Song Kang, known for his roles in beloved Netflix romance K-dramas such as Love Alarm and Sweet Home, has captured the world’s attention. Despite his young age and early success, the South Korean star remains grounded and dedicated to his craft. This commitment extends to his personal fitness routine, contributing to his impressive physique and stunning looks that never fail to impress the public. Continue reading to gain insights into Song Kang’s workout routine.
Days before his military enlistment, the South Korean star has been making waves online owing to his latest collaboration with Under Armor. In the promotional clip, you can see Kang flaunt his impressive physique through various workouts. Take a look.
song kang is insanely hot im losing my mind 😭 pic.twitter.com/pQUN38NDV8
— song kang pics (@songkangpic) March 13, 2024
The actor effortlessly transforms his body for each role
If you’ve been following Song Kang for a while, you know that he pours it all into each character. He undergoes extensive training to gain muscle mass as well as sheds many kilos for that boy-next-door image. Did you know that he lost around 20 pounds for the Netflix Series Love Alarm. Isn’t that so inspiring?
Even for Navillera, Song Kang took six months’ worth of ballet lessons to prepare for his first-ever dance role. “As I was studying ballet, I realized that it was really fun since it was my first time learning to dance and I liked the fact that my body was changing,” the actor mentioned at a press conference for the show.
Interestingly, this knack for fitness runs in Song Kang’s family. While Song Kang’s grandfather was a wrestler in his prime years, his dad is a former gymnast.
Without further ado, let’s dive into Song Kang’s go-to exercises that keep his body muscular and in shape.
Diving into K-drama king Song Kang’s workout routine
Song Kang has time and again admitted that he can’t live without exercise and loves working out. The actor loves sprucing up his workout routine with activities like tennis, kendo, and Pilates. However, he prioritises his gym time, especially weight training as it gives him the maximum gains. While the exact details of his workout aren’t available, let’s take you through a routine which can help you get a body like him. It will contain cardio, weight training exercises, yoga as well as pilates. Keep reading.
Yoga
According to Kdramastars, the Nevertheless actor starts his morning by doing yoga. Yoga, an ancient practice and meditation, has gained massive popularity in today’s stressful lifestyles and busy rosters. Offering physical and mental health benefits to people of all ages, yoga is a retreat for many people. Especially if you’ve recently been through an illness, have undergone surgery or are living with a chronic condition, yoga hastens the process of healing.
Yoga brings your mind and body in harmony using three main elements: movement, breathing and meditation. Its purpose is to build strength, awareness and harmony in both the mind and body.
Here are some beginner-friendly yoga poses
Whether you’re a couch potato or a professional athlete, there are modifications for every yoga pose and beginner classes in every style. Some beginner-friendly yoga poses or asanas include Cat–cow pose (Marjariasana), Child’s pose (Shishuasana), Downward facing pose (Adho Mukha Svanasana), Bound angle pose (Baddha Konasana), One-legged forward bend (Janu Shirasana), Mountain pose (Tadasana), Angle pose (Konasana) and Warrior 1 (Virabhadrasana 1).
Cardio
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Most Korean stars use dance as their primary cardio workout which helps them to stay lean. Coupled with that, Song Kang likes to incorporate outdoor sports like tennis and kendo (modern Japanese martial art) into his cardio fitness. All these workouts will not only help you burn massive calories each hour but also give you a toned body with a flexible body shape. If you don’t want to venture outdoors, you can do a simple 10-20 minutes of cardio warmup by running on a treadmill. Here are the top five benefits of cardio workouts:
- Improves immunity and endurance
- Reduces the risk of diseases/ manage diseases
- Improves mental health
- Strengthens cardiovascular health
- Promotes quality sleep
Weight training
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Weight training is an all-encompassing routine that can benefit your heart, improve balance, strengthen bones and muscles, and help you lose or maintain weight. To get drool-worthy muscles like Song Kang, you’ll have to indulge in an intense strength training or weight training workout routine.
In strength training, the main principle is to load and overload your muscles, so they eventually adapt and get stronger. Strength training isn’t only for bodybuilders or athletes who desire a bulky frame. It is for people of all ages and fitness levels to help prevent the natural loss of lean muscle mass that comes with ageing, according to the Cleveland Clinic. It helps prevent the natural loss of lean muscle mass that comes with ageing, while various studies have shown that it also benefits people with chronic health conditions, like obesity, diabetes, or a heart condition.
Strength training may look intimidating at first, but it greatly boosts your ability to move safely and effectively in your life. Whether it’s your ability to lift something and put it on a shelf, carry the groceries or push them in a cart, bend down to pick something or just lift yourself after falling down – weight training will just make everyday living easy.
Check out these weight training exercises to get a body like Song Kang
Let’s familiarise you with some upper-body, core, and lower-body exercises that’ll help you get in shape like Song Kang:
Upper body: Push-ups, bench press, incline bench dumbbell flyes, cross cable flyes, lat pulldowns, cable rows, bent over rows, renegade rows
Lower body: Squats, weighted squats, leg presses, leg extensions, lunges, calf raises, glute thrusters, thigh abduction
Core: Crunches, hanging leg raises, hanging leg raises to shippers, Russian twist, plank twister, side plank to a crunch, plank ball in and out, plank hold, deadlifts
Pilates
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Yes, Pilates is for men too. A series of exercises inspired by callisthenics, yoga and ballet – Pilates improves posture, flexibility, strength, balance and body awareness irrespective of gender. Developed by Joseph Pilates in the early 20th century, it was mostly a method of injury recovery for dancers. However, its popularity grew manifold over the years and soon people realised that anyone could benefit from this low-impact exercise. In past interviews, the actor has admitted that he keeps his workouts interesting by switching them up, and Pilates is one of his top picks.
According to Healthline, studies have shown that Pilates improve quality of life by having a positive effect on depression and pain, most notably decreasing back pain. In Pilates, you perform a series of controlled movements that flow into one another with precision. While they work the entire body, Pilates movements are primarily designed to target your core muscles like abdominal muscles, hip muscles, gluteal muscles, lower and upper back muscles and inner thigh muscles.
There are two main types of Pilates. The first one is mat-based, wherein a series of exercises are performed on the floor using gravity and your own body weight to provide resistance. The second is Equipment-based Pilates, which includes a reformer that you push and pull along its tracks.
If you’re a Pilates beginner, here are 10 exercises perfect for you:
- Pelvic Curl
- Chest Lift
- Chest Lift with Rotation
- Spine Twist Supine
- Single Leg Stretch
- Roll Up
- Roll-Like-a-Ball
- Leg Circles
- All Fours
- Back Extension
That’s all for Song Kang’s workout routine!
Hero and feature image: Courtesy songkang_b/ Instagram
This article first appeared here
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
– How long will Song Kang be in the military?
Song Kang is set to begin his mandatory military service in April 2024. He will complete his service by late 2025 or early 2026 after a period of 18 to 22 months.
– Does Song Kang work out?
Yes, Song Kang is very particular about his fitness. To build a fit frame like the actor, you can try out cardio, weight training exercises, yoga as well as pilates.
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Written by
Kriti Nayyar
Senior Digital Writer, Wellness, Culture, Astrology, Tech
Kriti is a stay-at-home dog mama, whose knack for telling interesting stories keeps her erstwhile monotonous life sane. A literature & journalism degree holder, you'll find her binging on Agatha Christie novels while critiquing the everyday state of affairs. On Kriti's seldom social outings, she's seen devouring coffee sangria with appetizing bread on the side.
