When most people wake up, they might grab a coffee and toast. When you’re 7’2″ tall and preparing for a Hollywood role, breakfast looks more like a small buffet.
Popular fitness YouTuber Will Tennyson recently spent a day with Olivier Richters, officially the tallest professional bodybuilder and actor ever recorded.
What followed was an eye-opening journey through a world built for people nearly two feet shorter.
From cramming into cars designed for average-sized humans to consuming a jaw-dropping 11,000 calories in a single day, Richters’ lifestyle reveals what it truly takes to maintain an elite physique at an extraordinary height.
Jump to:
- Breakfast Like a Giant: 1,200 Calories Before Noon
- From Hiding to Hollywood: The Bodybuilding Transformation
- Meal Two Through Four: Strategic Nutrition Every Three Hours
- Dutch Traditions: Adding 5,000+ Calories Through Culture
- The Final Meal: Greek Yogurt Before Bed
- Microwave Myths: Harvard Research Surprises
- Cold Therapy: Minus 30-Degree Meat Freezer
- Key Takeaways From Living Large
- The Bottom Line
Breakfast Like a Giant: 1,200 Calories Before Noon
Richters doesn’t mess around when morning hits. His first meal of the day packs serious nutritional punch while remaining surprisingly simple.
Super lazy. Eggs in the air fryer. And I make a shake of oats and another whey scoop for the flavor. Done. 1,200 calories, 110 g of protein.
That’s ten whole eggs cooked in an air fryer, paired with a massive oat and protein shake.
When asked why ten eggs instead of his usual eight, Richters explained he’s currently preparing for an upcoming film role, which means ramping everything up by roughly 10%.
Living in a World Not Built for Your Size
Beyond nutrition, Richters faces daily challenges most people never consider. Standard doorways require ducking. Mirrors hang too low. Shower heads? Completely useless.
I have to shower on my knees. Also the mirror. Everything, the whole world is not made for my length. It’s chairs, it’s cars, it’s clothes.
This constant mismatch between his body and the environment once made him deeply unhappy. At 19, strangers staring became unbearable.
From Hiding to Hollywood: The Bodybuilding Transformation
Rather than continuing to hide in his apartment playing World of Warcraft, Richters made a pivotal decision.
I realized, okay, I can’t change my height, but I can change how I look and maybe I can become more happy. And that’s how the bodybuilding journey started from 80 kilos to 160.
Over 15 years, he doubled his bodyweight, transforming from a lanky 176 pounds to a massive 352 pounds of muscle.
That transformation opened doors—literally and figuratively—to major film roles including Black Widow, Kingsman, Indiana Jones, Borderlands, and most notably playing Reacher’s intimidating adversary in the hit Amazon series.
Building an Empire: 10,000 Meals Per Day
Richters doesn’t just eat meticulously—he runs Muscle Meat, a meal prep company producing 10,000 portions daily.
What started with 10 people making 700 meals now operates with just five employees thanks to advanced automation. Each meal gets weighed, sealed, passed through metal detectors, and individually quick-frozen at minus 40 degrees to preserve nutrients and flavor.
Tennyson watched risotto with spinach and chicken flow down production lines before sampling the finished product—a perfectly portioned 500-calorie meal with substantial protein.
Meal Two Through Four: Strategic Nutrition Every Three Hours
By noon, Richters had already consumed 3,200 calories. His eating schedule follows a rigid pattern designed to fuel constant growth and recovery.
- Meal 1 (Breakfast): 10 eggs + oat/whey shake = 1,200 calories
- Snack: Protein bar + 1 liter high-protein milk = 600 calories
- Meal 2 (Lunch): Risotto with chicken = 500 calories + shake = 600 calories
- Meal 3 (Post-Workout): Pasta Bolognese = 600 calories + shake = 600 calories
Between meals, Richters doesn’t drink water—he drinks high-protein milk containing 75 grams of protein per liter.
In between, in my car or whenever I’m thirsty, I drink this.
Training With Custom Equipment
After filming Reacher, Richters realized standard gyms wouldn’t cut it anymore. He built his own private facility with equipment specifically sized for his frame.
When Tennyson sat in Richters’ leg extension machine, the weight stack barely reached his toes. Squat racks don’t adjust high enough. Even seated equipment proves problematic when your shoulders are two feet wider than average.
The only way I can still grow is if I don’t get disturbed. I have machines where I fit in and I can train whenever I can or want.
Training from 4-5 PM allows him quality time with his young daughter each evening—a priority despite his demanding schedule.
