In the new Robert Eggers movie The Northman, Alexander Skarsgård plays an incredibly jacked viking seeking revenge on the guy who murdered his parents. (The murderer is also his uncle.) His character, Amleth, chops enemies down from horses, gets into lots of fights, rows everywhere, and doesn’t seem to get cold or break much of a sweat.
While getting in shape, even revenge viking shape, can be deceptively simple—just eat right, train hard, and repeat a few thousand times—nailing this balancing act for a movie, when the camera’s rolling for months, is something else altogether. Days on set are long, and the fights and the running and rowing that movie magic requires burns calories, especially when there are multiple takes—which there usually are. Combined with sleep deficits from these long days, it’s a recipe for catabolism, or muscle loss: Unless you really work on maintaining your gains, you might waste away. Luckily for Amleth, Skarsgård had help from Magnus Lygdbäck, his trainer for Northman, who also helped him get in wild shape for 2016’s Tarzan.
Lygdbäck, for his part, has a very deep resume when it comes to keeping good weight on during a shoot. A former hockey prospect turned lifestyle coach, he’s the guy responsible for getting Ben Affleck especially yoked for Justice League, and vaulting Alicia Vikander to authentically athletic shape for the Tomb Raider movie. GQ sat down with Lygdbäck to find out how he gets actors from civilian to viking, the differences between movie shoots and photo spreads, and how many cheat meals are OK to insert in a week.
GQ: What kind of shape was Skarsgård in at the start? I know he was decent to average ahead of Tarzan. Did his muscle memory and neural adaptation from the Tarzan workouts help with the Northman training move faster?
Magnus Lygdbäck: He’s a guy who’s taking care of himself. He likes a beer and a burger. He doesn’t work out that much, but as an actor? They take care of themselves better than average. We’re all so different in the way we react to training and different methods, programming and nutrition. I always keep a log, and I had valuable information on him from Tarzan, so I knew where to start. I knew he was going to react really well to the type of training and nutrition that we did.
What sort of info did you have in the log?
Well, you always have to build a strong foundation. We always talk about the makeover, but the first priority with whoever I’m working with is that they don’t get injured while filming. If my actor gets injured on set, they’d have to halt production. It’s millions of dollars [lost] and I’d never get hired again. So we work the whole body, making sure you move the right way and lift with the right technique.
Then you can focus on certain body parts more. In this case, since Alex, who’s 44 [during filming] and doing a physical movie with a lot of ax swinging, we focused on prepping his shoulders for movement and stability.
What was the program you used, specifically, in terms of lifts and splits? Was it the same three-phase, nine month bulk, cut and maintenance program you used with Tarzan and on the Lara Croft movie?
Yeah. I have my foundation. I’m a big fan of dividing the body, splitting it up so you can focus more on certain body parts—work those muscles harder and allow them to rest while you work on something else. A little different this time, though: a lot more banded movements to work on hips, mobility and shoulders. And then a little bit of an extra focus on shoulders. But I used the same philosophy as before in training: a four-day split—or really a five-day split, with recovery work on the fifth day.
For people who might not be familiar, what are the advantages of a four or five-day program over hitting the gym every day?
Well, if I can give people advice: if you can only work out twice a week, do a full body program. Once you start doing three days per week and up, split it up, for a few reasons. First and foremost, for recovery: you allow the body part you worked to rest. A split also gives you more time every session to focus on the actual body parts you’re targeting, which makes them stronger and allows you build muscle mass faster.
I want to talk about the specifics of filming. Is there a difference between getting in shape for a photo and being in shape for a 60-day shoot? Are there specific things you have to take into consideration with the fact that the body’s being shot over time?
Oh, very much. That’s a great question, no one’s asked me that before, I love that question. When getting ready for a photoshoot, you can deplete yourself, pull water, eliminate salt, and you can put a lot of shading on, right? You can’t do that with a movie. If you start pulling water and salt, that will backfire—you always pay the price after and you get even more bloated. You can’t mess around with [these things] the same way on a film. You can’t shade a six-pack on a person who’s running around and moving. It’d look awkward, the skin’s moving around. But you can do that for a photoshoot.
