Mark Wahlberg is one of the most iconic Hollywood superstars’ of this generation. He is known to bring out the best of every role he plays. Although he is a talented actor, you can’t fail to appreciate his smashing body every time he graces your screen with his presence. He was more jacked than ever in Pain & Gain, he looked like one of the Greek gods.
Mark works hard to look as he does and in this read we shall discuss the Mark Wahlberg diet and workout plan.
Who is Mark Wahlberg?
Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg was born on June 5, 1971 in Boston, Massachusetts. He is the youngest of 9 children. When he was 11 years old, his parents got divorced. The divorce had severe effects on Mark and his mother blamed herself for Mark turning into a juvenile offender. Mark’s mother believed that she emotionally neglected him.
When Mark was 14 years old, he dropped out of school and started living in the streets. He was selling drugs, stealing and hustling in other forms just to make ends meet. Two years later, he hit rock bottom when he was jailed for 45 days after assaulting a man. It was during his stay in prison that he decided to turn a new leaf.
By the time the Massachusetts native was released from prison, his older brother Donnie had made a name for himself in the music industry. Donnie decided to help Mark find his footing in the music industry and that is how he became Marky Mark.
Although Marky Mark was not as talented as the others, what he lacked in his singing ability he made up for in charisma and good looks. With the help of his brother, a deejay, and some backup dancers, Wahlberg was able to release his debut album, ‘ Music for the People’ in 1991. The album soon went platinum.
After that things only became better for the pop musician. Calvin Klein signed him to a two-year contract to be an underwear model.
In 1993, it seemed like Mark’s success would only be short-lived. This is after he was accused of condoning some homophobic remarks made on a British talk show by his fellow guest artist, Shabba Ranks. Marky Mark’s second album which was released in 1992, titled, ‘ You Gotta Believe,’ was also not doing so well. This was when Mark decided to jump ship and move to the movie industry.
Mark Wahlberg made his big screen debut in Renaissance Man in 1994. After that, he was cast to play the drug-addled best friend of Leonardo DiCaprio’s character in The Basketball Diaries in 1995.
Mark was then cast in Fear (1996) and Traveller (1997) and slowly but surely, the former pop star was making his name in the movie world. One of his most spectacular performances came in ‘Boogie Nights’. He took on the role of a dishwasher who turned into an adult film star. Things continued looking up for him as in 1999, he co-starred in Three Kings with Ice Cube, Spike Jonze and George Clooney.
In 2000, Mark Wahlberg and George Clooney teamed up again in The Perfect Storm. Later that year, he co-starred with Joaquin Phoenix and James Caan in The Yards. In 2003, Wahlberg was picked for a role in The Italian Job which was a huge success.
Mark continued cementing his name as one of the best Hollywood stars and went on to play roles in movies like; The Happening (2008), The Fighter (2010), Ted (2012), Lone Survivor (2013), Transformers: Age of Extraction (2014), Ted 2 (2014) and many more movies.
Wahlberg wasn’t just a musician and an actor but also a producer. He was the executive producer for television shows like Entourage, In Treatment and Boardwalk Empire.
In 2014, the Ted actor launched a reality show named Wahlburgers where he appeared as himself alongside his two brothers, Donnie and Paul.
Mark Wahlberg tied the knot in 2009 with model Rhea Durham. The two had three children before getting married and in 2010, they welcomed their fourth child together.
Although Mark had some problems with discipline early in life, that is something of the past.
He now leads a very disciplined life and in September 2018, shared his daily schedule on Instagram:
- 2:30 am – wake up
- 2:45 am – prayer time
- 3:15 am – breakfast
- 3:40-5:15 am – first workout
- 5:30 am – post-workout meal
- 6:00 am – shower
- 7:30 am – golf
- 8:00 am – snack
- 9:30 am – cryo chamber recovery
- 10:30 am – snack
- 11:00 am – family time/meetings/work calls
- 1:00 pm – lunch
- 2:00 pm – meetings/work calls
- 3:00 pm – pick up kids from school
- 3:30 pm – snack
- 4:00 pm – second workout
- 5:00 pm – shower
- 5:30 pm – dinner/ family time
- 7:30 pm – bedtime
Mark Wahlberg’s Diet Program
Just by looking at Mark, you can tell he really takes care of his body. One way he does that is through his diet plan. Wahlberg understands that what he eats really matters and hence tries to eat only foods that are good for him. The Hollywood actor is known to change from one diet to another. The Pain & Gain actor is said to change his workout and diet program to accommodate his various movie roles.
