Unless you have been hiding under a rock, you know about the hit HBO series Game of Thrones. Have you seen this towering character they call “The Mountain”?! At a staggering 6’9” tall and 400 lb, the 27 year old Icelandic Strongman, Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, is nothing short of monumental. While I can’t personally attest to strongman competitor and actor’s favorite cycle of Jacked Street, I can tell you about his Bulking Protocol.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKZEk4NG1-o[/youtube]
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W34DU2Md_iQ[/youtube]
To appease inquiring fans, Björnsson recently shared his mountainous diet that seems less possible than the existence of a Dragon Queen or White Walker. What does it take to Squat 795lbs, Bench Press 510lbs and Deadlift 990lbs raw? For the man aptly known as The Mountain it takes approximately 10,704 calories, 850g of protein, 800g of carbohydrates, and 456g of fat, all coming from food. I am not a man…
The mountain’s Game of Thrones Diet
When I first saw this, I questioned why anyone would eat so excessively over what they should be eating. A moment later I found myself plugging The Mountain’s information into my handy dandy Power Athlete Nutrition spreadsheet and discovered that Björnsson is our boy. Not only is the Icelandic Power Athlete well within our recommendations for a man his size and activity level, but he is very close to our highly preferred iso-caloric approach to eating. Get this man an Eat The Weak shirt!
As previously mentioned, Björnsson weighs in at a massive 400lbs. Under Power Athlete nutritional recommendations, one would need 18-20 calories per pound of bodyweight to gain mass following a Power Athlete style strength and conditioning program. But what if an individual is performing Power Athlete style programming paired with Strongman events? In dealing with a high level athlete such as Björnsson, training under abnormally large volumes and looking to get bigger it wouldn’t be uncommon for us to prescribe a higher caloric multiplier such as the 27 calories per pound the Icelander consumes.
So what kind of workout does The Mountain follow? You better believe the man who once broke a 1,000 year long Viking record, carrying a 1,433lb log on his back trains for a purpose. If you want real word strength then your training, like life takes place in all three planes of motion and will prioritize the 7 primal movement patterns.
It should come without surprise that Björnsson’s workout program consists of a series of squats and vertical/horizontal presses and pulls performed at various levels of intensity, as seen in Field Strong programming. As a competitive Strongman, Björnsson also spends ample amount of time doing field work so that he can train the movements only made better by barbell training.
So, between you and I, unfortunately Mr. Björnsson has never had the pleasure of meeting the Power Athlete Team. Yet. Why is it then that this monstrous human being’s diet and training so closely resembles the protocols we promote while other leading “experts” and fad diet hocker’s continue to prescribe otherwise? At Power Athlete we exist to empower your performance and will only provide methods that back up this way of life. We don’t tell you what to eat for abs. We teach you to be performance driven, strong human beings who will inherently look good as a side effect of such an impressive existence.
While it’s your parents faults you can’t look just like Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, we will take credit for providing the path of empowered performance. If you’re wanting to be your own mountain of flesh, get your hands on a Power Athlete training program and pair it with our very own Bulking Protocol now!
Tagged: CrossFit Football / diet / empower your performance / game of thrones / Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson / Nutrition / Power Athlete / Programming / Strength / Strength and Conditioning / Strongman / strongman diet / The Melee Way / the mountain / the mountain actor / the mountain diet / viking / viking diet
AUTHOR
Tyler Minton
Professional mixed martial artist, gym owner and Power Athlete Nutrition Coach. An avid follower of CrossFit Football since its inception, Tyler has implemented Power Athlete methodology with thousands of athletes in his own gym and abroad. A student of Robb Wolf's for 7 years, Tyler uses the principles of ancestral health to help athletes empower their performance. One of the worlds leading weight cut experts, Tyler works with some of the UFC's top athletes, preparing them for peak performance when they step into the cage. Tyler utilizes his own personal and coaching experience, combined with the very best in nutritional education to help athletes fuel the fire!
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