as possible. Breathe in, fill up your arms on the sides, and lift your arms in front of your torso, making sure to keep your joints soft. Then exhale and lower your arms back to your sides. Repeat the breathing with arm movement for approximately 1-2 minutes.
2. With soft knees, step to the right (exhale), lift your left knee (inhale), and lift your arms with soft elbows and hands, “as if you’re blocking your face in a battle,” Lamb says. Continue with the alternating side step and lift. Exhale on each side step. Inhale with every knee lift. “This move makes me think of Karate Kid, where Daniel balances on one leg,” Lamb says.
3. Begin with your feet apart as in the first part of the cooldown. As you breathe in—raising your arms from the sides of your body and palms facing upwards—keep going until your palms meet above head. Keep your palms connected, and rotate the wrists and fingertips away from your body until they point downwards as you bend your knees into an “ass-to-grass” squat so your fingertips touch the ground. Ideally, your feet should stay flat to the ground. Breathe in as you raise your arms, and then exhale as you lower into the deep squat.
The Asajj Ventress Workout: Parkour Assassin Training
Warm up:
Dynamic stretching
10 minutes of cardio (chose between Option A and B)
Option A: Jogging or running
Option B: Quadrupedal movement such as bear crawl, crab walk, spider-man walk, backward and forward (try to mix them a bit this will help for your mobility)
5-10 Parkour Rolls (both sides)
How you should roll: (example on right shoulder) get down on your left knee, put your left hand on the ground in front of your left knee, beside your right heel, then put your right hand on the left one. DO NOT CROSS YOUR FINGERS. Put your head down and roll on your shoulder, you should roll diagonally from your shoulder to the other side of your waist.
Note: Start by doing them on soft surfaces like grass, when you feel more confident while doing it try to practice them from walking, jogging and running. Then start to practice dive rolls.
5-10 back rolls
Vaults:
Flow out/safety vault: as you come towards the obstacle, place your outside arm on the obstacle, then put your outside leg on the obstacle, pass your inside leg under your outside leg, release your outside arm as you push with your outside foot to pass the obstacle.
Speed vault: very similar to the flow out vault except that your outside foot does not touch the obstacle, instead just kick in the air with it.
Lazy vault: this one is more useful to get over a rail. Come towards the obstacle from a diagonal or parallel direction, put your inside hand on the obstacle, swing your inside leg then your outside leg in the same motion, before placing your outside hand on the obstacle.
Note: the flow out vault as well as the lazy vault are two movements that you can practice without momentum.
Kong vault: press with both of your hands on the obstacle, at the same time, tuck your legs on your chest to pass over the obstacle, don’t forget to raise your hips.
Note: this one is the most known and most used vault in Parkour, however it is a very scary and tricky vault, so here’s a few steps you can do to break it down.
Step 1: practice it on the floor, crouch and dive into a kong vault, this will get used to the movement, you could also practice with your quadrupedal movements as a warm up.
Step 2: plant plyos/monkey plant; put both hands on an obstacle and use your legs to get on it
Step 3: following the plant plyo keep your hand on the obstacle and go down into a squat position.
Bar/Rail moves:
Under bar: as you come towards a bar or rail, jump feet first and place your hands on the bar, swing under the bar and extend your body while arching your back.
Tips: one exercise that you can do to practice it and test yourself is to find a park with bars, like a calisthenic park, put and elastic band between two poles parallel to the pull up bar, grab the bar and jump trying to pass your whole body between the elastic band and the bar, raise the elastic band as you get better.
Wall moves:
Wall run: run towards a wall, when you’re at the right distance (not to close, not to far) make a small jump at the same time plant the ball of your feet on the wall, a bit higher than hips level, push upward with your leg that is on the wall then try to reach with your arms the top of the wall.
Tik Tak: Similar to the wall run, run towards the wall then jump putting your other leg (feet facing upward) then push with the leg that is on the wall, then push away from the wall transferring your momentum wherever direction you need to go.
Arm jump: this one is like a long jump but you use it to grab the edge of a wall, or a bar as you jump.
Note: when performing this jump your legs should land slightly before you grab the bar. as you might hurt your knees on the wall. just don’t over do it so you don’t drop kick the wall.
Tips: this works for precision jump as well as arm jump, when you’re not sure if you can execute the jump as the jump might be high for example, go down and practice it from the same distance, if you can cover the distance, that means you can do it, if you can’t maybe you should wait. of course there’s always the height difference between the two objects that is important.
Balance: to practice your balance, you can practice it pretty much anytime anywhere, for example you can stand on one leg as you wait for the bus then to the other leg, you can also walk on the road lines (just not in the middle of the road please) there’s literally a lot of things you can do to practice your balance.
Now that you know a few movements for parkour try to find places where you can try them (bench, picnic tables, etc). This really depends on your surroundings, as you get better you will also be able to see more things you can do: this is called The Parkour Vision. For example where others might see a wall, you might see a wall run, etc..
Join The Superhero Academy and start unleashing your inner SuperHuman.
SIGN UP FOR FREE WORKOUTS!
Join over 100,000 member of The SHJ Army & receive:
