Alexander Skarsgård is 50, and his physique hasn’t slowed down one bit.
In a recent video breakdown, his Northman transformation was traced to a surprisingly simple set of food rules and a five-day lifting split.
Four foods stay off his plate, and one of them shows up in most men’s kitchens every single day.
Five others fuel his lean, strong look, while a day-by-day training week ties everything together.
Ready to see how a Viking-sized build actually gets made?
Jump to:
Nine Months of Chicken, Broccoli, and Heavy Iron
It was about 9 months of chicken breast and broccoli and training.
Skarsgård played Tarzan with an eight-pack. He then returned as a Viking, carrying roughly 20 pounds of extra muscle.
His director said this change was even wilder than the Tarzan one.
Both builds came in his 40s, guided by Swedish trainer and nutritionist Magnus Lygdback. Age, clearly, isn’t a ceiling.
The Four Foods Alexander Skips
When the goal was to strip fat and reveal muscle, Lygdback built everything around one rule: stay away from sugar and fast carbs.
Fast carbs hit the bloodstream quickly, spike blood sugar, and leave hunger returning soon after.
A pretty extreme diet done for a short time.
That’s how Lygdback described this cutting phase. Think of the list below as a menu of first things to trim, not a lifelong ban.
4. Pasta
A big bowl delivers a huge carbohydrate load without much notice, so pasta was out.
Swapping it for a smaller portion of slow carbs plus extra vegetables can make a visible difference within weeks, especially as metabolism slows with age.
3. Soda and Fruit Juice
Soda was gone, and juice went with it. Without the fiber of whole fruit, a glass of orange juice lands on blood sugar almost like a soft drink.
Liquid calories also never fill you up. Water became the drink of choice, with a small morning shot of ginger, cayenne, and lemon.
2. Dairy
During his strictest phase, Skarsgård’s diet was dairy-free as much as possible. Lygdback notes that some people respond really well to cutting it, while others don’t.
The takeaway is test, don’t assume. Try two or three weeks with less milk, cheese, and cream, then track digestion, energy, and waistline.
1. White Bread
Here’s the everyday offender. Toast at breakfast, a sandwich at lunch, a bread basket at dinner: bread sneaks into nearly every meal.
It topped Lygdback’s fast-carb list, and the diet went gluten-free when possible. Try eggs in the morning and vegetables at lunch instead, and notice how much lighter you feel.
The Five Foods Powering His Physique
- Eggs: Four eggs with spinach and other vegetables kicked off each day. Complete protein protects muscle and keeps hunger quiet for hours.
- Salmon and seafood: Salmon at lunch, shrimp or mahi-mahi as snacks, sashimi in the afternoon. Fatty fish adds omega-3 fats that support heart health and help keep inflammation down.
- Sweet potatoes and brown rice: Carbs weren’t banned, just chosen carefully. Brown rice, quinoa, and sweet potatoes were capped at two servings daily, giving steady training energy instead of a spike and crash.
- Avocado: A daily source of healthy fat that turns plain fish and vegetables into a satisfying meal.
- Unsalted nuts: During the cutting phase, nuts went unsalted because salt encourages water retention. A small handful beats chips and keeps cravings in check.
A typical day meant five meals roughly three hours apart, heavy lifting in the evening, and a dinner much like lunch.
The 17-out-of-20 Rule That Makes It Livable
Strict phases end. For The Northman, Lygdback switched to a far more flexible approach: 17 of every 20 meals clean, with the other three being anything at all.
It’s really important that you can enjoy your food.
That mindset is what makes the plan sustainable well past 50.
Alexander’s Weekly Workout, Day by Day
Skarsgård lifted five days a week, with high-intensity cardio before each session and an optional sixth day for mobility and recovery.
Rep ranges shifted weekly, from heavier sets of six to eight to lighter sets of 10 to 15. On exhausted days, his trainer switched to lighter weights and machines to protect him from injury.
Look like a bear but move like a wolf.
That was Lygdback’s stated goal. Below is a week built from his approach and adapted for lifters over 50.
Start Every Session Here
Do five to 10 minutes of intervals on a bike or rower.
The Weekly Split
- Monday (chest and shoulders): Bench press, four sets, working from 12 reps down to six as weight climbs. Then incline dumbbell press (4×10), cable crossovers (3×10), and seated shoulder press (3×10).
- Tuesday (back and rear shoulders): Lat pulldowns or chin-ups plus seated rows, four sets of 10 each. Finish with cable face pulls and dumbbell side raises, four sets of 15.
- Wednesday (legs and core): Squats or leg press (4×10), Romanian deadlifts (3×10), and walking lunges (3×12). Close with planks, side planks, and leg raises.
- Thursday (the wolf day): Five three-minute rounds of bear crawls, frog jumps, chin-ups, and push-up burpees, resting one minute between rounds.
- Friday (full body): One push, one pull, and one leg exercise, four sets of eight, slightly heavier than earlier in the week.
- Saturday (mobility): Thirty minutes of yoga, stretching, or a long walk.
- Sunday: Rest.
Just starting out? Begin with three of these days and build up gradually.
On tired days, copy Skarsgård’s trainer: go lighter, use machines, and live to train another day.
The Bottom Line
- Trim: pasta, soda, juice, white bread, and possibly dairy, if testing shows it helps.
- Build plates around: eggs, seafood, slow carbs, avocado, and nuts.
- Train: hard up to five days weekly, mixing in conditioning and mobility.
- Stay flexible: keep 17 of 20 meals clean and enjoy the rest.
Strict phases get headlines, but consistency and enjoyment keep results around for years.
