Actor Omari Hardwick Shares His Crushing Upper Body Workout
Actor, poet, and activist Omari Hardwick does not mess around when it comes it his workouts.
Hardwick is a busy man, with a wide range of projects. You'll most likely recognise him from his lead role as Ghost on the TV show Power and upcoming movies like Spell and Army of the Dead—but when it comes time to train his body to prep for all of these roles, whether he's lifting, running, or taking a Peloton class, he gives his all when he hits the gym. You'd expect nothing less from a former college football star from a powerhouse program like the University of Georgia.
He took some time to invite the Men's Health crew for an inside look at his workout. Unfortunately, Hardwick couldn't host MH at his own facility—so we had to settle for another space. That just happened to be retired WWE Superstar and actor Dave Bautista's gym.
"Dave and I met on the set of Army of the Dead, and we became cast mates and brothers," Hardwick says. "He must trust me on a pretty cool level if he's allowing me to rendezvous in his gym."
Omari Hardwick's Workout
The Workout
Dumbbell Incline Bench Press
3 sets of 15, 12, 10 reps
"Open your chest nice and wide. Tuck your ass, and as so," he says as he starts his reps. "Remember, breathing is so imperative."
Squeeze Press
3 sets of 10, 8, 6 reps
"I come from the world of football, so we sort of superset our chest workout with these," says Hardwick. "You bring your elbows in, make sure everything stays tight. Shoulders in, elbows in, and straight up. Sometimes you want to go slow on the drop and explode at the top."
Alternating Paused Biceps Curls
3 sets of 10 reps per arm
"What I do is I think about the things that I want to execute. And what I decide is that those things will be executed based on how well I do in the gym," says Hardwick. "That could be cardio, that could be playing basketball. That could be swimming, boxing, how many reps I do. Or it could be doing curls. Whatever it may be, and we're off. Hold at the top, slow down. Breathing at all times."
Eccentric-Focused Chain Dips
3 sets of 8 reps
"In college, I called these 'chips'," says Hardwick. "Shout out to the University of Georgia. Shout outs to the dawgs, go dawgs!" He played defensive back for the SEC school in college, then tried to break into the NFL as an undrafted free agent with the (then) San Diego Chargers.
Iso-Pullup Hold and Leg Raise
3 sets of 15 reps
"I'm going to in an isometric way hold my body weight in a stationary position, arms extended holding the bar," says Hardwick. "And I'm going to hold the bar in that vertical way with my body suspended in the air with leg lifts to the top of the bar."
Sled Push
10 Rounds
"I'm bringing you to some good old-fashioned football workouts with your basic sled. We're gonna push, rarely do you pull," says Hardwick. "I'm feeling good! I'm doing this for the people, doing it for the fans, doing it for the culture."
Want more celebrity workout routines? Check out all of our Train Like videos.
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