It brings a dramatically increased level of action. Lead by new showrunner David\u00a0Wiener, Halo Season 2\u00a0<\/em>plays out like an eight-part war epic rather than a television series. Knowing how heavy the workload would be given the brutal fight sequences and his responsibilities on set,\u00a0Schreiber put in long hours at the gym before filming began with long-time trainer Eddie Raburn.\u00a0<\/p>\n The end result? Halo<\/em> Season 2 is bigger and better in every way. Hard work really does pay off.<\/p>\n Men\u2019s Journal <\/em>sat down with Schreiber to discuss his training, filming the battle sequences, and the weight of Master Chief. Scroll down for an example workout Schreiber used to bulk up even more this go-around.<\/p>\n \n View the original article<\/a> to see embedded media.<\/strong>\n <\/p>\n Pablo Schreiber:<\/strong>\u00a0I\u2019m not going to lie, it\u2019s been hard. The first season was difficult and the second was no walk in the park. It didn\u2019t get easier. I\u2019ve learned a lot navigating a franchise and an IP with so much history. The project has been amazing to be a part of and getting to play this role has been such an honor. I\u2019ve really felt the pressure of carrying the mantle of Master Chief. It\u2019s a responsibility I don\u2019t take lightly. There are no days I can show up too tired or too weak to do what is required. There are sometimes a thousand people on set waiting for me and others to get the job done. But these are the challenges I live for. I\u2019ve worked my ass off to play this role.<\/p>\n Related: Daniel Craig’s ‘No Time to Die’ Strength and Conditioning Workout<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n One of the first things my friend, and our new showrunner, David\u00a0Wiener\u00a0said as we were preparing the second season was he wanted to make an eight-part war movie. That’s exactly what we set out to make and you can feel it in these episodes. The battle sequences are next-level, and I think that has a lot to do with the subjective way he\u2019s approaching them. That\u2019s also thanks to our great stunt coordinator Philip Silvera. You really feel like you’re in the war. You’re seeing the battle from the eyes of the soldier.<\/p>\n I think that helps raise the stakes, which is important when you’re living in the Halo<\/em> universe. Every scene feels more dangerous. The Covenant is on the doorstep at the beginning of the season, then they’re inside our home. I think he\u2019s found a darker and more mysterious tone for the series that really works. The end of the season, there’s a lot of loss and a lot of tragedy. But that\u2019s what happens when you’re doing a war movie.<\/p>\n They did a bunch of work on the suit, but to be honest it didn\u2019t make it any lighter or easier to deal with. We’re still carrying around 55 pounds of artifice. But the weight is one of the costs of doing this role. The work did help aesthetically though and they look incredible. The better look combined with the new way we’re shooting the action sequences, up close and personal, has really added to the overall intensity. No longer are we relying on these long-distance static shots. Everything is more kinetic and the armor works in those sequences.<\/p>\n Related: 50 Best Back Exercises of All Time<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n For our training, we’re always progressing. We went hard for the first season and we didn\u2019t want to just repeat that same process. We wanted to make an improvement on it. This series is about Master Chief but it\u2019s also about the man inside the armor and under the helmet. That was the concept from the beginning, so I knew I needed to be as physically imposing as possible without the suit as I was with it. That means I needed a muscle base that looks impressive.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n I’m naturally pretty lean, so the real mission is putting on the right kind of weight. I have no shortage of motivation or ethic. The ceiling I have to deal with is my body at my age. I\u2019m 46 years old, and I\u2019ve had a few injuries in my day. That means additional time in the warmup and recovery, which means less time for everything else. But I need to effectively be adding mass and mobility. One can\u2019t be sacrificed for the other. <\/p>\n I\u2019ve always been good at lifting heavy, and that part of the program is important to get the density we want. So we don\u2019t give that up in any way. But Master Chief is also incredibly mobile so that was a constant focus. What we did was add the mobility work to every session, and make sure that when I\u2019m moving weight there are at least a few reps or sets where I\u2019m being explosive. Sprinting is huge for Master Chief, so we do a lot of running in our programming. Because I\u2019m making a lot of moves out of the suit as well, it’s important for me to be able to do everything practically as well. I was hitting the track at least one time a week for drills. <\/p>\n We’re shooting for nine months. Those months of running around in the suit, pouring sweat, make it very difficult to keep the muscle where we want it to be. I find myself operating so much on adrenaline during our production. I know I have to get some kind of sleep, but it\u2019s tough with the working hours going early in the morning or late into the night. It\u2019s really a marathon to get through the season. But, despite these blockers, we were able to get me to a place physically I’ve never been before.\u00a0<\/p>\n Related: 50 Best Shoulder Exercises To Target Full Range of Motion<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Sadly we don\u2019t actually get to train in those cool Spartan gyms you see in the show. They’re just build-outs for those scenes. The gym in this season we built in Budapest. Before filming began, we were at my place or training in the baseball fields around where I live. Once in Hungary, where we film the show, we go to a well-equipped gym in Budapest. I also have a gym in my home while we’re out filming. On set, I have a weight station by me so I can work out between scenes. <\/p>\n There’s close-quarters action between John-117 and The Covenant, and it happens to be one of my favorite sequences. There’s a knife fight between John and a Sangheili. Those kinds of fights are where the mobility and the explosiveness really come into play. That was really fast-paced. I had to block it all out with the stunt doubles, but the actual take was done without any bodies in the frame. Essentially, I\u2019m having to act and battle with air before they put the aliens into frame with me.<\/p>\n Our props department did a lot of work on the weapons during this past off season. My big issue from the first season is they weren\u2019t functional at all, but that all changed this time around. Being someone who has done a lot of military movies, I\u2019ve had experience with real weapons. So working with weapons that do nothing and have no responsiveness makes everything harder. This season our weapons had kick back and reverb. They even have a counter on them that lets you know where you are with ammo and when it\u2019s time to change magazines. Those little elements help us in a big way when it comes to creating that realism. One of the most exciting weapons this season is the energy sword, which we got to swing around. There were even versions that light up. <\/p>\n I don\u2019t get much time with the video games normally. But on set I popped into “Halo Infinite” when we were filming. [Microsoft\u2019s] Kiki [Wolfkill] is the number one, and I was able to get a few games in with her! She even brought us some nice controllers all the way from Seattle. For a gamer, it\u2019s good to know people at Microsoft and Xbox.<\/p>\n Related: Knees Over Toes Exercises: The 10 Commandments of Healthy Joints<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nMen’s Journal<\/em>: Given the fandom, expansive universe, and production value, how has it felt to be No. 1 on the call sheet?<\/h2>\n
What were your goals for Season 2?<\/h2>\n
The suits you and your fellow Silver Team Spartans wear are pretty bulky. I know after last season you were hoping to get that weight down. Any luck?<\/h2>\n
How did you approach bulking up for this season?<\/h2>\n
What was the most challenging part for you?<\/h2>\n
Did you find it difficult to maintain the mass once filming began?<\/h2>\n
Both the first and second season we see the Spartans training in futuristic, state-of-the-art gyms. Are those practical? Did you train in them?<\/h2>\n
One of the most epic scenes is the fight sequence with John-177 and The Covenant without his armor. What was it like to prepare for that?<\/h2>\n
The weapons on Halo<\/em> are as iconic as the characters\u2014like the battle rifle and the energy sword. Describe what it’s like to work with them.<\/h2>\n
Have you played the video game since you got the role as Master Chief?<\/h2>\n
The Back Workout That Bulked Pablo Schreiber’s Upper Body for Halo<\/em>\u00a0Season 2<\/h2>\n
Directions<\/h3>\n
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