Zuko Calisthenics Workout: Train like The Fire Prince!

Last updated on January 29th, 2025 at 06:44 pm

We’re keeping the Avatar Inspired Workouts coming for the next couple weeks, and Zuko is up next.

Our original Zuko Inspired Workout was built around weight training so this time we’re building around bodyweight training and Zuko is finally making his way into our Calisthenics Workouts.

His original training was fairly intense, and this one will be as well – but I will also be making it so that beginners and intermediate levels can jump in with some scaling.

The ideal aesthetic we’ll be training for is his early physique, but this one will definitely get you shredded.

Zuko Stats:

Real Name: Zuko

Height: 5’3

Weight: 140 lbs.

Anime: Avatar: The Last Airbender

Powers: Yes

Zuko is short even for male anime character standard (though he’s also young), and comes in over a foot below what we’d consider a behemoth in our Anime Workouts Database.

His 140 pounds does put him in with a decent amount of muscle mass, though.

Vegeta were tied Wolverine for the shortest spot among comic characters we’ve seen at 5’3, prior to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles coming in at 5’2, (and Gimli even shorter) – but Damian Wayne (Robin) is only 5’4.  Goku isn’t that tall either, though, standing only 5’7, with Miles Morales only an inch above him.

One Punch Man falls in at 5’9 right there with Ryu, Nightwing at 5’10, and then Spider-Man, Daredevil, and Green Arrow coming in around 5’11 and Beast joining them.

We’ve had Superman and Eddie Brock’s Venom at 6’3, and Captain America, Scorpion and Batman at 6’2, and Carnage at 6’1. Thor and Cyborg are towering over them at 6’6, Thanos and King right there with them at 6’7, Bane at 6’8, and Deathstroke right below at 6’5, and Black Manta at 6’4.

Ronan and Sagat are 7’5, and Doomsday came in at 8’10, and I doubt any characters are touching that anytime soon.

But, don’t worry if you’re not the same height or weight range.

We write these routines to be utilized by anyone and everyone.

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Zuko Diet and Nutrition

**Keep in mind: this section will be nearly identical for each hero, unless I mentioned differently (for example someone like Hulk 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!

Curious where over a hundred celebs fall in their dietary choices ranging from High Protein and Keto to Vegetarian, Vegan and Intermittent Fasting? Want exclusive celeb meal plans? Check this out.

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Zuko Calisthenics 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.

To get us started let’s discuss Zuko’s initial biography from his Wiki Fandom.

Here’s what they tell us about the prince firebending master:

Zuko is a firebending master, born as a prince in the Fire Nation Royal Family, who reigned as Fire Lord from 100 AG until his abdication in 167 AG. Originally the primary enemy of Team Avatar, Zuko devoted three years to trying to capture the long-lost Avatar to end his banishment and regain his honor as Crown Prince of the Fire Nation. He is recognizable by the distinctive burn scar on the left side of his face from his eyebrow to his cheek, which was given to him by his father, Fire Lord Ozai, shortly before his banishment as a result of an incident in which he unintentionally disrespected his father by speaking out of turn and refusing to duel him.

Jumping further into Zuko’s character we also have to talk about his advanced skills in not only firebending, but also swordsmanship, hand to hand combat, stealth, and also leadership and strategy.

Here’s how they start by telling us about his firebending:

While growing up in the Fire Nation, Zuko showed no extraordinary skill in firebending. In his teen years, however, his ability began to develop significantly under his Uncle Iroh’s tutelage, most noticeably during the last year of the Hundred Year War. He became able to fight on par with much more experienced firebenders, showing himself to be a late bloomer. Having continuously refined his skills, he has reached the point of becoming a firebending master, but despite his skill and fast development as a firebender, he has noted on more than one occasion that he is not as skilled or as powerful as his younger sister, Azula.

If you decide to skip even further into his firebending information they tell us just how incredible he eventually becomes as a firemaster!

