Frank Grillo Eats Once a Day at 60 and Stays Shredded. His TRT Coach Says That’s the Biggest Mistake (Here’s What He Should Do Instead)

Frank Grillo just did something almost unheard of in Hollywood.

The 60-year-old actor, known for his perpetually shredded physique in films like The Purge and Captain America: The Winter Soldier, opened up in a brutally honest Men’s Health interview about his use of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) and peptides.

While most celebrities dodge questions about performance enhancement, Grillo leaned in—revealing not just what he uses, but how he’s maintained an elite-level physique well into his sixties.

Former IFBB pro bodybuilder and optimization coach Nick Trigili broke down Grillo’s revelations, separating what actually works from what might be wishful thinking—and the results are eye-opening for any man over 40 wondering what’s really possible with modern biohacking.

When Grit Wasn’t Enough: Grillo’s Testosterone Wake-Up Call

At 54, Grillo discovered his testosterone had plummeted to 260 ng/dL—well below the typical range of 300-1,000 ng/dL for adult males.

My testosterone was 260. And my doctor had said to me, ‘I’m amazed that you can still train the way you’re training at those levels. It’s pure grit and determination.’

But according to Trigili, Grillo had a massive advantage most men don’t: decades of disciplined training and nutrition already dialed in.

When TRT was added to that foundation, it became rocket fuel.

This highlights a crucial principle often overlooked in optimization discussions. Building momentum early—through consistent training, proper nutrition, and lifestyle discipline—creates a compounding effect as you age.

Men who wait until their 50s to start addressing declining hormones face a much steeper uphill battle than those who maintain their health preventively.

The Libido Paradox: Why Testosterone Isn’t Everything

Grillo noted something that puzzled many viewers: despite his clinically low testosterone, his sex drive remained intact.

Sexually, I was fine. I mean, I didn’t feel like my sex drive or anything was diminished.

Trigili explains this isn’t as contradictory as it sounds. Libido is influenced by far more than just testosterone levels.

Free testosterone—the biologically active form your body can actually use—matters more than total testosterone for sexual function. But even that’s just one piece of the puzzle.

Cortisol levels, inflammatory markers, estrogen balance, progesterone, and even blood glucose control all play significant roles in libido and sexual performance.

A man can have “normal” total testosterone but still experience sexual dysfunction if other hormones are imbalanced or if chronic inflammation is present.

This is why comprehensive bloodwork—not just a single testosterone reading—is essential for optimization.

The Hollywood Secret Everyone Knows But Won’t Say

Grillo didn’t mince words when discussing how actors achieve dramatic physique transformations.

They do it by taking anavar and deca and all the things that now are prescribable by doctors. None of those are natural. Those guys don’t walk around looking one way for six months out of the year and then all of a sudden they have 35 pounds of muscle on them. We all know what they’re doing. Everybody.

This level of transparency is virtually unheard of in Hollywood.

Anavar (oxandrolone) and deca-durabolin (nandrolone decanoate) are both anabolic steroids commonly used for muscle building and recovery. While technically available by prescription, they’re used far more liberally in entertainment and athletics than most people realize.

Trigili, who works with A-list celebrities under strict NDAs, confirms that the pharmaceutical toolkit extends well beyond just these two compounds.

The real magic isn’t in the drugs themselves—it’s in how they’re used, the precision of dosing, the cycling protocols, and most importantly, the training and nutrition frameworks built around them.

Growth Hormone: The Missing Piece Most Men Ignore

While testosterone gets all the attention, Trigili emphasizes that growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) are actually more important for building and maintaining muscle as men age.

Testosterone primarily drives recovery, mental health, motivation, and energy. Growth hormone is what signals tissue repair and regeneration.

During deep sleep, your body releases pulses of growth hormone that repair muscle tissue, maintain collagen production, and support metabolic function.

As men age, natural GH production declines significantly. This is why many men with “great” testosterone levels still struggle to hold onto muscle—their IGF-1 and growth hormone levels are in the basement.

Trigili reports that once these markers are optimized alongside testosterone, recovery accelerates dramatically, training adaptations improve, and body composition shifts become sustainable.

Eating Once a Day: Frank’s Biggest Mistake

One of the most controversial aspects of Grillo’s protocol is his eating pattern.

I eat once a day. I’m constantly at a calorie deficit.

Trigili was blunt in his assessment: this is a terrible approach for someone training at Grillo’s intensity, regardless of how good the results look externally.

Eating once daily when you’re doing high-intensity training six to seven days a week creates several problems:

• Inadequate amino acid availability for muscle protein synthesis throughout the day
• Poor insulin sensitivity regulation due to massive glucose spikes from single large meals
• Compromised digestion and nutrient absorption when overwhelming the system with all daily calories at once
• Suboptimal hormone production due to extended fasting periods during high-stress training
• Energy crashes and recovery deficits from unstable blood sugar

Trigili recommends a minimum of two to three properly timed meals for anyone engaged in serious training, adjusting frequency based on activity level, work demands, and recovery needs.

The goal isn’t just maintaining muscle mass—it’s optimizing health markers, hormone production, and long-term sustainability.

Training Seven Days a Week: A Recipe for Burnout

Grillo trains every single day, boxing six days a week on top of his resistance training.

While this demonstrates incredible discipline and work ethic, Trigili warns it’s also a ticking time bomb.

I train every day. I box six days a week.

No matter how dialed in your optimization protocol is, your body needs structured recovery time to actually repair and adapt to training stress.

Growth doesn’t happen in the gym—it happens during recovery.

