Last updated on November 16th, 2022 at 07:19 pm

Here at SHJ we LOVE CW Stars and anything to do with nerd culture.

Katherine McNamara’s workout routine is a must considering she not only came in as Mia Smoak, AKA the new Green Arrow, but she also kicked ass in Shadowhunters, Maze Runner and The Stand as well!

Her workout gets added to our list of over 50 CW Celebrity Workout Routines as well!

McNamara got shredded for her roles, and also learned a handful of mixed martial arts that she was eager to share with some sources; so putting together this article was a ton of fun.

She has also been requested quite a few times by The SHJ Army, and Academy members, so I’m eager to finally get her routine out to you guys.

Katherine McNamara Stats:

Height: 5’5

Weight: (approximate) 115 lbs.

Age: 24 years old

Katherine McNamara falls right into the average height range among women we’ve seen at SHJ.

Perfectly dead center, actually.  Kind of like a bullseye.

Normally the average height we see for women is around 5’4-5’6 with ladies such as Jennifer Aniston, Margot Robbie, Olivia Munn, Alicia Vikander, Sophia Bush, Tatiana Maslany, Evangeline Lilly, and a ton of others.

But then there is also that taller range, and among the tallest (even taller than the 5’7-5’8), are ladies like Gwendoline Christie, Gal Gadot, and a few others – with Phoebe Tonkin, Gabrielle Union, Brie Larson, Nina Dobrev, Daisy Ridley, and so many more coming in around that 5’7-5’8 range.

And, let’s not forget the shorter ladies of SHJ like Ariana Grande, Scarlett Johansson, Mila Kunis, Emilia Clarke, Lucy Hale, Julianne Hough and a good handful of others.

But, either way, don’t worry.

I write these routines for anyone and everyone.

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Katherine McNamara Diet and Nutrition

Katherine McNamara, like other female celebs with rockin’ physiques like her, eats fairly healthy on an everyday basis.

She fits right into what we would categorize as our “Basic Healthy Diet” most popular among females and second on our list of The Top Diet Used Among Celebrities.

In an interview with The New Potato she states:

From start to finish, what would be your ideal food day?

Ideal? Is this holiday cheat day ideal or average day ideal, because those are very different…

In all seriousness, I eat pretty clean. I’ve grown to love good quality food. My day starts with food, actually. I roll out of bed and immediately go for the giant bowl of apples on my counter. Usually for breakfast I eat eggs, and an English muffin. I have a snack before lunch, which is steamed veggies, quinoa, and cottage cheese. Then dinner is usually grilled chicken or steak, quinoa, cottage cheese, and another apple. At the moment, while I’m shooting and training, I am very specific with my nutrition. When I have such a strenuous schedule and I’m putting my body through so much, I pay extra attention to what I’m fueling my body with. But – I still find ways to make it delicious and experiment with different variations of the same. However, for cheat day, it’s an all out Mexican or Italian food feast…Or if I’m feeling especially hungry, soft pretzels or even ice cream…

From there they go on to ask a bunch of other fun questions, but a few more come up pertaining to her diet and nutrition.

Here’s one of them:

How do you always start your day? What’s your go to breakfast?

I start my day with an apple and some water usually. Then I get into my eggs and English muffin or another protein/carbohydrate combination. Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day so I love finding new options!

And to top it off she even tells them about some of her favorite places to eat, and her favorite salad and smoothie (if she was to be choosing salad or smoothie, of course):

What are your favorite cities for food? What restaurants do you go to in each?

Chicago is one of my favorite cities for food. Deep dish pizza is one of my favorite foods ever. I also love Kansas City BBQ. I was raised on it growing up there, so it’s always special to me. Another city that clearly has amazing food is NYC. The variety of incredible cuisine is endless in the city that never sleeps.

What’s your perfect salad comprised of? Your perfect smoothie?

My perfect salad is comprised of spinach, Parmesan cheese, grilled chicken, and chickpeas with basalmic vinegar.

My perfect smoothie is blueberry, banana and blackberry.

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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Katherine McNamara Workout Routine Research

As far as Katherine McNamara’s training goes, it has evolved a bit over time.

There’s a good handful of information out there for her Shadowhunters training, and there is also a ton of pictures and Insta workouts that have been shared directly from the source as well (and by that I mean right on her page).

So, if that wasn’t clear, I’ll also be using her Instagram and Twitter as a source for this training material.