The reason for this according to Wahlberg is that different movies require different preparations. This is what he said about that in an interview,
“If I gotta get out of shape, then I’m eating fried food and drinking beer for the first couple of weeks, If I gotta get as thin as possible, like in The Gambler, I’m on a liquid diet and jump rope 200 rounds a day.”
Although Mark is known to change his diet depending on the film he is shooting, he still has an eating schedule that he sticks to fully. The Hollywood superstar’s diet is heavily based on proteins. Proteins are good for building muscles. His protein diet includes a lot of turkey burgers, egg whites and meatballs.
In 2018, after shooting Mile 22, Wahlberg shared his daily schedule on Instagram including his meals that are prepared by his personal chef.
Mark eats 7 to 8 meals every day:
- 3:15 a.m. – breakfast : steel oats, peanut butter, blueberries, and eggs
- 5:30 a.m. – post workout meal : protein shake, three turkey burgers, five pieces of sweet potato
- 8 a.m. – snack: 10 turkey meatballs
- 10:30 a.m. – snack : grilled chicken salad with two hard-boiled eggs, olives, avocado, cucumber, tomato, and lettuce
- 1 p.m. lunch: – New York steak with green peppers
- 3:30 p.m. – snack: grilled chicken with bok choy
- 5:30 p.m. dinner : fish (halibut or cod or sea bass) with veggies (such as sautéed spinach and bok choy)
Mark Wahlberg’s Plant-Based Diet
During the quarantine, Mark changed his diet from eating 7 to 8 meals a day mostly composed of protein to now being on a plant-based diet. This is what he had to say on changing to a plant-based diet:
“I wasn’t getting enough rest, doing two-a-days, six to seven days a week, eating seven to eight meals of mostly protein, and just not feeling good. I did a bone broth fast, and then went plant-based for what was supposed to be twelve days. That was four months ago.”
The plant-based diet was only to last 12 days. Four months later, he was still at it. Mark was able to follow this diet with the help of his personal chef who was in quarantine with Mark and his family.
During this period, he changed his protein source from animal protein to plant-based shakes, fish dishes and occasional faux burgers. A normal breakfast for Mark would include…
“plant-based sausage with a sweet-potato patty and avocado, followed by three juice shots: greens, turmeric, and apple-cider vinegar with raw garlic and ginger.”
Wahlberg revealed that he discovered a new favorite food on the plant-based diet.
” I’ve discovered hummus, I never had hummus before and I’m loving it!”
Mark Wahlberg’s 7000-Calorie Diet
New movie, new demands. Mark Wahlberg is currently working on a movie called, ‘Father Stu’ where he plays a ripped boxer-turned-schlubby priest.
For this role, Wahlberg had to do away with his plant-based diet and now he eats 7000 calories a day. According to Mark, his new diet is really working as he posted a picture of his 3 week transformation on his Instagram with this caption, ” From left photo 3 weeks ago to this, now. Thanks to @chef_lawrence_d cooking.”
From the before photo, you can see his well-defined abs and big bulging biceps. In the after photo, he has what most people call a dad-bod. His six pack has turned into a one pack.
To get to 7000 calories a day, he is back to eating 8 meals per day. Mark’s new diet includes a combination of at least 12 eggs, cooked beets, dark leafy greens, protein shakes, steel-cut oatmeal, almond butter, six strips of bacon, ground beef, ground turkey, veal chops, pork chops, salmon, sea bass, halibut and steak.
Related: Calories Per Meal Calculator
Mark Wahlberg’s Workout Plan
As we mentioned earlier, Mark Wahlberg changes his diet and workout plan depending on the movie he is working on as different roles have different demands on the body. Wahlberg is a serious gym goer. If you look at his daily schedule, you will notice that he works out twice a day. This just shows you how hard he works for that well-sculpted body of his.
The American actor is able to get the most out of his gym sessions with the help of his personal trainer, Brian Nguyen.