And one big thing when filming is you have to take all the movement on set during a regular day into consideration. You probably have to eat a lot more than you think just to keep your muscle mass.
How different is maintenance during a shoot? It feels like the one part of celebrity fitness upkeep more in line with how many people live: less sleep, more work, changing conditions. The maintenance diet is higher, but are workouts also cut back?
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Great question, again. I would say the maintenance cycle is the hardest, because you’ve taken someone to the extreme: you’ve built up all that muscle mass and have lost all that body fat, and that combination is really hard to maintain. Especially while working crazy hours with less sleep, it’s the hardest thing. That’s why I’m with someone on set. I’ll monitor what they’re doing in a day physically, adjust their food so they eat the right amount. Week to week, I check in: how does my client look? Did he lose body fat, gain body fat, lose muscle mass? Does he feel lethargic, tired? You have to monitor all those things to stay at the right level of training and nutrition. That’s the hardest part.
How tight are aesthetics over a shoot? Does an actor have to stay within a one to two percent body fat range throughout the shoot, or is there a give?
I would say there’s always a give. I don’t think anyone I’ve ever worked with or have seen stays the same while filming for six months. My goal is always to get my actor in better shape. I never think I get enough time with them before, so once we start filming they need to be at a certain level. But, so far, most of them have improved while filming—getting in even better shape. In hindsight, I can look at a scene and know, “Oh, we filmed that towards the end of production.”
Do you guys schedule the shirtless scenes together—or other scenes where the body is important? Or do you have to fill in the blanks?
Unfortunately, no one thinks about that. I know there are some older actors with a lot of power in Hollywood that have pulled that off on some productions. I’ve never been a part of a production like that. It’s always location and other things that determine schedule. We’ve just got to adapt.
Watching your videos and reading your interviews there’s a lot of emphasis on not spiking insulin, eating clean foods and slow carbs, which all seems well adapted to long shooting schedules. Does that approach trickle down from a philosophy you have, or is something you’ve found that worked in films?
It’s a philosophy I have. Everything I do with my actors is what I preach and stand for [generally]. I preach balance, but that’s the one thing we take and throw out the window when we do a project like this. Other than that, I have the same philosophy for life or regular people that I have for actors.
But you’re right, I do like when you can control blood sugar and insulin. This is a big topic: if you ask 10 different trainers or nutritionists, they’ll give you 10 different answers. I don’t believe in food restriction. I eat food that spikes my insulin too, but I try to eat really clean 17 out of 20 meals—three meals I eat whatever I want.
Most PopularHow does balance get thrown out the window during a shoot?
Well, let me tell you this. When you’re halfway into filming a movie, and it’s a physical movie, and you have a bunch of half-naked scenes coming up and, let’s say, your actor’s shoulder is starting to feel a little unstable or is hurting, or their forearms are cramping up, and every time we go into the gym, you can tell they would benefit from rest. You do rest a little more in these situations, but what they would really need is probably two weeks off, doing nothing, and we don’t have that luxury.
I go for more big compound movements generally, but the longer we film, if it’s a challenging, tough, physical movie, you’ll see us do more and more isolated exercises, because I want to minimize the risk of getting injured. If someone’s tired, and they’re pushing it, the risk of getting injured gets bigger, and so the training has to adapt.
How much do you vary it up? How different are these workouts than those in the bulk or cut phase?
Good question. I try to keep it about the same. We might go up in reps, and down in weight, but I don’t want you to deadlift with a barbell with 250, 300 pounds on it when you’ve had six hours of sleep and have been fighting on set for five days straight. Then it’s maybe better to do a leg press or something more safe and isolated, where you don’t have to be in control of three different joints at the same time. You can relax, and it’s more pure.
Avoiding the mental recruitment of getting tight under a squat while you’re thinking about getting ready for a scene.
Correct. You know, I wish we could take a couple weeks off instead, so that’s where balance gets thrown out the window. And, as well, sometimes you can’t have them eat whatever they want to eat. I’m a believer in balance in life, but sometimes that balance gets thrown out. On this shoot, though, we had the weekends off. Alex could eat whatever he wanted to on Saturday nights. We’d cook some nice dinners and would have a glass of wine.