They continue to talk about his powers and abilities by moving into swordmanship and other skills like unarmed combat, stealh and even freerunning!

Here’s what they have to say:

Aside from his bending, Zuko also developed masterful skill in swordsmanship, and he specialized in dual wielding swordplay, using a set of dao blades, skills he gained after being trained by the sword master Piandao. He would use these skills as his primary tactics whenever he was in his Blue Spirit disguise, unable to firebend, or when he needed to fight but also needed to conceal his firebending. He was able to defeat multiple foes using only his swords, including experienced firebending soldiers. He also dueled evenly with Jet and his dual hook swords until the fight was broken up by the Dai Li. Zuko was able to defeat several Earth Kingdom soldiers with minimal effort by employing his swordsmanship skills in combination with unarmed combat and, in the same confrontation, demonstrated the ability to combine his sword skills with his firebending, allowing him to deliver more powerful and destructive attacks. His skill was such that his father, Fire Lord Ozai, opted not to face him during an eclipse when neither of them could firebend. He also defeated Sokka, a very proficient swordsman in his own right and a fellow student of Piandao, with ease in multiple sparring matches.

In addition to his firebending and swordsmanship skills, Zuko is highly skilled in unarmed combat, able to break apart oncoming spears with his hands and legs, and disarm, subdue or defeat opponents. Zuko was able to defeat several armed Earth Kingdom soldiers in rapid succession. Zuko is very physically capable, able to almost nonchalantly send a person flying with a single hand and smash through iron shackles with a single kick. He is also quite fast and agile, able to perform great acrobatic feats, such as running across walls, doing mid-air twirls, scaling vertical faces with great efficiency and climbing speed, and jumping large distances to avoid enemy attacks with noticeable agility and free-running skills. Zuko is stealthy and skilled in the art of infiltration, able to sneak into heavily defended fortresses and conceal himself effectively for long periods of time.

We clearly have our work cut out for us.

The goals for our Zuko Inspired Calisthenics Workout are:

• Zuko’s Lean and Muscular Aesthetic
• Zuko’s Strength, Speed and Stamina
• Zuko’s Mobility and Acrobatic Ability

It will be fairly intense, but as I mentioned above: I’ll do my best to make it scalable so everyone can jump in at any level with a little bit of scaling.

That said, you can also start with The Beginner Ninja Workout or even The Beginner Speedster Workout and level up to this one.

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Zuko Calisthenics Workout Routine

Training Volume:

3-5 days per week

Explanation:

For this one we’ll be training with a high volume, high intensity, 3 day calisthenics program that allows you to tack on endurance work and extra intensity challenges within your training. We’ll be training with 3 days of bodyweight movements built around high volume tri-sets for muscle, body control, endurance and overall aesthetic, and then one day per week will be devoted entirely to endurance work and a final day for our Fire Nation Circuit Test. You can take the circuit test weekly, biweekly or monthly, and sub more endurance training on the weeks you don’t.

How To Scale:

You can scale this one down by not doing tri-sets (do them as regular sets) and cutting the last exercise of each tri-set.

Want To Upgrade This Workout?

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Zuko Calisthenics Workout: Sample Workout Schedule

Monday: Fire Lord Calisthenics A

Tuesday: Fire Nation Circuit Test

Wednesday: Fire Lord Calisthenics B

Thursday: Swordsman Endurance Work

Friday: Fire Lord Calisthenics C

Saturday: Rest Day

Sunday: Active Rest Day

Zuko Calisthenics Workout: Fire Lord Calisthenics A

Warm Up:

5-15 Minute Walk/Jog

Workout: 

Tri-Set One:

A. Push Ups

3×20

B. Jumping Lunges

3×20

C. Superman Hold

3×30 Seconds

Tri-Set Two:

A. Plank to Push Ups

3×15

B. Hanging Knee Raises

3×15

C. Half Burpees

3×10

Tri-Set Three:

A. Pull Ups

3×10

B. Toes to Bar

3×20

C. Alternating Pistol Squats

3×10

Zuko Calisthenics Workout: Fire Nation Bodyweight Circuit Test

In a perfect world our Academy members or 90 Day System members will use this day to work in our Benchmark Workouts to continue testing and improving scores and tracking them against other members; especially our SHJ Core Benchmarks (although our Hero Benchmarks are just as awesome).

