'Top Gun: Maverick' Star Danny Ramirez Got Flight-Ready With This 3-Phase Workout
For someone who was once afraid of flying, Danny Ramirez sure picks projects that force him to push through his phobia on screen. The 29-year-old actor—who made a mark on the MCU in Falcon and the Winter Soldier as Anthony Mackie's Air Force liaison Joaquin Torres—is among the crop of new hotshot pilots in Top Gun: Maverick, the long-awaited (and delayed) sequel to the 1986 Tom Cruise classic.
"Once I got this role, I realised that I had to go and tackle a couple of my fears," Ramirez told the MH crew when we caught up to learn about his physical prep to play the pilot Fanboy. "One of them, which is most importantly, the fear of flying."
But he wasn't going to be kicking back in a commercial flight. Ramirez would be tasked with taking to the sky in a real jet—which meant that he'd have to train his body to withstand major g-force, just like a real pilot. By the end of the shoot, Ramirez says he totalled over 40 hours of flight time "pulling mad Gs."
Ramirez underwent a comprehensive flight prep course designed by someone who knows a little bit about how actors need to build up their bodies for the rigours of intense aerial action sequences: Top Gun star Tom Cruise. Ramirez called the training “the Tom Cruise School of Being a Badass” in the MH cover story covering his and his costars' experiences shooting the film. “I learned the art of puking and rallying,” Ramirez said.
Before he got in the air, Ramirez first had to get in shape on the ground. He showed off some of the exercises he used to hone functional mobility, power, and athleticism.
Danny Ramirez's 3-Phase Top Gun: Maverick Workout
Phase 1: Flow
Low-Box Quick Feet
3 to 4 sets of 10 seconds
Spiderman Lunge with Rotation
3 to 4 sets of 3 reps per side
Squat Crawl Out to Full Release Pushup
3 to 4 sets of 3 reps
Ignite Phase
Offset Position Kettlebell Hip-Up
3 to 4 sets of 5 reps per side
Dumbbell Elevated Front Foot Lunge
3 to 4 sets of 10 seconds per side
Cable Squat to Power Shoulder Raise
3 to 4 sets of 3 reps
Cable Push-Pull
3 to 4 sets of 5 reps per side
Workload Phase
Power Squats
3 to 4 sets of 5 reps
Varied Height Hurdles
3 to 4 rounds
Tension Machine Sprints
5 to 25 sprints
Free Sprints
5 to 25 sprints for 20 yards
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