Alan Ritchson is one of the biggest actors – literally and figuratively – in Hollywood. He’s currently gracing our TV screens as the eponymous protagonist in Reacher, with his muscular frame on full display. But his build isn’t down to some miracle workout routine: it’s the result of years of dedicated hard work. In fact, his approach to growing muscle has been far simpler than you might expect.
Rather than overcomplicate his training, Ritchson focuses on doing the basics extremely well. Often that involves using just his bodyweight and completing as many reps as he possibly can. And considering he weighs in at over 100kg, the 43-year-old requires plenty of strength just to do that.
‘There are seasons where I feel that what my body needs right now is high volume, cardiovascular-based plyometrics, push-ups, pull-ups, dips, and sit-ups,’ Ritchson previously said on the Thomas DeLauer podcast. ‘It’s something that I’ve relied on for so long. And I get a lot of strength out of that, and a lot of definition.
‘If I’m doing 100 pull-ups a day, 100 dips a day, 250 push-ups and sit-ups, you get huge pumps and eventually those pumps become your reality.’
Ritchson added that this approach works well for him because he’s not fussed about the weight he’s moving or the numbers on the bar. Muscle, and muscle definition, is all that matters.
‘Strength is not the goal for me,’ he added. ‘It’s more aesthetics. People ask me all the time, “How much do you bench?” And that’s not my goal. I’m not a powerlifter. The powerlifters that I know have all had knee and joint replacements and that’s not my goal. It’s about volume to me. I can pump out 25 [reps] at 225lb (102kg).
‘For the last couple of years I’ve shied away from doing six exercises that target just the pecs. I’ll now do pecs and back – maybe two sets each. So, four exercises total, chest and back, and then for my legs I’ll do squats just to keep some balance in the system. And then maybe the next day I’ll focus on legs and I’ll do maybe three or four leg exercises and then I’m back in the upper body.’
He continued: ‘I almost never do less than 15 reps. Hypertrophy to me begins at 15 and ends at 25. That’s sort of my range. I fluctuate, but most of my exercises fall somewhere probably between 15 and 20.’
His workouts often start with 250 reps of whatever core exercise he fancies doing that day, such as hanging leg raises or crunches, before then moving onto 20 to 30 minutes of intense cardio. That cardio is performed on either the curved treadmill, where he completes sprint intervals, or the stair climber – a machine he ‘loves’. Only then does Ritchson move into his resistance exercises.
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Ryan is a Senior Writer at Men’s Health UK with a passion for storytelling, health and fitness. Having graduated from Cardiff University in 2020, and later obtaining his NCTJ qualification, Ryan started his career as a Trainee News Writer for sports titles Golf Monthly, Cycling Weekly and Rugby World before progressing to Staff Writer and subsequently Senior Writer with football magazine FourFourTwo.
During his two-and-a-half years there he wrote news stories for the website and features for the magazine, while he also interviewed names such as Les Ferdinand, Ally McCoist, Jamie Redknapp and Antonio Rudiger, among many others. His standout memory, though, came when getting the opportunity to speak to then-Plymouth Argyle manager Steven Schumacher as the club won League One in 2023.
Having grown up a keen footballer and playing for his boyhood side until the age of 16, Ryan got the opportunity to represent Northern Ireland national futsal team eight times, scoring three goals against England, Scotland and Gibraltar. Now past his peak, Ryan prefers to mix weightlifting with running – he achieved a marathon PB of 3:31:49 at Manchester in April 2025, but credits the heat for failing to get below the coveted 3:30 mark…
You can follow Ryan on Instagram @ryan.dabbs or on X @ryandabbs_