John Wesley Chatham commonly referred to as Wes Chatham is an American actor known for playing a lot of big roles across the television scene. He has appeared in films such as The Hunger Games, The Philly Kid, In The Valley of Elah, Husk, and so on. Ever since 2015, he starred as Amos Burton in the American science fiction television series “The Expanse”. Among Chatham’s many successes, he was also praised and adored for the impressive physique that he showcased many times throughout his different appearances. With that being said, how did he manage to reach such a fitness level? What did it take? In other words, what was Wes Chatham’s workout routine?
Wes Chatham’s workout routine mainly consists of Jiu-Jitsu to improve cardio while also focusing on strength training to increase muscle mass.
In this article, we’ll talk about Wes Chatham’s body transformation over the years and the workout routine that allowed him to reach his physique.
Wes Chatham’s Stats
Before getting into Wes Chatham’s workout routine, let’s first establish some of his basic stats (as of 2022):
- Age: 43
- Height: 5’11”
- Weight: 152 lbs
- BMI: 21.2
- Body Fat Percentage: 14 to 16%
As you can see, Wes Chatham is pretty tall which allowed him to appear huge, especially with the amount of weight that he has. In addition to that, he has a body fat percentage that’s low enough to make him appear lean, buff, and pop out his muscles.
Wes Chatham’s Body Transformation
In this section, we’ll compare Chatham’s physique between each age to see how his body changed over the years.
Age 27: Even at this young age, Wes Chatham already had an impressive physique as you can tell from the picture. He had big rounded shoulders that made him look wide, his arms were starting to develop in terms of size, and he had impressive veiny forearms.
Age 29: During his appearance in the movie “In The Valley of Elah”, Chatham had a bulky physique. His arms and shoulder were still massive, but he had a higher body fat percentage.
Age 34: In the movie “The Philly Kid” where Wes Chatham starred, he played the role of an NCAA wrestler that performs a series of cage fights. That’s why he had to transform his body and lower his body fat percentage which made him develop a lean physique. His shoulders and arms grew even more, his chest appeared more full, and he had a nice six-pack.
Age 37: At this point, Chatham was already playing the fan-favorite role “Amos Burton” from the series “The Expanse”. Throughout all five seasons, Wes always stayed in shape. There wasn’t much change in his physique from his last appearance in “The Philly Kid” but he still looked amazing.
Wes Chatham’s Body Transformation
As I mentioned in the previous section, Wes Chatham had an impressive physique even at a young age and that’s because right after graduating high school, he joined the military where he worked as an aviation firefighter on the flight deck of the USS Essex, working in crash and salvage for four years.
With that being said, you can’t join the military without being strong physically, so Wes had to train his body in order to meet the requirement needed to be a firefighter.
Not only do you need an impressive physique before getting into the military, but you also need to maintain it and improve it throughout the entirety of your service. And that’s exactly what kept Wes Chatham in shape even before getting into acting.
In addition to that, in multiple pictures on his Instagram, Wes showed that he’s obsessed with Jiu-jitsu which is one of the best martial arts out there since it gives you an entire full-body workout. While sparring you engage all your muscle groups from your neck down to your calves and it’s considered a solid HIIT session.
However, the amount of muscle mass that Wes Chatham has isn’t achievable by Jiu-Jutsu alone. In fact, he used martial arts only as a way to train aerobic fitness (cardio), to stay lean, and to maintain his low body fat percentage.
In combination with all of this, Wes Chatham also did some strength training which allowed him to fully develop his physique. His workout routine consisted mainly of compound exercises that target multiple muscle groups such as bench presses, deadlifts, and squats.
In order to reach a physique just like his, you need to make sure you’re doing 4 essential things:
- Strength training that focuses on compound exercises, lifting heavy, and shortening repetitions (6 to 8 reps)
- Practicing some kind of martial arts that will train your aerobic fitness
- Following a healthy diet that has all the essential nutrients for your muscles to grow (high protein, carbs, and healthy fats)
- Staying consistent in the gym and not missing a single workout
Conclusion:
As you can see, there are many factors that played a role in Wes Chatham’s impressive physique:
- He joined the military where he worked as an aviation firefighter (and that requires having a strong physique)
- He regularly practices Jiu-Jutsu which is one of the best forms of martial arts
- He’s consistent with his strength training