We all know Tarzan’s story of a boy growing up alone in the jungle, surrounded by wild animals.
Many directors have created their own version of the wild boy. While the story is a little different in each interpretation, one thing is certain – his looks.
Alexander Skarsgård immediately realised that if he wants to get the job, he needs to spend some quality time at the gym. He booked the services of Hollywood’s #1 trainer Magnus Lygdbäck, to help him gain the extra muscles.
“We wanted to create a physicality close to his primate family, so there was a concentration on sculpting a broad back, huge traps, with less focus on the chest.” said Lygdbäck, regarding the training routine.
Skarsgård even built an obstacle course at home to continue his training, where he could climb along bars using only his hands and leaping from obstacle to obstacle on all fours.
In addition to his daily workout sessions, he had a strict 6,000-calorie diet custom-built to support all the new muscle mass.
His daily work-up:
Morning
Jogging: 10 minutes
Sprints: 6 sets of 1 minute
Max Sprints: 1 minute
Stationary Sprint: 1 minute
Evening
Bear Crawls: 5 sets of 1 minute
Deadlift (4 sets)
Set 1: 12 reps
Set 2: 8–10 reps
Set 3: 6 reps
Set 4: 12 reps (pyramid set)
Pull-Ups (4 sets)
Set 1: wide grip, max reps
Set 2: narrow grip, max reps
Set 3: wide grip, max reps
Set 4: narrow grip, max reps
Standing Alternating Rows with Dumbbells: 3 sets of 20 reps
Kettlebell Swing: 3 sets of 15 reps
Lateral Raise with Dumbbells: 4 sets of 12 reps
Moving Front Plank on Exercise Ball: 4 sets of 1–2 minutes
His Diet:
No gluten. No sugar. No dairy. During their bulk-up period, Skarsgard was consuming up to 6,000 calories a day, which is much more than most people should, or even could.
Breakfast:
Omelet with spinach
Tea with homemade almond milk
Lunch 1:
Shrimp fried in olive oil and garlic
Lunch 2:
White fish fillet
Asparagus
Sweet potato
Lunch 3:
Poached eggs
Green vegetable
Dinner:
Smoked salmon
Brown rice
Brussels sprouts
What do you think? Are you up for the challenge?