Matthew McConaughey Workout: Basic, Old-School, and Hard as Hell

People joke about how he never has a shirt on, but I’ve got to admit, if I had his body, I wouldn’t ever put my shirt on either.

Matthew McConaughey is the dude who probably inspires me most to work out.

Embed from Getty ImagesMatthew McConaughey is known for working out outside.

He does bodyweight calisthenics, works out with rocks, and uses kettlebells. He runs and swims.

In other words – he’s using better workout tools than you are.

Have you ever tried to military press a rock?  Every do deadlifts with a rock?  Rows with a rock?  It’s much, much harder than with a nice, easy to grip, perfectly balanced barbell.

Guess what, pullups are harder than curls.  And you see how thick that pole is that he’s doing pullups on?  That’s harder on the grip also.

Ever try to do pullups on a tree branch?  You have to switch direction each set because one side of the brand is always higher than the other.   The kind of outdoor, use-what-you’ve-got workouts that Matthew does require a little creativity and are very, very hard.

Matthew McConaughey definitely does the work

Every celebrity workout article has a picture of Matt doing calisthenics outside, or going for a run.  This dude is so fit that sometimes there are two pictures of him working out.

It’s like all he does is work out.

There’s something to be said for just putting in the time, doing the work.  This is a really, really active dude.  And he’s strong.  You’ve got to be strong if you want to be this cock-diesel.

Whenever someone mentions celebrities and kettlebells, Matthew McConaughey’s name always comes up.  Kettlebells fit his workout style – they’re used full body exercises, they’re basic, old-school, and hard as hell to work out with.

And that’s a pretty good way to re-assess your workout program –

1.) Are you focused on basics?  Pullups, dips, presses, rows, squats, deadlifts?

2.) Are you using old school, full body exercises?  Or are you wasting your time with machine exercises?

3.) Is your workout really that hard?  Do you think you could keep up with McConaughey on a run that included pullups any time you saw something that looked like a pullup bar, dips on every set of benches, and pushups all in between?

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Josh News: Coming Back From The Ryan Lee Bootcamp, Going To The RKC Certification In October

The Ryan Lee Bootcamp is a seminar for Fitness Professionals that I attended last week in Stamford, Connecticut.  It’s always SO MUCH FUN.

I got to hang with all kinds of fitness authors, “fitness celebrities” and a ton of fitness business consultants and marketing guys.

I got some cool interviews lined up, so stay tuned!

I’m really, REALLY excited about the RKC Certification coming up!  For those that don’t know, the RKC Cert. is THE premier kettlebell instructor certification.  All of the “kettlebell experts” in the United States got their start there.  It’s a really, unbelievable course.  There is no other course I’ve ever seen that teaches you how to teach movements so well.

I’m really stoked because I was asked to be an Assistant Instructor at the certification.  The way it works is that Head Instructor, Pavel Tsatsouline, teaches a skill, then we break off into groups to practice.  In my group, Sr. RKC, Dave Whitley will be leading the instruction, and I’ll be backing up Dave with the group.

Being asked to be an Assistant Instructor at the RKC Certification is really, really an honor.  And it’s been a dream of mine ever since I first attended the RKC.  I’m really stoked.

By Josh Hillis

Josh is a Fat Loss Expert, a Kettlebell Instructor (RKC Level 2) and Personal Trainer in Denver, Colorado.  Josh helps women and men lose stubborn fat.

Josh Hillis has been featured in USA Today and The Denver Post