Last updated on March 6th, 2023 at 08:23 am

For guidelines on how we write these programs please see our Disney Copyright information.

Right when I wrote Mulan’s I wanted to feature Shang as well!

But I felt since it was just the beginning of our Disney Inspired Workouts I should wait and utilize some more prominent characters.

Here we are, though!

For the start of these articles I would like to say this: I linked to the guidelines above, but in no way is this workout and diet plan that of Shang’s. This is simply a plan inspired by his character and I will be citing all the information I can in order to show where the inspiration is coming from.

Shang Possible Stats:

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

Height: 5’10-6’0

Movie: Mulan

Alignment: Hero

Powers: No

Shang just misses the average height by an inch at the tallest possible height requirement.

That puts him under Hercules, right there with Aladdin, and JUST under Gaston and Mr. Incredible.

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.

Take the SHJ Program Quiz!
Take The SHJ Program Quiz and find the perfect program for YOU.

Shang 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 SHANG SECTION:

Thankfully we have a bunch of this information from Mulan’s article already.

The same food I suggested there, I will repeat here, but you will obviously need to increase your caloric intake and track your protein if you’re thinking of bulking up to look like Shang!

Here’s a nice chunk of what I explain from Mulan:

In the movie we see Mulan stuffing her face (or rather Mushu stuffing her face) with some rice porridge.

There’s even a nice happy face made up of the two eggs and a strip of bacon.

So for this one you’re going to be utilizing not only the rice porridge (consisting of sushi rice, 2 eggs, and 1 strip of bacon), but also some other Chinese tradition food/drink as well:

• Noodles
• Tofu
• Tea
• Meat (Pork, Beef, Chicken)

Sounds pretty awesome, huh?

Take the SHJ Free Workout Placement Quiz
Take The Free Workout Placement Quiz and find the best free workout for you.

Shang 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 Shang’s Wiki Fandom page.

They list his powers and abilities as such:

Martial arts

Above average strength and agility

Knowledge of military tactics

We’re definitely going to be utilizing mixed martial arts for this one.

I can’t teach you military tactics, but if you’d like to read through some of history’s greatest battle commanders to become more like Shang, I’d envy you once you’re done!

To put Shang a bit more into perspective for those of you who haven’t seen Mulan in a while, here’s a bit of a bio from his Wiki Fandom:

Shang is the son of General Li, and later husband of Fa Mulan. the head of the Chinese army. During his appointment in the first movie, he is a highly capable leader with a dedication to his cause. It is mentioned that he was first in his class in regards to military affairs and was knowledgeable in training tactics. He is often disparagingly called a ‘Pretty Boy’ due to his dashing good looks and strong physique.

First in his class.

Basically he’s the man.

If you don’t see the irony in that last statement, I can’t help you!

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

Shang Inspired Workout

Training Volume:

On an average day Shang was a warrior.  During their training, Shang had Mulan and the other “men” wake up daily and begin prepping for war.  For that reason we’re going to find a happy middle and train 5 days per week.

Explanation:

I will be programming you a full body workout routine that can be used 3-5 days per week, and the rest of your training will come from mixed martial arts programming, horse back riding, sword fighting, and archery.  I will list it all below.

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.

Shang Inspired Workout Full Body Workout

Warm Up:

Stretch

Jog 1-3 miles (work your way up to 3)

Workout:

Barbell Weighted Lunges

**Instead of running with weight on back like Shang**

3×12

Barbell Squats

**Shang could do these with the weighted poles he’s seen running with multiple**

4×10

Rope Climbs (Sub Towel Pull Ups)

4×12 Towel Pull Ups or 4 Climbs

Farmer Carry

4×50 yds

Bodyweight Training:

Push Ups

5×25

Sit Ups

5×20

Dips

5×15

Pull Ups

5×10

Shang Inspired Workout Mixed Martial Arts Training

As I mentioned, we don’t have Kung-Fu training or Sword Fighting Training Programs, which Shang would utilize, but we do have mixed martial arts programming from our amazing Coach Derek inside The Academy.  Utilize these programs OR hit a local gym.

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.

Deathstroke’s routine does have SOME swordsmanship listed.

Shang Inspired Workout Activity

Shang also trains with horseback riding, archery, and as I mentioned sword fighting.  

He’s training his men for war.  And he does the same.

For this reason, you will be required to also add in other forms of activity.  These can obviously (if you’re trying to REALLY become Shang), be all of the above mentioned, or they can be broken into other formats of activity such as sports, hiking, yoga, pilates, etc.

Have fun with it.

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

Image Sources: Featured Image, Image 1, Image 2, Image 3