What explains that time off? Was it your decision, or something to do with the character?
His character, I’d say. We wanted him to have a thicker look. We didn’t care as much as in Tarzan. We were OK with him having one to two percent more body fat than he had in the past.
In Northman, he and his berserkers are either wolves or bears. The bears are big, strong guys, and the wolves are more limber, technical and have a lot more movement. Two different styles and looks, two different ways of moving. Alex was both. We wanted that bear look, but at the same time we worked on his movements a lot so he could be a hybrid between them. And he also hit the mark when we started filming, so he was already there.
Most PopularWhat are the main differences between the programs you tailor for Alex and Alicia Vikander and the ones on your app for people wanting to get cut or yoked? What’s the degree of specificity? Or do the same things effectively work across the board?
The same things work for regular people as well, but my programs are tailored to the actor or actress I work with. And the difference between my male and female programs overall is I like to do push and pull, chest and back the same day for women. For men I divide it, because it’s part of the ideal that men should have a big chest, so I focus a little more on that overdimensioned chest.
But anybody can do these programs. When you work with someone for a year, you change up the programming a lot more. It makes no sense to change up a program much within 4 to 6 weeks. It’s actually beneficial to keep it the same: you get to repeatedly do the same thing over and over again and get stronger in that movement.
I’m always curious how so many actors are big. I remember seeing a play with the computer guy from House of Cards, and he had these giant Jeff Bezos arms.
That’s one of those actors where that might be part of their trademark. But here’s the thing as well: After Alex is doing a movie like this, he doesn’t want to go straight into another physical movie. He wants to be the granddad or something. They’ve got to be careful not to get stuck in a genre, you know?
Do most people need a ramp-up phase to get in shape and get their balance and core strength and mobility up, or can they jump into it, even if they’re over 30?
They can jump into it. You’ve gotta listen to your body. I think a lot of times, we start too extreme: We start doing six days a week in the gym when we should really start with three days, and then maybe ramp it up over the course of a month. Same thing with food. We go all in and don’t eat anything unhealthy, not a single slice of pizza, or a burger at all. And 10 days later we’re totally miserable and we fail.
Do people need trainers? Is there a starting point? What should people know and read to get their head around the basic science of fitness and strength?
That’s a big question. There’s so much information and misinformation out there. I think you should listen to your body. There are many ways to skin a cat. My way is not the only way. Listen to true experts, people with credentials. You don’t need a trainer—most people can’t afford one. I didn’t grow up with a trainer, and I got into pretty good shape anyways. Educate yourself on nutrition. Everyone should know what fat, carbs and protein are. Train stuff that you think is fun, and something that you need, and is good.
Most PopularAre there philosophies, things that don’t show up on the exercise log, for people who want to get yoked or cut to keep in mind so they can succeed in a new program?
Yes. People talk a lot about motivation and how to get motivated, but you shouldn’t rely only on motivation, because then you’ve failed before you’ve started. No one’s motivated all the time. Accountability, structure, showing up are what matters. And it’s that consistency that’ll take you there.
Another thing is to be kind to yourself. Everything in life is about balance. Don’t deprive yourself of good food. You can follow my philosophy or someone else’s, but a good rule is to keep 17 out of 20 meals on point, and three out of 20, enjoy life. I eat five meals a day, so on a four day cycle, I eat whatever three times.
And we should look at training much more holistically. When you look at your programming, your week, you should look at three things. One: What do I like to do? Two: What do I need—what does my body need? Three: is there something I want to master, or get better at? Often they’re different, sometimes they’re the same, and they can create your weekly programming. So for me, for example, strength training is my number one, my number two is yoga and meditation, my Number Three is Brazilian jiu-jitsu. I don’t love showing up every Thursday and getting my ass kicked and someone choking me out. But I love the art form and it gives me something to master. And then my strength training benefits my jiu-jitsu. Those three things make up my week—that’s how you make it a part of life.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
