How Borderlands Star Florian Munteanu Trained for His ‘Toughest Role’ Yet

FLORIAN MUNTEANU IS no stranger to building an imposing physique for the screen. Whether in his breakout role as Viktor Drago in the legasequel Creed II or Marvel baddie Razor Fist in Shang-Chi: Legend of the Ten Rings, the 33-year-old former boxer is known for his intensely-muscled screen presence.

So when he claims his latest role, as the jacked, masked, and perpetually shirtless Krieg in the video game adaptation Borderlands, was his most challenging physical prep yet, audiences can expect some truly impressive results onscreen. “My philosophy is all-in or nothing, and that’s what I’m coming with, always,” he told the MH crew.

The German-raised Munteanu started training at a young age—he says five or six years old—with his boxer father. That background served him well as he became a boxer himself, fighting in Germany with the ring name “Big Nasty,” and when he transitioned into an acting career, his first major role was as a boxer in Creed II.

He shifted things up for the Borderlands program which featured lots of HIIT, core training—tons of it, with 20 different ab moves—and arm-pumping circuits. While he did need to swing a massive weapon, bringing a video game character to life was more important than performance. “It’s an unreal fictional character, so I had to come up with an unreal shape,” he says. “Very thin waist, small torso, big arms.”

The MH crew caught up with Munteanu in LA for a look into that unreal process. Check out the workout to see how he did it.

Florian Munteanu’s Borderlands HIIT, Abs, Arms Workout

Stretching

Up to 20 minutes

The Workout

1A. Clapping Pushup

6 to 8 reps

1B. High Knees

20 reps

1C. Burpees

10 reps

1D. Mountain Climbers

10 to 12 reps

Abs

Jackknife Crunches

45 seconds

Seated In-and-Outs

45 seconds

Russian Twists

45 seconds

Jumping In-and-Outs

45 seconds

Switching Mountain Climbers

45 seconds

Arm Training

EZ Bar Curls

6 sets to failure

Cable Triceps Pushdowns

6 sets to failure

Want more celebrity workout routines? Check out all of our Train Like videos.

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