I’m the best one,’ Matt ‘Legend’ Morsia tells Men’s Health, about his position on the long-running challenge show, Gladiators. He’s not wrong. Pit the former track-and-field star against a member of the public and the chances are the civilian is going down.
Light entertainment aside, Morsia is best known for his YouTube channel MattDoesFitness, in which, for 13 years, he’s been deconstructing fitness and diet myths for his 2.4 million subscribers. Now, he’s squeezed all of this knowledge into a new book, Fitness Unlocked.
What did you have for dinner last night?
This is going to sound worse than it is, but I had squashed chicken with spices, paired with sweet potato fries, broccoli and halloumi. And cranberry juice. Dinner is a bit of a roulette wheel. My wife makes it with whatever we have – I just make sure I get a load of protein and some veg. Other than that, it’s calories first, then protein.
Do you have specific protein and calorie goals?
I’m 40 and at this age, you’re not going to build a new physique. I’m just sustaining it. I haven’t done a bulk or a cut for years. My metabolism has calmed down a bit, but my maintenance is probably around 4,900 calories, with 200g of protein per day.
What does lunch look like on a daily basis?
Six eggs and four bits of toast with a sociably unacceptable amount of butter. I like a thick white tiger bread, or a seeded bagel for more protein. I alternate between egg formats to keep it fresh. I’m currently scrambling eggs, but I’m starting to get bored of that. And no sriracha or anything. If you’re putting condiments on that, you’ve damaged your flavour sensitivity. You need to go off into some sort of monk state for a few months and recalibrate.
Your diet feels pretty, erm, bland?
I’m a safe eater, but it’s through necessity, because I need to know what I’m eating. My wife loves tapas, but I have no idea how much protein is in the 17 little weird things I’ve just had. If we go to a restaurant, I don’t share. This is my meal; if someone’s touching my food, get off.
How has being on Gladiators impacted your diet?
More so my workouts than my nutrition. Previously I’ve been a triple jumper, a powerlifter and somewhat of a bodybuilder. But on Gladiators, I’m climbing and running and hanging and a whole bunch of extra things. As well as being agile, you want to look good, too. So it’s a lot to focus on, blending functionality with traditional hypertrophy workouts, as well as risk management. It’s pretty taxing. Your elbows get absolutely pounded in a lot of the hanging movements, for example. You need to get everything in without overdoing it.
You ripped your bicep filming Gladiators. What happened?
It was a game where the contestant is trying to get past you on a high platform. I’m an absolute monster at it, but this weasel got past me. As he did, I tackled him, but I went off the platform at the same time. I thought I’d ripped his vest off, but the sound was my bicep ripping away from the tendon that holds it in place. It needed surgery, but on the spectrum of injuries that need surgery, it’s not too bad.
One of the first sections of your book is titled ‘Most people’s training sucks.’ Why is that?
The majority of people don’t follow a plan. They don’t track it and they spend a lot of their time in the gym doing stupid shit like the cross trainer or the StairMaster. Cardio does not get you in good shape, resistance training does. But they’re doing the same workout with the same weights every week. Your body needs new challenges to change!
Fitness Unlocked (Sphere, £20) is out now
Quick-Fire Questions
Cheat Meal
I have a generous metabolism, so I don’t need a cheat meal, but if I did it would be pizza in pretty much any form.
Protein Hierarchy
- Cheese is a very underrated protein source that people overlook because of calories
- Eggs
- Milk in a plant-based protein shake
Supplement Stack
A standard multivitamin, glucosamine for joints and fish oil. But if you’re eating a decent, varied diet, you’re good to go.
Fitness Tech
I use my app, the Morsia app. And I have a bed that tells me if I’ve slept well. But I sometimes wake up feeling great and it tells me I’ve slept badly, and then I feel shit.
