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This 5-Move, No-Gym Workout Got Matt Damon Fighting Fit in His Forties

Photo credit: Sony Pictures
Photo credit: Sony Pictures

Matt Damon is an unlikely body role model. Which is to say, he’s as well known for fuzzy, family-friendly fare as he is for action-heavy adventures. For every Jason Bourne there’s a We Bought a Zoo. For every The Great Wall there’s a The Martian.

It’s a quality that has allowed Damon, 50, to carve out a career as an American everyman. The nice guy with a sassy how-do-you-like-them-apples streak. Thank god Tom Hanks got through Covid last year, but at least had a Matt Damon waiting in the wings.

Which doesn’t mean Damon is afraid to put the work in when a mean transformation is required. After all, this is the guy that helped popularise brutal hand-to-hand combat in the Bourne films, essentially teaching everyone from James Bond to John Wick how to fight. Not to mention his role as hulking South African rugby captain Francois Pienaar in 2009’s Invictus.

While not necessarily Damon’s most physical role, starring in Neil Blomkamp's 2013 sci-fi dystopia, Elysium, entailed his most physically impressive transformation. To play labourer-turned-hero Max da Costa, who fights his way out of the slums after a radiation-based accident, Damon bulked up and dropped body fat until he looked like he could walk through walls. Even without the robot exoskeleton.

The man behind the transformation is Jason Walsh, founder of Rise Nation, a global chain of innovative training spaces. Walsh grew up with a passion for outdoor exploration and calisthenics. His love of fitness initially took him into coaching before he left for California to set himself up as a PT. After training Jessica Biel, his reputation began to grow, and he eventually got the call to meet with Damon in 2012.

“Matt was living in Malibu,” Walsh recalls. “His agent has been a client of mine for 15 years and recommended me. Matt had signed on for Elysium and had to be in incredible shape – the movie had a lot of demands physically.”

But, after years of intense physical transformations Damon, now in his 40s, was feeling the effects of constant wear and tear and was reluctant to put his wellbeing in the hands of yet another PT.

“Matt was reluctant to work with anybody,” Walsh says. “I went out to talk to him. He said: ‘Listen, I’m injured. My back is jacked, my shoulder is jacked. And it all came from trainers. I’ve worked with a dozen different trainers and every one of them has hurt me.’”

Walsh – who believes in focusing on biomechanics issues specific to each client – asked Damon to give him a week. They tentatively got to work, running through stretches and low-impact calisthenics movements. Seven days later, Walsh surprised Damon by throwing an American football at him. Naturally, Damon caught it without thinking. And without pain.

“I asked him ‘How’s that shoulder?’” Walsh recalls. “He had that Matt Damon smile on his face and he said ‘You son of a bitch.’”

Trust earned, the work could begin.

Photo credit: Jason Walsh
Photo credit: Jason Walsh

Lift Off

With injuries to heal (and further damage to prevent), Walsh doubled down on his ethos of natural, fundamental movement, led by calisthenics.

“The crawling movement is the most important movement that the body has,” he says. “You’re moving cross-laterally across the body. You’re developing muscle and coordination across the body in a way that’s very strong.”

So, instead of the typical routine of burpees and bench-press, Walsh’s emphasis was on functional movements that rope in multiple muscle systems without putting undue strain on any one area.

“I’ll have people learn to roll, or plank or crawl,” Walsh says. “It sounds ridiculous but they work. As a species, we’ve moved away from [those sort of movements] because we’re sitting at desks all the time and have bad posture. Even in the gym, we were never meant to just sit on a bike for hours or do lots of reps in a fixed position.”

Walsh says Damon was sceptical at first but quickly took to the workouts like a champ.

“Matt is an athlete,” Walsh says. “He’s just such a good guy, goddammit. He’s a real dude. He’s not trying to be something he’s not. He’s Matt Damon. And we got along really well.”

The Matt Damon Workout

Rather than letting loose with barbells flying everywhere, Walsh favours a back-to-fundamentals approach to fitness. Put the emphasis on very basic movement patterns, he argues, and you’ll not only build muscle, but open up the joints to prevent injury while promoting mobility – something which is vital for all stages of life.

“It’s about understanding the basics,” Walsh says. “People always want to add more weight. We don’t even touch a weight, it’s all calisthenics work. It’s about connecting to the body again and then maybe putting weight on, or starting to hold moves for longer periods of time.”

With that in mind, it’s time to take your workouts back to basics. While Walsh is keen to point out the difficulties of prescribing a workout that will benefit every body, the below is inspired by Walsh’s work with Damon.

Work through it twice a week alongside your usual workout. You’ll definitely notice imbalances at first, but as you progress you should notice that you’re becoming looser and, in turn, able to perform better in the big lifts too.

How do you like them apples? Very much, thank you.

Air Squat

Sets: 4

Reps: 10

Rest: 60 seconds

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, toes turned slightly out, then push your hips back and lower your body as if sitting onto a chair (or one of Jason Bourne’s enemies). Keep your weight on your heels as you drop as far as possible (your thighs should be at least parallel to the ground at the bottom of the move), pause, then drive back up explosively.

Bear Crawl

Photo credit: *
Photo credit: *

Sets: 4

Reps: 5 metres forward and back

Rest: 30 seconds

Get down on all fours, then crawl forwards moving alternate hands and feet together. Simple, right? Don’t worry about looking daft; crawling opens the body up to new planes of movement, helping to increase functionality and prevent injury. In other words, it’s one of the best things you can do for your body.

Lunges

Sets: 4

Reps: 20

Rest: 60 seconds

From standing, lunge forward with your right leg and sink down until your left knee is almost touching the floor. Now drive up explosively, swapping legs at the top and repeating the movement. Do ten per leg, and embrace the burn.

Farmer’s Carry

Sets: 4

Reps: 4

Rest: 60 seconds

Grab a kettlebell or dumbbell of your choice. Typically, it should be slightly too heavy to hold comfortably, but if you’re new to it, you can opt for something lighter. Keeping your back straight, chin up, and shoulder square, hold the weight by your side as you walk in a straight line to a pre-agreed point at least ten feet away. When you get there, swap hands, turn on your heels and return to the start for one.

Sled Push

Photo credit: *
Photo credit: *

Sets: 4

Reps: 1

Rest: 60 seconds

A great one for opening up the chest while simultaneously beasting the legs. Get hold of a sled (whether you add weight or not is your call). Get down low with your core engaged, back flat and chest up and push through your legs to move the sled as fast as you can to the end of the track. Turn it around and return to the start – that's one rep.

For more information visit rise-nation.com

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