If you are not an Academy member or you don’t have access to a 90 Day System, you can also sub in different circuits here from some of the HIIT resources I provide.

(Another note: You should continue coming back and re-trying to workout every so often to see how much you can improve your score!)

Fire Nation Bodyweight Circuit Test: Complete 4 Rounds For Time

Run 400M

40 Push Ups

30 Second Hollow Hold

25 Jump Squats

20 Sit Ups

15 Dips

10 Pull Ups

Zuko Calisthenics Workout: Fire Lord Calisthenics B

Warm Up:

5-15 Minute Walk/Jog

Workout: 

Tri-Set One:

A. Wide to Close Push Ups

3×20

B. Wide to Close Air Squats

3×20

C. L-Sit Hold

3×30 Seconds

Tri-Set Two:

A. Dips

3×12

B. Reverse Crunches

3×20

C. Inch Worms

3×10

Tri-Set Three:

A. Wide Grip Pull Ups

3×10

B. Wall Climbs

3×20

C. Plank Hold

3xFailure

Zuko Calisthenics Workout: Swordsman Endurance Work

For your endurance, HIIT or MMA/Parkour days you have quite a few options.
You can utilize enforced endurance training that I will program for you based on your fitness level like we do with other workouts here at SHJ…OR you can do 45-60+ minutes of varied cardio (bike, treadmill, elliptical, stairs, row, swim, etc.)…OR you can even use the HIIT resources I’ll provide.

I’ll break it down in that order:

Option One – Run Based on Overall Fitness Level:

Beginner: 1-3 Miles

Intermediate: 3-5 Miles

Advanced: 5+ Miles

Endurance Work Resources:

• Constance Wu Workout Routine and Diet Plan
• Ewan McGregor Workout Routine and Diet Plan
• Kid Flash Workout Routine and Diet Plan
• Grant Gustin Workout Routine and Diet Plan
• How To Continue Training After Your First 5K (Workout Included)

Option Two – Varied Cardio for 45-60 Minutes:

Split your cardio up however you’d like but complete 45-60+ minutes using:

• Treadmill Walk/Run
• Rower Machine
• StairMaster
• Elliptical
• Swim
• Bike

Option Three – Complete HIIT Training Using SHJ Resources:

• The Best HIIT Workouts
• Jump Rope Workout Database
• Academy Members: Insert a Benchmark Hero Workout (Circuit) or SHJ Core Circuit Test

Zuko Calisthenics Workout: Fire Lord Calisthenics C

Warm Up:

5-15 Minute Walk/Jog

Workout: 

Tri-Set One:

A. Decline Push Ups

3×20

B. Box Jumps

3×10

C. Hollow Hold

3×30 Seconds

Tri-Set Two:

A. Tricep Extensions

3×15

B. Bicycle Crunches

3×30

C. Flutter Kicks

3×50

Tri-Set Three:

A. Chin Ups

3×10

B. Sit Ups

3×20

C. Glute Bridges

3×10

Zuko Calisthenics Workout: Optional Additional Training Resources

Parkour Training Resources:

• The Nightrunner Parkour Workout Routine
• The Assassin’s Creed Parkour Workout Routine
• The Robbie Amell Parkour Workout Routine

Main MMA Training Resources

• Anna Diop Workout Routine and Diet Plan
• Ryan Potter Workout Routine and Diet Plan
• Frank Grillo Boxing Workout

Other MMA Training Resources:

• Deathstroke Workout Routine
• Daredevil Workout Routine
• Moon Knight Workout Routine
• Sagat Workout Routine

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