Last updated on May 4th, 2022 at 11:52 am

Riz Ahmed is incredible.

I almost feel like he came out of nowhere, but I’m not mad about it.

Well, that isn’t exactly true, I suppose.

I loved Ahmed in Nightcrawler, and from there he went on to be in The Night Of, which was also absolutely incredible, Rogue One, Girls, and now he’ll be in Venom as Doctor Carlton Drake!

And it seemed only fitting to have a Venom themed week.

So don’t be surprised when you see more Venom celebs AND character workouts hit the site.

Riz Ahmed Stats:

Height: 5’8

Weight: 155 lbs.

Age: 35 years old

Riz Ahmed falls in the shortest category of celebs we’ve seen on the site.

He’s not THE shortest, but he’s right there with them.

That average height falls in the range of 6’1-6’3 with celebs like Chris Pratt, Chris Hemsworth, Hugh Jackman, 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 Kevin Hart, Mark Wahlberg, Zac Efron, Kit Harington, Tom Holland and more.

Even taller than them are guys like The Mountain, Dwayne Johnson, 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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Riz Ahmed Diet and Nutrition

In an interview with with Men’s Journal we get a ton of great information about Riz Ahmed’s transformation.

Speaking on the change for HBO’s Limited Series “The Night Of“, Men’s Journal writes, with a quote from Ahmed:

To grow from a scrawny, naive Queens kid into a Rikers-hardened badass over the course of the eight-episode season, Ahmed worked with trainer Ben Glassman of The LabOpens a New Window. in New York. “I switched from metabolic conditioning workouts—with a ketogenic diet to burn fat and get really trim into big compound lifts and almost no cardio,” says Ahmed.

We know all about the ketogenic diet.

I lost over 50 pounds utilizing intermittent keto fasting and cyclical ketosis.

We also find out some good information about his training.  But, we’ll save that for the next section.

The important thing here is going to be finding what is sustainable.  We know these celebrities can utilize a specific diet and transform themselves pretty quickly, but most times this isn’t exactly effective if you can’t sustain it.

That’s why we see guys like Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart, and women like Demi Lovato and Jennifer Aniston, who all stick to diets they can sustain year round.

Of course there’s even more celebs who do this, and 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.

And of course you can check out the Nutrition Pillars as well, which has tons of information of other dietary options you can utilize.

Right now there’s eight Nutrition Classes in The Academy (as you saw above), but we also have The Superhero Programs which strictly revolve around macronutrients and a specific diet customized for YOU.

If that’s something you’re into…

Riz Ahmed Workout Routine Research

I’m going to immediately steal the direct quote from Ahmed that we just saw from above and repeat that here.

He states:

“I switched from metabolic conditioning workouts—with a ketogenic diet to burn fat and get really trim into big compound lifts and almost no cardio,”

No more circuits and conditioning.  Virtually more cardio.  

BIG compound lifts.

We hear you Ahmed.  And we love it.

Men’s Journal doesn’t stop there, though.  They tell us just how intense his training volume was:

He also relied on yoga and Pilates to maintain good posture and avoid injury while training six days a week, often after a full day’s shoot.

Oh, that’s funny, we also love yoga and Pilates at SHJ.

We even have a Jedi Path devoted to meditation and yoga in The Academy.

Shameless plug.

So we know cardio is basically cut, big heavy compounds are in, and yoga and Pilates are being included as well.

We have some pretty good information, but how about a fun fact about Ahmed and his mother?

In an interview with Hollywood mag Ahmed tells the story about telling his mother when he got the role in Rogue One:

“To be honest I felt like I had to tell someone, so I thought the safest option would be to tell someone very close to me, who wouldn’t say anything,” he told London’s Evening Standard newspaper, admitting he was close to breaking the rules and tweeting it.

“So that was my mum. When I was actually filming at Pinewood Studios, my mum’s house is close so I was staying there a lot. She would be saying, ‘What you filming, what you doing?’”

“I’d be like, ‘I’m filming Star Wars,’ and she’d be like, ‘Oh that’s nice, have some more roti…’ That’s her focus.”

I love it.

Hollywood named their article for this one: “Riz Ahmed’s Mom’s ‘Star Wars’ Reaction Is Literally All of Our Moms”, and they can’t be more right.

Okay, okay, enough fun.

Let’s do this.

Looking to step it up a notch?
Check out The Superhero Academy and start unleashing your inner SuperHuman.

Riz Ahmed Workout Routine

Training Volume:

6 days per week

Explanation:

I’m going to program a 6 day split.  This is going to include a 3 day Push, Pull, Legs, a day off, and another Push, Pull, Legs.  You can turn this into a 3 day split if you’d like, but Ahmed was on super high volume!

Video Link:
SHJ YouTube Workout Guide

Day One: Pull

Warm Up:

Stretch

Workout:

Deadlift

6×12,10,5,5,5,3

Lateral Pulldowns

3×10

Hammer Strength Rows

3×10

Preacher Curls

3×10

Face Pulls

3×10

Cable Hammer Curls

3×10

Day Two: Push

Warm Up:

Stretch

Workout:

Bench Press

6×12,10,5,5,5,3

Incline DB Press

3×10

Arnold Press

3×10

Shoulder Front Raises (DB)

3×10

Machine Chest Flys

3×10

Decline Hammer Strength

3×10

Day Three: Legs

Warm Up:

Stretch

Workout:

Back Squat

6×12,10,5,5,5,3

Leg Press

3×10

Leg Extension

3×10

Hamstring Curls

3×10

Calf Raises

3×10

Step Ups

3×10

Day Four: Off Day

Do some yoga, or Pilates, or even meditate.

Normally I’d give you guys a nice activity day, but if you’re utilizing a 6 day split I’m forcing you to take a day off.

Consider this you being forced!

Day Five: Pull

Warm Up:

Stretch

Workout:

Deadlift

4×12

Wide Grip Pull Ups

3×10

Cable Rows

3×10

Dumbbell Curls

3×10

Machine Back Extension

3×10

DB Hammer Curls

3×10

Day Six: Push

Warm Up:

Stretch

Workout:

Bench Press

4×12

Incline Hammer Strength

3×10

Standing Military Press

3×10

Shoulder Flys

3×10

Dumbbell Shrugs

3×10

Incline DB Chest Flys

3×10

Day Seven: Legs

Warm Up:

Stretch

Workout:

Back Squat

4×12

Cable Pull-throughs

3×10

Hack Squat

3×10

Assisted Dip Machine Leg Pushdowns

3×10

Weighted Lunges

3×10

Goblet Squats

3×10

Ready to Transform?!
Check out all The SHJ Programs and start unleashing your inner SuperHuman.