Training “Northman” by Alexander Skarsgård, diet plan explained

Of all the images in Robert Eggers’ Viking saga “The Northman”, none is more surprising than that of Alexander Skarsgård’s ballooning traps. The actor’s shoulders look like two prominent volcanoes ready to erupt. Skarsgård’s muscles are a testament to his work with Magnus Lygdback, the acclaimed trainer who helped the actor amass 20 pounds of muscle and transform into a massive Viking warrior prince Amelith.

Lygdback, who first worked with Skarsgård on the 2016 adventure film “The Legend of Tarzan,” is an exercise coach and movement coach. Moviegoers may know Lygdback’s work better than M. Night Shyamalan’s “Glass,” starring James McAvoy as a man with 24 different personalities. McAvoy’s annoying body twists were the result of his work with Legdback, who similarly helped Skarsgård learn to shape his body so that his trapezius muscles were swollen and defined. Lygdback calls this “posture manipulation.”

“This character, his spirit animals were a bear and a wolf. That is exactly what we were trying to embody in terms of Alex’s physique and movements,” Lygdback said in an interview with diverse. “The wolf is really agile, and then you have the size of a Viking bear. You can only take one look at it and get scared. That was [the elevator pitch] What we were trying to achieve [with Alex’s transformation]. “

Lygdback and Skarsgård’s training schedule included six gym sessions per week (one per day) for the three months leading up to “The Northman’s” original production start date in March 2020. COVID delayed the film’s start date to September, so the duo’s six-day-week schedule was chosen For another three months in June. Skarsgård spent the temporary months in a Stockholm prison, cutting his weekly training sessions to three or four sessions a week. Anyone who has watched The Northman would be forgiven for assuming Skarsgård spent several hours in the gym every day. In fact, Lygdback’s training sessions lasted only an hour.

“You see him in interviews all the time where an actor says, ‘I trained several hours a day. “It’s not necessarily true,” said Legdeback. “They might have been commuting for four hours a day, let’s say, but the actual gym session? I never train my clients for more than an hour because what doesn’t happen in the first hour won’t happen in the second hour in the gym. All you do after the first hour is just start breaking down your body. So one hour a day, six days a week. While filming five days a week.

Lygdback described Skarsgård’s “Northman” workout routine as “a hybrid between plyometrics training and the old-school philosophy of bodybuilding.” The trainer used free weights and resistance bands, the latter of which were used for the first 10 minutes of each training session, to activate Skarsgård’s shoulders and glutes. Lygdback threw in bear crawl exercises to help Skarsgård prepare for climbing stunts, and also throwing exercises are incorporated because “The Northman” includes spear and axe scenes.

“We knew Alex was going to move a lot, from the running to the swing pivots, so we paid a lot of attention to the shoulders and hips,” Legdback said when asked about the focus areas for Skarsgård’s body. “I did a lot of warm-ups for the shoulders and hips, and then this was followed by intense strength training. It was a four-day split, which means you work different muscles every day and then you cover the whole body in four days. Then you start over.”

Lygdback also sponsored the Skarsgård Diet, which included eating nearly 3,700 calories per day. Every day, the actor was eating more calories than he was burning in order to build maximum body mass. Skarsgård would eat five times a day every 2-3 hours (“This will keep your energy and metabolism burning,” Lijdback said. The coach’s rule of thumb for his clients is “Eat 17 out of 20 meals in a four-day cycle.” Three meals are “therapeutic meals.” Where you can eat whatever you want. A clean meal consists of protein (chicken/fish/beef), vegetables (spinach/asparagus/broccoli) and slow carbs or fats (quinoa/barley/rice or avocado/olive oil). Skarsgård sticks to this diet. Diet during the three-month preparation periods, in addition to the six-month “Northman” shooting schedule.

Skarsgard often chose fish as his protein of choice. The actor’s first meal of the day was often four eggs for breakfast followed by a protein-packed snack, which Legdback said “could be anything from a smoked fish salad, to some chicken or beef skewers.” Lunch would be one of the clean meals mentioned above (Skarsgård enjoyed salmon with asparagus), followed by another snack and then a similar clean dinner. Skarsgård sprinkles in protein shakes here and there, although the shakes aren’t a mandatory part of Lygdback’s training regimen.

Moviegoers interested in Skarsgård’s “The Northman” workout routine and diet can find Lygdback’s complete nutrition guide, as well as meal plans and grocery list, at its application. Lygdback also has a file YouTube channel, where he breaks up some celebrity training sessions. The coach then turns his attention to Skarsgård “The Northman” co-star (and McAvoy’s Glass co-star) Anya Taylor-Joy, who is working with Lygdback on the setting for the movie Furiosa.