{"id":839694,"date":"2026-08-02T11:24:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T11:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/839694\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T11:24:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T11:24:12","slug":"i-asked-matt-damons-personal-trainer-exactly-how-he-got-him-in-shape-for-the-odyssey-heres-what-i-learned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/839694\/","title":{"rendered":"I asked Matt Damon’s personal trainer exactly how he got him in shape for The Odyssey \u2014 here’s what I learned"},"content":{"rendered":"

We often see famous actors take on epic transformations ahead of roles on the big screen. Matt Damon isn’t exactly new to exercise; the 55-year-old Academy Award winner was already in pretty good shape, but he’s been looking even leaner and subtly jacked ahead of his role in the epic Christopher Nolan adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey.<\/a><\/p>\n

As a trainer myself, I was intrigued about the work that went into whipping Damon into shape, so I reached out to his trainer, Gabe Stump, DPT<\/a>, to find out exactly what it takes to achieve his honed and toned physique.<\/p>\n

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Here’s what he revealed.<\/p>\n

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How do you approach a training plan?<\/p>\n

Nolan decided what “they” wanted him to look like, which was muscular but lean. \u201cYou\u2019ve been living on a boat for 20 years, you\u2019re\u2026cut, very low body fat kind of look…That\u2019s what we wanted to hit going in.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had about five months together, but I\u2019ve been working with Matt for four years. We had a solid five-month block for him to get ready to shoot, and then he had to maintain for the rest of the shoot.\u201d <\/p>\n

Was that a mixture of building muscle and cutting fat?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was mostly that he had to lose the fat\u2026Matt loves to work out, he\u2019s already been in pretty good shape.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had enough muscle to make the part look good; he just needed to trim the fat back…The whole workout plan was about preserving the muscle he had, while losing weight.\u201d<\/p>\n

How did you split up the training plan?<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did upper and lower splits. In an ideal week, we had upper and lower splits; we\u2019d do two upper and two lower days, then we\u2019d have a cardio or metabolic day…If we couldn\u2019t get five sessions in, we\u2019d have two full-body days.\u201d <\/p>\n

In a “perfect week,” they’d be hitting two upper-body, two lower-body and a cardio day like an uphill walk. And on the uppers, we\u2019d be able to hit most things. Dumbbell bench (press), supported rows, pull-ups, pull-downs, horizontal and vertical press. We\u2019d round out with our isolation work, like biceps, triceps, flys, reverse flys.<\/p>\n

“In a day, we\u2019d be looking at eight movements, mostly staying in that 8-12 range, although sometimes we\u2019d go up to 15. Sometimes we\u2019d go as low as 5-6 (reps) for strength work.”<\/p>\n

Stump tried to keep “two to three reps in reserve.”<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t really want to burn him out on any given workout. We\u2019d be going, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and he\u2019d have two days off on the weekends.\u201d <\/p>\n

Stump was big on recovery, making sure there was enough time for recovery before training again.<\/p>\n

How did you maintain while you filmed? <\/p>\n

\u201cWe sort of planned for what we could do. It was variable based on location and how much time he spent filming.<\/p>\n

“You might have a gym…Sometimes you might just be doing bodyweight work and it’s really minimal to support what you have.” By that, he means calisthenics and anything that could be done to support his training outside of filming.<\/p>\n

Was it about physique or was there a focus on mentality and physicality on set?<\/p>\n

“For him, it’s mainly look, but for me, I’m always thinking about the physical demands. I’m asking him about, ‘What kind of scenes are you going to be filming, and what are they going to ask you to perform?” <\/p>\n

Thankfully, a well-rounded strength program hit most of the markers and took care of most of it. <\/p>\n

“I think the high-intensity intervals on the versa climber…probably not as much as I’d liked, but you take what you can get!”<\/p>\n

Did you adapt the program at all?<\/p>\n

“I’m always changing and pivoting based on what is working or not working,” Stump says. Damon could have had a rough night’s sleep, so the super heavy lifting is probably not going to be the focus for that day.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, it might be that they have five days together, then schedule changes mean three days, and you’re combining days to hit the most important things. Stump mentions that on these occasions, he tries to “front load” them to make them the most important part of his sessions.<\/p>\n

Did you keep the equipment basic?<\/p>\n

“We kept it basic… That’s what we had in his gym, and I would have probably kept it basic anyway.<\/p>\n

“We had a trap bar, so we could go heavy with that, and we had heavy dumbbells up to 100lbs… We didn’t really have a way to do a heavy squat. That was the only thing I would have liked to have that we didn’t have. But we were able to do heavy Bulgarian’s, trap bar deadlifts, and RDLS.”<\/p>\n

If there was 1 actionable tip you could give someone looking to build muscle, what would they be?<\/p>\n

Stump is principle based. <\/p>\n

“You need to do something that is repeatable.” By that, he means only 20 minutes a day in the gym is better than throwing 60 minutes at it once per week.<\/p>\n

“Whatever that is for you, find something that is repeatable and you continue to do. Find something that is safe, that you feel confident with. And then you need to work hard enough that you’re close to failure. You need to get close, that two-three rep range.” <\/p>\n

Over time, he says you’ll get results.<\/p>\n

Do you need to do what you love or do “hard things” with exercise?<\/p>\n

“I think a bit of both.”<\/p>\n

Stump says there are phases in your life, and you should listen to them. “My gym routine supports the things I want to do in my life.<\/p>\n

“Maybe there’s a through-line here about motivation, and having clear motivation and strong motivation.<\/p>\n

“We wanted it to be a little more raw,” Stump says about the motivation behind Damon’s final look.”<\/p>\n

Follow Tom’s Guide fitness<\/a> on Instagram for more workouts, routines, tips, and tricks.<\/p>\n

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