Muscle & Fitness UK – July 2019

JULY 2019/MUSCLE & FITNESS 53

beautiful human beings

I’ve met. He has so much

knowledge about how to

strengthen your body.

What’s the biggest thing you

learned from him?

Probably “it’s all in the

head,” because he’s such an

example of perseverance

and determination. He’s had

moments where his back had

bulging disks, and he still

broke world records.

Do you do a lot of the stunts

yourself?

Oh, yeah. I’ve learned so

much from my stunt double,

Tamás Katrics, and our

stunt coordinator, Levente

Lezsák, who does natural

horsemanship. You feel a

connection with the

animal that goes

way beyond

anything I

imagined—you

What excites you about
Uhtred?
I relate to him because I
grew up in so many different
places, and I always feel like
the foreigner, and I think it’s
the same for him. He always
has to battle to prove himself.
I also love that he’s very
cheeky—he can be a bit of
an asshole.

It’s a pretty physical role.
How do you stay in shape?
A good friend once told me,
“Every hour you spend at
the gym is an hour you don’t
spend at the library.” So when
I’m not shooting, I do at least
an hour of Brazilian jiu-jitsu
and then 20 to 30 minutes
of weightlifting. On set I do a
lot of horse riding and sword
fighting. That keeps you in
shape. And last season, we
had [1998 World’s Strongest
Man] Magnus Samuelsson
in the cast—one of the most

can influence its behaviour by

controlling your own energy.

That’s one of my favourite

parts of the show. When I

lived in South Dakota while

growing up, I’d jump on a

horse and just ride for hours,

and all I’d see were buffalo

herds. It’s the ultimate sense

of freedom.

You’ve done your fair share

of shirtless scenes. What do

you eat to stay Vking-

ripped?

I have a naturally high

metabolism, so I’m one of

those types that people hate.

But I am drawn to foods

that happen to be healthy—

vegetables, salads, fish. I think

the closer it is to being alive,

the better it must be for you.

Do you think the actual

Vikings sported

six-pack abs?

I don’t know

whether they

cared much about

the shape of their

bodies, but they were

certainly very strong,

much stronger than we

are now. You had to be in

great shape just to survive the

elements and the battles. Try

running up a hill or jumping

on your horse wearing 40 to

50 pounds of chain mail—it

really makes a difference!

CHECK IT

OUT

Season 3 of

The Last Kingdom

is streaming now

on Netflix.

By Steve Mazzucchi