She also tells New Potato a ton about her favorite training styles from Shadowhunters as well:

My all-time favorite workout is spin class. It’s a fun way to stay fit while listening to great music and pushing your fitness level. It’s an amazing total body workout that you can personalize to your own needs. For Shadowhunters, we have an amazing personal trainer who kicks our butts on a daily basis. He has been working with me on High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). This is a great way to build muscle and agility without bulking up too much. We have also been training in several martial arts and boxing which are incredible workouts.

And in an interview with Shape Magazine they also have a few words with her trainer(s).

Right off the bat Shape tells us:

McNamara stays super fit (sometimes training six times a week!) with trainer Nuno de Salles, founder of SWEAT Elite Personal Training Studios in Ontario, Canada. McNamara regularly bangs out treadmill sprints (10 sets of one-minute sprints at a whopping 10 mph, with just 30 seconds rest in between), plyometric exercises, box jumps, sled pushes, chin-ups, push-ups, and heavy weight training like deadlifts, squats, and shoulder presses. For extra cardio, she adds in a little boxing and kickboxing-and that’s before she heads to stunt coach Darren McGuire to work on her fighting skills. McNamara works with McGuire four times a week on Goju-Ryu Karate-do, boxing, Muay Thai, Kali, weapons styles such as kenjutsu and kobudo, and McGuire’s own kicking technique that’s a blend of Japanese and Korean martial arts.

Which is a TON of information to take in and utilize for us.

They even share three “kickass” moves shared by her trainer Salles, which I’ll include within the workout routine below.

In an interview with Vulkan we can also begin to wrap up our research (although, remember, I am also including tons of research via images and videos shared directly to McNamara’s page or Instagram Stories).

In the interview she shares:

“Before starting [the show], I was a dancer but I didn’t know much about fitness in the traditional sense,” Katherine reveals to Vulkan magazine. “After training for the show for a few years now, I have completely changed my lifestyle and I’ve never been happier.”

On top of this she says:

“I’m continually motivated by the fact that by making a few simple choices and creating healthy habits, you can feel better, have more energy, and be able to do things you never thought possible. I do mix up my workouts between HIIT training, boxing, spinning, and weapons training.”

Which kind of confirms all of what we already knew.

McNamara’s training is extremely diverse and ever-changing, utilizing cross-training, high intensity interval training, mixed martial arts, weight training, calisthenics and more. 

Her training is the epitome of what we stand for within our SHJ Legacy Program which was developed after years of researching the most successful celebrities just like her; specifically to create the most effective, efficient and sustainable system to unlocking The Superhero Physique.

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Katherine McNamara Workout Routine

Training Volume:

3-5 days per week

Explanation:

Katherine McNamara works with her trainer (or trains with classes and other programming) upwards of 6 days per week.  For that reason I’m going to be sharing a slew of programming and resources to build out her 5-6 days of programming per week, including action taken directly from her own Instagram and workouts shared by her trainer(s).

Explanation Part Two:

Obviously McNamara’s training is extremely diversified and likely changes constantly (it stays the same as far as the type of training, but it varies in the actual programming that is utilized, as cross-training tends to do); so if you’re looking for ongoing programming most similar to her style of training it would easily be duplicated with our SHJ Legacy Program.

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.

Katherine McNamara Workout: Sample Workout Routine Schedule

Monday: Sprints, Weights and Cross-Training

Tuesday: SPIN Class, High Intensity Interval Training and/or Mixed Martial Arts

Wednesday: Sprints, Weights and Cross-Training

Thursday: SPIN Class, High Intensity Interval Training and/or Mixed Martial Arts

Friday: Sprints, Weights and Cross-Training

Saturday: Endurance Training (Long Distance Steady Cardio) or Extra Rest Day

Sunday: Rest Day

Katherine McNamara Workout: Sprints, Weights and Cross-Training

For this section I’m going to be sharing a few different things.

I’m going to share three different workout routines that you can utilize over and over that fall into the cross-training category and mix in weights, calisthenics and all the things McNamara would utilize; and then I’ll also share a workout straight from an at-home IGTV Live video she shared.

On top of that if you scroll down you’re also getting MMA resources as well as MMA moves shared directly from her trainer; all of which can be added in on cross-training days, or in place of SPIN or HIIT.

