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Nutritionist and trainer Magnus Lygdback has helped many stars like Gal Gadot, Ben Affleck and Mackenzie Davis get into amazing shape for acting roles, and regularly shares his insights into the training and diet plans that he has used to help them obtain their superhero bodies. In the most recent video he put up on his YouTube channel, Magnus breaks down his own personal daily routine, and how he tends to work out and eat in an average week.
Each day begins with coffee and a high protein breakfast, usually involving scrambled eggs or an omelet. When he is not really in the mood for eggs, he will eat unsweetened Greek yogurt with added nuts, or a protein shake made with frozen berries and peanut butter.
When going to the gym, Lygdback suggests asking yourself a few questions—What would I like to do, what would I like to master and what does my body really need?—and trying to find a way to program your workout so that you are benefiting all three of those areas. In Lygdback’s case, his favorite is strength training, he is using pilates for his conditioning, and he would like to master Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
In addition to doing pilates two times a week and jiu-jitsu training two times a week, Lygdback follows a four-day workout split, consisting of a legs on the first day, front shoulders, chest and core on the second day, outside shoulders and back on the third day, and arms on the fourth day. On the day of filming, he is doing a leg day, beginning on the treadmill with dead man sprints. “You are activating your core even more than a normal sprint,” he said. “It is also low-impact, so it is not difficult on your knees or your lower back at all.”
He normally follows this with leg press, deadlift, leg curls, Bulgarian split squat and weighted walking lunges. He makes sure to begin each workout with the bigger, heavy exercises, then starts the more isolated movements—and if he is having any knee problems, he may switch out some of those moves that are weighted for bodyweight work instead.
He will also listen to his body when it comes to how many reps or sets he does, switching up the numbers depending on how he feels that day and how much he believes he can handle. “You have got to listen to your body, and I have been doing this such a long time that I now know if I have it or do not have it one day,” he said.
After the session is over, Lygdback makes himself a four-egg omelet with cheese, chilis and salsa. He makes sure that he is eating protein within a three hour window of his work out (he adds that it does not matter whether eat it before or after), and adds that letting yourself have enough rest is even more important for recovery than eating the post-workout meal. “There should be a balance between your training, rest and recovery and nutrition,” he said. “Work hard, rest hard.”
