The Avatar actor, Jack Champion and Arnold Schwarzenegger may belong to completely different eras of Hollywood, but very few know that they met each on the sets of the James Cameron classic.

On December 24, 2025, Men's Health posted an Instagram video that featured Champion describing his experience of meeting the 7x Mr. Olympia whose movies later ruled box offices. It disclosed that Champion met him at the sets of Avatar.

Champion mentioned that he also offered to train with Schwarzenegger after meeting him. He revealed, "I was the one who went up to him with a 14-year-old's confidence, and I was like, hey, Mr. Arnold. Uh, do you think you'd like want to work out sometime?"

Champion's wish came to fruition as the 7-time Mr. Olympia accepted the offer and replied, "Yeah, show up tomorrow at Gold's gym at 7:30”.

The Avatar actor described Schwarzenegger's arrival to the gym saying, “He shows up to Gold's gym riding his bike, like, it's not some like armed militia [guarding him], you know, with a stogie and he's just like, 'All right time to work out.'"

Apart from that, Jack Champion, in the same video, also revealed the advice that Arnold Schwarzenegger gave him during the workout session.

Champion said, “He told me something, a little secret for looking good on camera is the number one thing that's important is delta abs. Delta abs. If you're an actor and you want to look good, focus on delta nabs”.

Jack not only got his workout advice from Arnold for his role as Spider in Avatar: The Way of Water, but he also followed a strict exercise routine, which he revealed to GQ.

Jack Champion's preparation for Avatar

Champion’s role in the movie was different from others as he played a human character. He had to maintain a physique that justified the character who grew up in the Pandora jungle with Navi kids, and for that, Jack learned knife training and now movements.

He said that under the guidance of his trainer, Josh Murillo, he started with basic exercises.

He added, “Before we did anything with heavyweight, we just focused on technique. I had to basically learn how to properly do everything, like squats and pull-ups. Then from there we slowly built up to weight lifting, cardio, longer cardio with short high-intensity intervals, and CrossFit”.

Slowly, he started high-rep weight lifting, high-intensity interval training, along with some boxing workouts and incline walks. Champion has also explained his love for bodybuilding.

He said, “Cardio is hard, and it can take a long time—and even when it's short and intense, it's just never fun. But bodybuilding, you can always just hang out with your bro, lift weights, and have a good time”.

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Written by

Supradeep Dutta

Edited by

Souvik Roy