Exclusive: Michael B. Jordan Shares The One Gym Behavior That Drives Him Up The Wall | Essence

Not everyone can afford a gym membership or is in close proximity to studios or even a park, making seeking out opportunities for exercise very difficult. Actor Michael B. Jordan and Propel Fitness Water are working together to ensure those people aren’t forgotten. The actor and brand are collaborating on an ongoing initiative called the Propel Your City Project, which aims to make fitness more accessible nationwide. This project is relevant and timely, considering the ongoing push to get and keep people active.

This year, the Propel Your City Project kicks off in the Creed star’s hometown, Newark, New Jersey, launching fitness hubs where local organizations that are working to foster community and remove fitness barriers can host programs. Since this is a multi-city initiative, the program will expand beyond Newark and ignite a fire for wellness in other cities, too. Last year, the initiative made impressive strides, providing more than 160 free fitness classes and community-building initiatives in four different cities. The free classes began on June 8, and participants will have access to free Propel electrolyte water products thanks to Gatorade and Propel Fitness Water.

The actor is befitting for this partnership, considering his ongoing relationship with fitness, which is evident by his toned physique. The 37-year-old also has an athletic background (he was a basketball player in high school) and has taken on multiple movie roles in action films requiring extensive physical activity over the years, ranging from Black Panther to Without Remorse.

ESSENCE spoke to Jordan to hear more about the program and also dig into his wellness routine.

ESSENCE: Tell me about the Propel Your City Project and why you were compelled to participate in it again.

Well, this is year two of the Propel Your City Project, and it’s an evolution of what we did in Los Angeles with WalkGood LA. We teamed up with WalkGood Los Angeles, and we created this space for them to operate and use as a home for their fitness community. And we wanted to figure out a way to scale that up and evolve it. And so for year two, we created a central space and we’re working with up to 16 organizations this year.

It’s gonna be like a rotating space for other organizations to tap into. So, just going from one to 16, which I thought was really, really important to scale and allow other groups, whether it be hiking or cycling or yoga or whatever your niche fitness curriculum is, you can use that facility to tap into. Fitness is one of those things where I think when you work out solo, it can be intimidating, but when you surround yourself with like-minded people, and you create a fitness community, you’re more likely to push yourself and reach your fitness goals.

We’re going back to my hometown in Newark, New Jersey next weekend, actually. And we’re teaming up with this rowing team. I didn’t even know Newark had a rowing team, but we found this Brick City rowing team, and we’re building a dock for them on the Passaic River, which is a river that runs throughout my city.

I think for me, what’s important with the brands that I choose to align myself with and partner with is how are we giving back to the communities that are ultimately supporting us? Propel has always been really straightforward and upfront about having that same type of goal. And we just try to find ways to tap back into the city, into the community.

Let’s talk a little bit about your fitness journey. As an actor, from the outside in, it can look like fitness sometimes becomes work for you. With you having to train maybe for roles like the Creed films, how has that impacted your relationship with fitness?

It becomes a job sometimes. But it’s also a motivation there as well. Like, you’re gonna be on these movie posters, so you gotta get your a– to the gym and stop playing. That lights extra fire up underneath you. But, also, I think the reality is [that] we only have one body and you have to take care of it while you have it, and it doesn’t get any easier the older you get.

Eating healthy, trying to breathe and meditate when you feel overwhelmed or constantly on the grind, taking time to yourself to be quiet and silent, I think, is extremely important as well. And then pushing your body, breaking a sweat, raising your heart rate, and recovery is also extremely important. Just cool down, stretching, ice bath, sauna, getting in the pool, whatever it is.

Those are all things that I think became priorities for me as I started to train and take my fitness a little bit more seriously [and] evolve from a kid just being athletic and competing in sports to a child actor and how roles and my athleticism started to blend together and my work life and training life became one. And now, I’m able to create opportunities for other kids that may not be professional athletes or a professional actor or whatever it is but just want to take care of themselves and take care of their bodies. So it’s a cool full circle moment.

What wellness activities are you engaging in right now that are keeping you grounded? 

I go shadowbox. I think boxing has been a big part of my life over the last decade. It’s been a default for me because I know how much great cardio it is and it’s a discipline that allows me to just lock in. And it’s a solo sport. It’s something I don’t need a full team for. I can go and put my gloves on and hit the bag and move around and shadow box. And it’s a you versus you sport sometimes.

I love the water. So whenever I can get into the pool or an ocean or a hot tub or any type of water, I’m all for that. So that’s another thing that helps with breath and breathing and stretching and mobility, cardio as well. Those are two things that I usually always default to.

What is one gym ick for you that you do not like or that turns you off when you go?

I really don’t like running. I hate treadmills. I just don’t like running. I did it when I was a kid [and] I just grew not to like it. But I think the gym ick nowadays, and this is definitely a generational thing, but it’s everybody on their phones and recording themselves and everybody is just more into recording that they’re working out rather than working out. It’s something that keeps me isolated if that makes sense.

It might be a generational thing. I might sound like the old guy, but whatever. That’s my thing.

And then what’s one thing that you love that makes you want to keep coming back to a gym?

I think it’s the community. I think it’s being around other people who have goals in mind and are gonna push themselves. And you’re walking by somebody doing the set and they’re struggling and you wanna spot them or vice versa. If you’re struggling and trying to do a personal best or your form or something might be off, they’ll stop and they’ll give you a tip where they’ll try to help correct you. There’s just a community element. I’m a lone wolf, but I also could run in a pack too. So it’s kinda cool.

If you had to sum it up in one sentence, what social impact do you hope that this project has?

I hope that this initiative brings out people who wanna achieve their fitness goals and wanna do it in a community setting. I think that would be my sentence, period. But elaborating on that, I think this, in general, is an extremely important topic. It’s something that we’ve been overlooking for a long time. And I think now that fitness is such a common conversation, finding ways to exercise and finding how you wanna show up and exercise, I think is really important. So we wanna open that up to so many different ways of fitness. It’s not just one way to get in shape. And so to be able to have different types of fitness groups and support them however they need their support, that’s important as well.