Universal Pictures
Actor James McAvoy put on a cubic metric ass-ton of muscle for his role as Patricia/Dennis/Hedwig in Glass, the film which connected M. Night Shyamalan’s world of Unbreakable and Split.
The Scottish actor is brilliant on screen but he’s not a naturally bulked up dude. So for this film he had to eat an insane amount of food all while packing on muscle thanks to this outrageous workout that exhausts me just reading about it.
I love food as much as anyone and that’s why I’m always intrigued by the diets celebs are forced to endure for various roles. It’s kind of a look at what life would be like under perfect circumstances for a few weeks/months when they’re legitimately getting paid to live like this, to live in a very specific and often miserable way.
The YouTube team from Men’s Health breaks down what James McAvoy’s diet was like and it’s pretty outrageous:
His dietician/trainer for this film was the same dude who got Alexander Skarsgard’s 10-pack of abs together for Tarzan. The goal with James was to put on as much muscle as possible and in that effort they succeeded.
For anyone keeping track at home, here’s a quick breakdown of that diet. His three cycles were the (1) Build-up/Bulk up phase, Cutting Cycle, and Maintenance cycle. For the bulking phase, he wanted to gain as much muscle mass as possible without burning too much bodyfat and this required a specific diet, as did the other cycles.
He gained 16 pounds in 14 weeks (of muscle) primarily on a diet of Lamb, Beef, Chicken, and Eggs. His primary carbs were boiled potatoes that were then chilled, brown rice, barley, and quinoa. His ‘good fat’ sources were unsalted nuts, avocado, and fish oil. For veggies, he’d get in his ‘good greens’ by eating the bight red and green vegetables as much as possible.
During his bulking, he’d eat breakfast as soon as he woke up. A typical breakfast would include 4 to 5 eggs, turkey bacon, sweet potato, and broccoli. The whole egg (whites and yolk).
Three hours after breakfast he’d have a snack consisting of protein (chicken, beef, or shrimp) and a ‘good fat’ source. Three hours after his snack he would eat lunch which typically consisted of ‘two fistfuls of’ lamb or beef, two fistfuls of a slow-carb, and some good fats with a ton of veggies on the side.
Three hours after lunch he’d have his second snack which was often a protein like turkey meatballs with some unsalted nuts on top to get extra fiber into the diet. Three hours after the 2nd snack he would have dinner which would often be comprised of something very similar to lunch. Beef, lamb, or chicken. Some slow carbs and good fats.
His workouts were timed with the meals. He was eating every three hours and typically working out every two hours after eating so he’d have time to digest and absorb the meals before burning it int he weight room and starting the 3-hour cycle all over again.
For a full rundown of his workouts for Glass, you can click here to see our previous article.