Apart from his vigorous workout sessions, Mark is also known to use cryotherapy. Cryotherapy is any treatment that involves the use of freezing or near-freezing temperatures. Mark Wahlberg advocates for sitting in a cryo-chamber with the temperature as low as 150 degrees below zero. Cryotherapy is known to reduce inflammation and improve the quality of sleep. Numerous athletes like Lebron James are also known to use cryotherapy.
Wahlberg is not very specific on the type of exercises he usually prefers and is known to go all-in on everything. When asked about his workout routine, he said…
“I start with RAMP, which stands for range of motion, activation, and movement prep—things like Spiderman stretch and hip bridges, plus foam rolling.
Then we switch between bilateral and unilateral strength moves using mostly heavy bands, TRX, dumbbells, and kettlebells. The lower body work includes balance and agility drills.”
Mark is known to workout twice a day, five days per week.
Mark Wahlberg’s Bulking Workout Plan
The Pain & Gain actor can easily pass for a professional bodybuilder. His toned, muscular body with well-defined abs, a big chest and massive biceps is an envy to many.
Here is what he does to get as ripped as he is:
Arm Workout
Mark’s arm workout involves 7 total moves. The exercises are performed in three sets with a heavier weight for each subsequent set. For the first set, he starts with a heavy weight and does 10 reps. For the second set, he increases the weight but reduces the number of reps to 8. Wahlberg uses the heaviest weight for the final set. The upside to this is that he only does 6 reps for this set.
Here are the exercises in his arm workout routine:
- Dumbbell curl
- Standing curl
- Barbell curl
- Pull-ups
- EZ-Bar curl
- Seated preacher curl
- Seated isolation machine curl
Transformation Workout
A transformation workout regime is very important for the former pop musician and that is why he has one in his arsenal. There are roles that require him to get out of shape and there are others that need him all ripped and buff. Mark’s transformation workout program helps him get into shape quickly after being out of shape for some time.
After shooting the fat scene in ‘The Other Guys’, Mark got a call from the production crew of ‘The Fighter’ telling him that they needed him to reshoot a few of his scenes and he needed to get back into fighting shape quickly.
With the help of his personal trainer, Brian Nguyen, the actor was able to do the impossible in just 5 weeks. Here is Mark Wahlberg’s transformation workout routine:
Warming Up
Warming up is important as it loosens the muscles and this helps reduce the chances of getting injured. Mark understands this and usually begins his workout session by stretching and foam-rolling. Mark Wahlberg usually does an hour of foam rolling and a massage to stimulate his deep tissues. After that, he does another hour of dynamic stretching to help boost his mobility.
Circuit Training
Circuit training played a big role in his getting back to fighting shape. Mark’s circuit training involves short, fast rounds with only just enough time to recover in between. He would do 3-minute rounds followed by a minute of rest.
The Hollywood star’s circuit training involved movements like sprint-ups, jump rope, burpees, side-planks and kettle swings.
Sparring
Mark would finish off his transformation workout sessions with 4 – 5 rounds of sparring with his personal trainer. Just like his circuit training, there would be a short rest between each round. Sparring helped with his cardio endurance and strength.
Mark’s Active Recovery Day
As we mentioned earlier, Wahlberg trains 5 days in a week and rests on the other 2 days. While for most people resting would mean kicking back and catching up on your favorite television shows, Mark plays golf.
If you have ever played golf, you know it involves a lot of walking. Walking on an average golf course for a round of golf can be between 5 to 7 kilometers. Playing golf also helps with muscle tone and endurance. This is to say that even if Mark calls it resting, it is not really resting as he is still very active.
More Celebrity Workouts:
- Sylvester Stallone Rocky Diet and Workout Plan
- Mike Tyson’s Insane Workout & Diet Program
- Jake Gyllenhaal Southpaw Workout & Diet Program
- Brad Pitt Fight Club Diet and Training Program
- Ben Affleck Batman Diet and Workout Program
- Zac Efron Baywatch Diet and Workout Program
In Conclusion
As you have seen, Mark Wahlberg spares no cost when it comes to his body. He has a personal chef and a personal trainer just to make sure he does what is right for his body. Wahlberg changes his diet and workout plan to accommodate the role he is currently playing and that shows how versatile he is.
If you want to have a smashing body like him, you can use the Mark Wahlberg diet and workout plan to create a routine that works for you in your journey to getting ripped.