Without adequate rest days, several physiological systems begin to break down:

• Accumulated central nervous system fatigue
• Elevated cortisol from chronic training stress
• Suppressed immune function
• Increased injury risk from repetitive microtrauma
• Hormonal disruption despite pharmaceutical support

Trigili predicts that without implementing strategic recovery periods, Grillo faces increased risk of serious injury or health setback that could undo years of progress.

Even with peptides and TRT, the body has limits.

The Peptide Stack: BPC-157 and Beyond

Grillo mentioned using BPC-157, often included in what’s called the “Wolverine stack” of recovery peptides.

I take some peptides, BPC-157. Helps me I think—I think it’s helping me recover a bit and with some minor injuries.

BPC-157 (Body Protection Compound-157) is a synthetic peptide derived from a protective protein found in stomach acid. It’s become popular in optimization circles for its purported healing properties.

However, the research here is more limited than many users realize. While animal studies have shown promising results for tendon healing, muscle repair, and gut protection, well-controlled human trials are sparse. Most evidence remains anecdotal or from preliminary research.

Grillo’s uncertainty—”I think it’s helping”—reflects this evidence gap.

Trigili notes that while many of his clients report subjective improvements with BPC-157 and similar peptides, the protocols matter immensely: dosing, timing, injection site, and cycling all impact results.

The “Wolverine stack” typically includes multiple peptides working synergistically—not just BPC-157 alone—such as TB-500 (Thymosin Beta-4) for tissue repair and various growth hormone secretagogues.

What Professional Wrestlers Know That You Don’t

During the interview, Grillo and his hosts discussed professional wrestling’s brutal physical demands.

Trigili offers a perspective most fans miss: these athletes couldn’t possibly maintain their schedules without aggressive hormone optimization.

Professional wrestlers perform multiple times per week, travel constantly, maintain significant muscle mass, and execute high-impact maneuvers that would destroy an unoptimized body.

The key isn’t just looking impressive—it’s surviving the neurological and musculoskeletal stress of performing at that intensity year-round.

This illustrates an important principle: optimization isn’t about vanity; it’s about capacity.

Whether you’re a wrestler, an actor preparing for a role, or a businessman who wants to perform at your peak well into your sixties, hormone optimization expands what your body can handle and recover from.

The Real Protocol: What Frank Isn’t Saying

Toward the end of the interview, Grillo shared his “official” protocol.

I take one shot of testosterone a week. Take some peptides, BPC-157. Other than that, it’s all me—all dedication, diet, and whatever else.

Trigili isn’t buying it. He’d bet his bank account that Grillo’s actual protocol is significantly more comprehensive.

Based on his physique, training volume, recovery capacity, and age, Trigili believes Grillo is likely rotating through multiple peptides for growth hormone optimization, recovery enhancement, and inflammation management.

The “one shot a week” of testosterone is likely just the foundation—a cruise dose of TRT that gets strategically adjusted based on training demands and filming schedules.

This isn’t a criticism of Grillo’s honesty—he’s already far more transparent than most celebrities. But there’s a difference between acknowledging you use optimization tools and fully disclosing the precise protocols.

Trigili emphasizes that what matters isn’t the specific compounds anyway—it’s having expert guidance on how to use them, comprehensive bloodwork monitoring, and integration with training, nutrition, and recovery strategies.

The Anti-Aging Mindset: Frank’s Most Valuable Asset

Beyond the pharmaceutical protocols, Grillo revealed something more fundamental to his success.

My journey is about proving to myself and the people around me that all these ideas we had in the past about being limited by age—I’ve kind of annihilated all that.

This psychological framework might be more important than any peptide.

Grillo mentioned watching his father at 45 or 50 and thinking how old he seemed—because his father believed he was old.

The expectation of decline becomes self-fulfilling when men stop challenging their bodies, accept reduced capacity as inevitable, and abandon the habits that built their earlier vitality.

Optimization protocols work best when layered onto an already strong foundation of consistent training, disciplined nutrition, and a mindset that refuses to accept age-related decline as mandatory.

What This Means for Men Over 40

Frank Grillo’s physique at 60 isn’t the result of genetics or luck. It’s engineered biology—decades of discipline combined with strategic pharmaceutical optimization.

But according to Trigili, even Grillo is leaving significant performance on the table with his one-meal-per-day approach and seven-day training week.

The principles that apply to Hollywood actors apply equally to any man serious about longevity and performance:

• Comprehensive hormone optimization goes beyond just testosterone—IGF-1, growth hormone, thyroid, and cortisol all matter
• Nutrition must match your metabolic demands—one meal daily won’t cut it for intense training
• Recovery is non-negotiable—even elite optimization can’t overcome chronic overtraining
• Bloodwork is your roadmap—guessing about what your body needs leads to suboptimal results
• Professional guidance multiplies results—knowing what tools exist isn’t the same as knowing how to use them properly

Most importantly, optimization isn’t about looking like a movie star—it’s about maintaining the capacity to do what you love at the level you want to do it, for as long as humanly possible.

That might mean staying competitive in your sport, keeping up with your kids or grandkids, maintaining your edge in business, or simply feeling 25 when you’re actually 60.

The tools exist. The protocols work. The question is whether you’re willing to invest in building and maintaining the foundation that makes them effective—or if you’ll wait until your testosterone hits 260 before taking action.

Sources

• Mayo Clinic: Testosterone levels in men – https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/sexual-health/in-depth/testosterone-therapy/art-20045728
• Harvard Health: Growth hormone, athletic performance, and aging – https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/growth-hormone-athletic-performance-and-aging
• National Institutes of Health (PubMed): BPC-157 research overview – https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/