Sprints, Weights and Cross-Training Variation A:

Sprints:

10 Sets of On and Off Sprints

Sprint One Minute, Rest 30 Seconds and then Repeat for 10 total Sets

Weight Training:

Deadlifts

4×12,10,8,6

Cross-Training:

Complete 3 Rounds for Time

30M Sled Push

25 Push Ups

20 Air Squats

15 Lying Flutter Kicks

10 Jumping Lunges

5 Burpees

Sprints, Weights and Cross-Training Variation B:

Sprints:

10 Sets of On and Off Sprints

Sprint One Minute, Rest 30 Seconds and then Repeat for 10 total Sets

Weight Training:

Squats

4×12,10,8,6

Cross-Training:

Complete 4 Rounds with Descending Rep Total (Round 1 is 40 reps, Round 2 is 30 Reps, Round 3 is 20 Reps and Round 4 is 10 Reps each movement)

Movements:

Kettlebell Swings

Box Jumps

Sprints, Weights and Cross-Training Variation C:

Sprints:

10 Sets of On and Off Sprints

Sprint One Minute, Rest 30 Seconds and then Repeat for 10 total Sets

Weight Training:

Shoulder Presses

4×12,10,8,6

Cross-Training:

Complete One Round (Chip Away At It, Break When Needed)

80 Dumbbell Deadlifts

70 Push Ups

60 Single Arm DB Snatches

50 Pistol Squats

40 KB Swings

30 Double Unders

20 Chin Ups

10 Burpees

McNamara’s IGTV Workout Routine:

Warm Up:

Run in place for 30 Seconds

High Knees for 15 Seconds

Workout:

Hollow Hold for 20 Seconds

Superman Hold for 20 Seconds

Glute Bridges for 25 Seconds

Kneel to Squat x 10 Reps each leg (Step with one then the other)

Single Leg Glute Bridges x 10 each leg

Weighted Thrusters x 15

Squat Rows with Resistance Bands x 15

Planking Shoulder Taps x 10 each arm/shoulder

Side Planks x 30 seconds

Sliding Lateral Lunges x 10 each leg

Bent Over DB Rows x 15 each arm

Hammer Curls x 15 each arm

Resistance Band Rows x 10 each arm

Shoulder Presses x 10

Katherine McNamara Workout: Mixed Martial Arts Movements and Resources

First off we have the 3 “kickass” movements McNamara’s trainer shared with Shape.com.

From there I’ll also share a ton of other mixed martial arts workout routines you can utilize if you plan on adding in some MMA to your training regime.

Shape Mag and McNamara’s “Kickass” MMA Movements:

1. Jab, Cross, Duck

A. Start in a ready stance, left foot slightly in front, knees bent, and fists guarding face with elbows in.

B. Punch left hand forward at face-height, then snap it back and punch right hand forward at face height, pivoting hips and back knee to the front.

C. Snap right hand back and return to ready position, then bend knees to duck down and to the left.

2. Spinning Hook Kick

A. Start in a ready stance, left foot slightly in front, knees bent, and fists guarding face with elbows in.

B. Shift weight forward onto the left foot and start spinning backward over the left shoulder. Drag right foot backward, extending out to kick, reaching peak height when your body faces all the way to the left.

C. Bend right knee and continue spinning to lower right foot and land softly back in starting position.

3. Duck, Block, Elbow

A. Start in a ready stance, left foot slightly in front, knees bent, and fists guarding face with elbows in.

B. Bend knees to duck down and to the left, as if ducking under a punch.

C. Stand and extend left arm up with elbow slightly bent, as if blocking a punch from the front left side.

D. Holding left arm in the block, forcefully drive right elbow up, pivoting hips and back knee forward.

Mixed Martial Arts Workouts and Resources:

• Deathstroke Workout Routine
• Daredevil Workout Routine
• Moon Knight Workout Routine
• Sagat Workout Routine
• Anna Diop Workout Routine and Diet Plan
• Frank Grillo Workout Routine and Diet Plan
• Ryan Potter Workout Routine and Diet Plan

Katherine McNamara Workout: High Intensity Interval Training

If you’re not going to be hitting a SPIN Class or taking advantage of some other HIIT workout you’ve likely found on the site, I wanted to at the very least share one of my favorite Jump Rope HIIT workouts for you to utilize!

Jump Rope HIIT:

Complete 5 Rounds

• 30 Jump Ropes
• 20 Air Squats
• 30 Jump Ropes
• 20 Plank Shoulder Taps
• 30 Jump Ropes
• 20 Plank to Push Ups
• 30 Jump Ropes
• 20 Sit Ups

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