Alexander Skarsgard, star of The Legend of Tarzan (2016), is certainly the most formiddable looking Tarzen to hit the big screen to date. Boasting an eight back and a well bulked muscular body, Skarsgard is the hardest looking Tarzan so far. At 39, he has to work hard to maintain his great figure, so, how does he do it?
7000 Calories a Day Diet
Skarsgard eats around 7000 Calories a day. An average person would quickly gain weight on such a diet, but Skarsgard needs this much to fuel his weight training workouts and maintain his muscle mass.
In preparation for filming he gained 25 pounds of muscle, and the only way to do this is to lift, eat, sleep, lift! His diet consisted of lean proteins, limited fruits and some vegetables, along with plenty of protein supplements. Junk food, bread and other high GI food would have been off the menu while the focus was on shredding fat and building muscle.
Skarsgard said that he really missed fruit while on his extreme diet, and when we could finally eat an apple again after filming had finished, he kissed it first because he was so happy.
He sought advice from friend and trainer Magnus Lygdbäck, who has created the “Magnus Method”. Magnus is a Swedish health and fitness expert. He was once an elite ice hockey player, and has worked with many professional athletes over the years. He uses “sport specific” training to create an athletic body, so in some ways, Alexander Skarsgard is more like a rugby or NFL player than a bodybuilder.
Sports and Dancing
But the training was not all sports focused – Magnus also got Skarsgard to dance and use martial arts moves to help improve his fitness, physical condition and strength. Both dance and martial arts help to create a very well balanced body, something which bodybuilding alone often fails to do. This is vital if you want to look both strong and athletic.