Actor Alan Ritchson is breaking down his approach to fitness and health, giving the inside scoop on how he maintains such a built physique. On March 3, 2025, he detailed his dieting approach, ‘muscle confusion’ training, and described his morning routine.
Ritchson quickly emerged as a high-profile actor in Hollywood, thanks to his action-packed role in the Reacher television series. He plays a former U.S. Army military police major with combat experience, who lives a drifter lifestyle, regularly getting entangled in criminal conspiracies. To meet the demands of this role, his health and athleticism have become crucial as he embodies Jack Reacher’s combat-ready physique.
Alan Ritchson Reveals His Training Regimen for Aesthetics, Disciplined Morning Routine, and Lean Muscle Diet
In a recent YouTube video, Ritchson shared that he avoids cheat meals. Instead, he follows the 80-20 rule—eating clean 80% of the time and indulging the other 20%.
“I’ve never understood the cheat day thing. If you’ve been disciplined all week and you’re feeling good and starting to see the results, why would I want to introduce a calorie bomb of 2,000 calories all of a sudden? I’ve never understood it. It doesn’t compute instinctively to me.”
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“We worked really hard to flip that,” he adds. “To adopt an 80-20 lifestyle, 80 percent of the time you’re being restrained and 20 percent of the time you find a way to enjoy yourself.”
To satisfy his constant sweet tooth, Ritchson consumes fruit whenever he wants.
“I always have a sweet tooth. I love sweet things. I think it’s how I regulate my mood. I had a psychiatrist tell me I have ADHD and bipolar. She told me sugar is how ADHD people regulate their mood with dopamine. I found myself doing that.”
“Anyway, he was like have fruit, fruit. You can have as much as you want,” he said. “I had some fruit, and it satiated that desire. He’s totally right.”
His protein options vary between beef, steak, hamburgers, and fajitas, as well as protein shakes.
“Before I ever spoke to a nutritionist, probably early 30s when that happened for me, almost every meal was some version of beef, steak, hamburgers, fajitas, whatever it was. Steak was sort of the staple. Then, protein supplements and shakes around that. Any greens or macronutrient things that were healthy would come in the smoothies that I would get at Equinox or whatever.”
His goal: to slowly build lean muscle.
“For me, I want to maintain and continue to very slowly build lean muscle.”
His morning routine starts at 4:30 to 5 a.m. with fasted training before he hits the set.
“I really try to be disciplined in the morning. I try to work out in a fasted state if at all possible. I like to get up before work even if it’s like 5 in the morning 4:30 in the morning to get some time in the gym before I get picked up and go to set.
By the time I’m done filming, there’s no chance I’m working out after work. There’s no possibility. I know that about myself.”
He aims to train every morning, ideally in a fasted state.
“If I work out in the morning every day which is my goal, it’s pretty easy to just train myself to work out in a fasted state. It’s an easy way to make deposits to put yourself ahead, first thing.
Coming out of that, you’re sort of naturally craving healthy things like protein. I’ll dive into yogurt I really like. For me, it’s about disciplined mornings to where I’ve restricted the caloric intake which frees me to be a little more liberal or lax in the afternoon.”
He keeps his body guessing with muscle confusion training. At times, he implements plyometrics or push-ups, pull-ups, dips, and sit-ups.
“I try to introduce confusion to the body. I don’t know how much science there is behind muscle confusion. I’ve always sort of coasted on instincts.
There are seasons where I feel like what my body needs right now is high, high volume, sort of cardiovascular-based plyometrics, or push-ups, pull-ups, dips, and sit-ups. It’s something I relied on so long. I get a lot of strength out of that. I get a lot of definition out of that. I get bulky enough.”
To stay athletic, Ritchson also takes part in long runs or uses a stair climber for around 20 minutes. When it’s time for weights, he lifts heavy with high volume, emphasizing that aesthetics mean more to him than strength.
“I do sprints, I do long runs on those [curved treadmills], stair climbers, I don’t have one here right now, but I love the stair climber. It doesn’t take the same kind of toll a run takes on the knees and joints but man is it good cardio.”
“When we get to the weights, for me personally, I’m a big guy. I’m pushing a lot of weight. Strength is not the goal for me, it’s more aesthetics.”
Alan Ritchson’s strict morning routine and training regimen reflect the intense demands of his role in Reacher. With consistent lean muscle training and an 80-20 diet, he maintains one of Hollywood’s most impressive physiques
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