Dutch Traditions: Adding 5,000+ Calories Through Culture
Tennyson experienced authentic Amsterdam through Richters’ eyes, sampling traditional Dutch foods that dramatically increased the day’s caloric total.
Raw Herring: Surprisingly Delicious
Despite neither man being a fish enthusiast, raw herring dipped in onions proved unexpectedly tasty—adding roughly 200 calories to the count.
Frikandel Special: Amsterdam’s “Turd”
This deep-fried chicken sausage with special toppings contributed another 300 calories. Tennyson compared it favorably to UK chicken sausages, just with fancier branding.
Dutch Licorice: An Acquired Taste
Salty licorice called “drop” received mixed reviews. Some varieties tasted like chewing pure table salt, though the “monkey bum drop” earned a respectable 6.5 out of 10.
Poffertjes Competition: 4,500 Calories in One Sitting
The real calorie bomb came at a famous poffertjes tent in Lara. These mini pancakes—made simply from eggs, flour, and milk, then topped with butter, sugar, and lemon juice—became the centerpiece of an eating competition.
Tennyson destroyed Richters, consuming 120 poffertjes to Richters’ 80. However, both fell short of the restaurant record: 240 in one sitting.
Those 120 mini pancakes, with all toppings, totaled approximately 4,500 calories—a single meal matching many people’s entire daily intake.
The Final Meal: Greek Yogurt Before Bed
After carnival rides and a day of near-constant eating, Richters prepared his final meal at home: a massive bowl of quark (a Greek yogurt-like dairy product) mixed with protein powder.
His nighttime routine involves a unique eating pattern.
I eat now half of it. Then I go sleep for 4 hours and my body just wakes up always. And then I eat the other half.
This final meal added 1,200 calories from the quark plus 200 more from protein powder, bringing the day’s grand total to approximately 11,000 calories.
He also takes a raw scoop of creatine before bed—no mixing, just straight powder.
Microwave Myths: Harvard Research Surprises
During meal prep, Richters dropped an unexpected knowledge bomb about microwave nutrition.
Harvard and other researchers tested all different things. The best way is steaming but then pan and microwave are on the same level. Why? Because the longer it has to heat and more water is used, the worse for the nutrition.
Microwaves use minimal water and short heating times, which helps preserve nutrients comparably to pan cooking—contrary to popular belief that microwaving destroys nutritional value.
Cold Therapy: Minus 30-Degree Meat Freezer
Rather than ice baths, Richters has access to something more extreme: his company’s industrial meat freezer at minus 30 degrees Celsius.
Tennyson joined him inside without protective gear. Within minutes, moisture in their nostrils froze solid. The cameraman began shaking uncontrollably.
Tennyson lasted longer than most visitors, prompting Richters to note he was “the longest one that stood next to me. Everybody wants out after 2 minutes.”
Key Takeaways From Living Large
Richters’ lifestyle offers valuable lessons beyond extreme calorie consumption.
- Consistency beats complexity: His meals remain simple—eggs, chicken, pasta, oats—just in massive quantities
- Meal timing matters: Eating every 2-3 hours maintains energy and supports muscle growth
- Environment shapes success: Building a custom gym eliminated excuses and distractions
- Turn obstacles into opportunities: His height once caused misery; now it’s his unique selling proposition
- Strategic supplementation: Protein shakes between meals, creatine before bed, vitamins with breakfast
If He Could Choose His Height
When asked what height he’d pick if given a choice, Richters gave a thoughtful answer.
If I wasn’t going for the movie industry or did something with my height, I think 2 meters is really nice. In Holland, you can drive any car. Any clothes are still okay. After 2 meters, you’re getting in trouble.
Two meters (approximately 6’6″) represents the sweet spot—tall enough to stand out, short enough to fit comfortably in the modern world.
But without his extraordinary 7’2″ frame, Richters wouldn’t have landed roles opposite Marvel heroes and Hollywood legends. His unique physique transformed from a daily burden into a multimillion-dollar asset.
The Bottom Line
Maintaining elite bodybuilding condition at 7’2″ requires more than dedication—it demands complete lifestyle restructuring.
Richters consumes 11,000 calories daily, wakes mid-sleep to eat, trains in custom equipment, runs a meal prep empire, and constantly navigates a world built for people 18 inches shorter. Yet he’s transformed these challenges into international acting success and entrepreneurial achievement.
His journey from isolated teenager to Hollywood presence proves that limitations only exist until you decide to reframe them as advantages.
Whether you’re 5’2″ or 7’2″, the principles remain: consistent nutrition, strategic training, environmental optimization, and refusing to let circumstances define your ceiling.
