Hey guys it’s Minney here and after running around as Leon for days in the Resi 2 remake. I decided to run around as Leon for a bit in real life and give you my ponderings on what Leon Kennedy’s training routine would look like.

Cosplay: Leon S. Kennedy (Resident Evil 2 Remake)

For the weird people who clicked this video not knowing what a Resident Evil 2 is it’s a zombie game that features a cop running around a police station solving out of place eccentric puzzles while monsters, zombies, and a big meme try to eat him alive whilst he tries to escape from the city. Surviving this obviously takes a great deal of fitness so let’s take a look at what it takes to be Leon Kennedy.

If you’d rather watch than read: 

Firstly, Leon isn’t all that big. He’s got a reasonable bit of muscle, but by no means is he pushing the physique boundaries. Training with weights directly therefore isn’t that much of an issue and bodyweight compound movements will do just fine.


This workout is to be done 3 times a week, bodyweight movements are going to be done like this:

>Set a timer for 7 minutes and do as many reps of that movement as possible in the time-frame.

>Each time you do the workout, try to beat that record. So if you got 40 reps in 7 minutes last time, try to get 42 reps this time. This will help you build muscle, strength & endurance In the targeted muscles. Remain to total control of your form at all times to the best of your ability.

Equipment Investments

This pull up frame so you can do inverted rows and chin ups. It really is worth it's weight in gold.

Alternatively, you can get cheaper doorway options so you can still do chin ups. Like this one that's a permanent fixture or this one that's temporary. Bands are also an option if you still need something to do rows from.

Though personally, I still recommend the frame.
 

Movements: 

Squat



We start first with the bodyweight squat, go down as deep as you possibly can so you train the legs through a full range of motion, this will ultimately give you more power through the legs and allow you to build up your leg flexibility. There isn’t a better exercise for lower body power and flexibility. However, with bodyweight squats alone in my opinion this isn’t all that’s needed to build good leg development.

Jumping lunges

Lower body balance, co-ordination, further athleticism and additional muscle gain can be developed by using jumping lunges. These can be really intense and if you’re a total beginner you might have to work up to these starting with regular lunges, but in bodyweight routines single leg movements like this one are excellent at working the legs.

Next we move onto the upper body. Now, since Leon Kennedy is a police officer he clearly had to pass a police fitness test. In the police fitness test you have something called the push/pull test where a machine measures your ability to push and pull. We don’t have a fancy machine like that, but we can train our pushing and pulling muscles to help us throw them zombies around.

Push Up

Our first push is the push up, the best horizontal pushing movement you can do. I’m a huge fan of this movement and it’s a great chest developer. Keep your elbows tucked, back straight, and go through a full range of motion. Don’t do half reps, you’re only cheating yourself (plus you’ll never survive Racoon City if you don’t do things right!)

Row



For this next one you’ll need some kind of bar, you can go to a park, gym, or buy a frame like this (https://amzn.to/2GFtro3) for about 100 dollarydoos. This is the inverted row, it’s basically the antagonist to the push up and works all the upper back musculature. If the push up is the best horizontal push, then this is the best horizontal pull. Same rules apply, use a full range of motion and maintain control through the lift.


Handstand Push Up

Our second set of lifts can be quite tricky if you’re a total beginner but I’ll explain work arounds as we go through them. A push up is a great horizontal push but for balanced strength across the body we also need a vertical push, and for that I can’t think of anything better than handstand push ups against the wall. As these are quite challenging feel free to progress by walking yourself up the wall at a higher and higher incline.

Chin Up

The antagonist to the handstand push up is the horizontal pull known as the chin up. Again, you’ll need a bar and you need to focus on going through a full range of motion to get all the benefits of the exercise. Keep it nice and controlled and if it’s too hard for you at first, you can always use bands to assist you until you build up the strength.


Cardio



So all in all, that workout is two exercises for the pushing muscles, the pulling muscles, and the leg muscles. But what about cardio? Well, back to the police fitness test. To test your endurance, they have you perform a bleep test which you may remember from school. There are apps out there that emulate a bleep test but I like to keep it simple, what I’d recommend you do instead is after every workout do 7 max effort 30 second sprints. If it’s truly max effort, you will need to rest around 2 minutes in between each sprint. This is known as High Intensity Interval Training, or HIIT for short.

Now, that isn’t all it takes to be RPD fit. Outside of those 3 workout days I’d also like to see a brisk walk or a light jog done each day. This trains long lasting endurance, builds mobility, and gets blood into the muscles for some good active recovery between your intense training sessions. If you feel too sore from your training, then just stick to the walk. These little training sessions should be 30-60 minutes.

Mindset

Now last but not least, what you truly need to survive raccoon city is a clear head. And for that, I can only recommend a daily meditation practice. Sit in silence and count your breath to help train your mental focus. Counting to 5 and starting again for 10-20 minutes should help you maintain attention. That way when Mr.X shows up you won’t completely lose your shit and do something stupid.

With all these things combined I think you’ll be on your way to being able to survive Racoon City.