Jonathan Daviss Trains With Big Weights to Get ‘Outer Banks’ Ripped

JONATHAN DAVISS IS not the type of guy to go light. When he showed up to the MH Fitness Hub to show off his workout, he didn’t need to stack weight plates on the bar to recreate a working set of back squats. But the 24-year-old star of Netflix’s hit Outer Banks series—who introduced himself simply as JD on camera—didn’t even think about slacking, even though he was only demonstrating his routine. He threw 315 pounds on the barbell, stepped up to the rack, and repped out his set.

That willingness to load up the weight might just be because he has a different mindset than the norm. “I’m one of the weird ones,” Daviss said. “I actually prefer doing legs over arms.” He called out squats, hang cleans, power cleans, or deadlifts as his favorite exercise, depending on the day—all major movements that will build up leg strength and power—mostly because he knows he can use heavy weights for those movements.

Daviss has built a workout with trainer Rhys Athayde that allows him to push big weights while also prepping him for his Outer Banks role as Pope Heyward—who, as the pair joked, has his shirt off for a lot of the series. The combination of heavyweight lifts, jumps, and dedicated core work help him to look the part. It also helps that the actor has an athletic background: He played two years of varsity football in Texas, and he credits his training knowledge on that experience.