Jason Statham reveals how he stays ripped at 49

WHEN you Jason Statham shirtless, it’s hard to believe he’s almost 50 years old. But he is, and now he’s revealed how he maintains his impressive rig.

JASON Statham has revealed how he maintains his ripped physique.

The action star, who is 49 years old but is more chiselled than guys half his age, opened up to Men’s Health magazine about his workout schedule.

Speaking to the mag when he was in New Zealand filming a shark movie with Ruby Rose, Statham said he set up a makeshift gym in the backyard of the house he was renting to stay in shape.

“I had a framework put together in the backyard, this sort of bar workout area where I could mount some gymnastic rings,” he told Men’s Health.

“I’ve been using rings as a part of my training now for the past 12 months. If you can find a place to string them up, there’s so much benefit that can be had in terms of shoulder mobility and real, usable strength.”

Picture: Daniel Smith for Men’s Health

Wowsers. Picture: Daniel Smith for Men’s Health

In addition to gymnastic rings The Expendables star also works out with kettlebells and says one of his secrets to success is giving his body enough time to recover.

“I tend to combine some kind of Olympic lifts with gymnastic training,” he revealed.

“And it depends on the acuteness of that training. If I do some heavy squats or dead lifts on the Monday, I’m not going to do anything like that again until Thursday or Friday. Recovery is a key issue that I’ve always overlooked.”

Statham prefers to train in the morning because “if training’s first on your list of things to do, it never gets compromised”.

And he refuses to work with a personal trainer.

Demonstrating a classic L-sit. Picture: Daniel Smith for Men’s Health

“When you’re on your own, you can do a lot of examination of your movements and how good or bad they are,” he said.

“There’s so much information on the internet now. You can acquire the knowledge to figure out exactly how to do the big lifts and other stuff correctly while avoiding injury.

“I’m happy to make up my workouts depending on how I feel each day. I’ve learnt that the body is like an adaptation machine: whatever you throw at it, it finds a way to do that particular thing and you never make any more gains from that. Doing my own thing in the gym each day gives me variety.

“A trainer sometimes comes with their own ideas and it’s hard for them to understand how I got all my f**king injury problems. By training yourself, you can be really responsive to how your body feels and adjust accordingly.”

Picture: Daniel Smith for Men’s Health

Those look heavy. Picture: Daniel Smith for Men’s Health

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Originally published as Jason Statham reveals how he stays ripped at 49