Flula Borg shattered stereotypes when he revealed his super-ripped physique ahead of playing super-villain Javelin in last year’s movie blockbuster, The Suicide Squad. But as the German actor and comedian looks forward to his latest project, Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin, the funny man is still super-serious about maintaining his health and fitness.
M&F sat down with Borg for a catch-up, to find out how he’s managed to maintain his impressive physique, and we soon found out that it’s all about mixing things up and having fun.
Stick with a Fitness Program
“Paolo Mascitti, my very wonderful ‘trainer man’ from Italy; he enjoys to scream at me, and tells me not to eat all of the foods of his country including pasta and also pizza,” jokes Borg. “He has very many equipment, but it’s all simple things like dumbbells, you know, some things for some pulldowns, and some pullups. Just push some things, pull some things. Very basic. Basic like algebra. [It’s like the A-Team]: He is Mr. T and I am Face, or Murdock.”
Borg still trains four times per week. “I love routines,” he says. “I’m a German man, I like everything very organized. And, of course our muscles: They learn how to adapt and make everything easier. Then you stop seeing those gains, so it’s nice to have Paolo there to remind me to switch it up, bring in new exercises, different numbers of reps, new positions, etc.”
How Flula Borg Maintains a Balanced Lifestyle
The actor and comedian will work different muscle groups in each gym session to allow for recovery. He breaks his training routine as such: legs, shoulders, back and chest, but points out that you are using your biceps, triceps and other assisting muscles for many exercises. While Borg has well-developed abs, he shares that he doesn’t need to isolate the abdominals to work them hard. “A squat, or a deadlift, or if you’re standing doing a machine fly, you are using your abdominals also,” he says. For those that want to replicate Borg’s impressive abs, his best advice it to cut out sugar.
“I can ab-crunch my face off,” says Borg. “It doesn’t do anything if I don’t eat healthy, you know? I don’t drink alcohol very much, no soda drinky, or sugar things, no desserts, but I do take breaks. I must have a ‘vacation of madness’ where I just eat some Benjamin and Gerald ice cream and have some hamburgers from In-N-Out Burger when I’m in Los Angeles, otherwise, why are we living? What is the point?”
Leslie Alejandro
Training is Great for His Mental Health
“It’s been very fun because once I started training for Javelin, I received signals to my brain that exercise is very good for my brain,” he shares. “So, I now just need to keep doing it, and I very much love resistance training the most. You know, we are not allowed to become men who punch each other on the street, so to release these rages that I feel, I just pump some nice weights and then I feel like a very, err, sassy man! I mean, we have so many rages sometimes, so many things bothering us. I can eliminate all those things by lifting kilograms with my hands.”
Flula Borg Uses Instagram to Stay Accountable
While those “vacations of madness” are a welcome break, the actor and comedian also use them as a way to reset and make sure that he doesn’t resent the passion and commitment that he puts into being the best version of himself. “Why am I posting these thirsty Instagram photos?” asks Borg. “Well, I will tell you, it’s because I am ready for all of the superhero and supervillain movies. That’s why I am doing this. I don’t care about the ‘likes’. I want to do some dope things, and as I said, you feel good when you exercise.”
How Flula Borg Matches-up His Physique Goals with His Acting Aspirations
“I’m not trying to go crazy building wise, because then I’m only going to play Boban Marjanovic’s backup in the new John Wick movie,” laughs Borg. “So, I’m trying not to get too big, so reps are usually between six and 10, and every once in a while we try to go hard or go home but mostly it’s just until I’m tired but not like ‘super let’s max-out bros,’ I don’t really care about ‘how much do you bench? I don’t care. I don’t get it.’
Don’t Punish Yourself for Temporary Slip-Ups
“I am a delicate chandelier,” says Borg, who is now 40-years-young (“In theory,” he adds). “I may look very nice, but if you tap me a little bit, I shatter and explode. This is how it works if I don’t sleep well or if I drink alcohol very much. This was always the case for me, so I learned early to take care of those things if you can help it, and the other thing: as soon as you make a ‘mistake’ [with your training and nutrition], who cares? The trick is always to get back into the routine. That is what I would always forget. I would feel bad, and then I would eat more of the ‘Benjamin and Gerald’ ice cream and then it’s terrible, terrible, terrible, but if you make a mistake, fine. Who cares? Let’s go to the next day.
If you are not following Flula Borg on Instagram, you are missing out on epic reels like Borg being trained by Nicole Scherzinger, or his interactions with housekeeper Yolanda. “Nicole terrified me and taught me that fear can burn many calories,” jokes Borg. “Nicole also trains with Paulo and I was very lucky that we had a crossing of paths, like the Ghostbusters crossing of streams except good things happened, and it was very fun.” When all is said and done, Borg just wants to impress Yolanda. “Yeah, Yolanda is the peak of all of the things,” he shares. “She is the Mount Everest and I am the Death Valley. I’m just trying to get to Yolanda’s level in all ways and of course… ‘why is everyone so serious?’ I know The Joker said that and it was terrifying! But, in general, why are we so serious with Instagram? There are many six-packs in the world. Share them if you like, but I would like to entertain you AND then maybe show you a pack or two.”
Flula Borg returns to his role as Pieter Krämer, a character that has fallen on hard times and is looking for redemption in the highly anticipated return of Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin (season premiering Nov. 23 on Peacock), and tells Muscle & Fitness that he is glad to be back with the popular franchise. “I get to show people that I am not just an idiot on the internet. I actually enjoy to do things like rap and yes… wear mesh!”
