{"id":564496,"date":"2026-07-23T16:21:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T16:21:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/564496\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T16:21:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T16:21:10","slug":"how-micah-richards-built-his-big-meeks-physique-with-boxing-daily-gym-sessions-and-giving-up-alcohol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/564496\/","title":{"rendered":"How Micah Richards Built His \u2018Big Meeks\u2019 Physique with Boxing, Daily Gym Sessions and Giving Up Alcohol"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"4\" class=\"css-1ood0zq emevuu60\">When it comes to energy and physique, they don&#8217;t come much bigger than the self-proclaimed &#8216;Big Meeks&#8217; \u2013 aka Micah Richards.<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"9\" class=\"css-1ood0zq emevuu60\">During his professional football career, Richards was banned from doing upper body work in the gym for fear of him adding too much muscle to his already-stacked frame. <\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"13\" class=\"css-1ood0zq emevuu60\">But now, seven years into his retirement, the 38-year-old has let loose, bulking up and showing off his huge <a href=\"https:\/\/www.menshealth.com\/uk\/building-muscle\/a754655\/16-best-exercises-for-bigger-arms\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-vars-ga-outbound-link=\"https:\/\/www.menshealth.com\/uk\/building-muscle\/a754655\/16-best-exercises-for-bigger-arms\/\" data-vars-ga-ux-element=\"Hyperlink\" data-vars-ga-call-to-action=\"arms\" data-node-id=\"13.1\" class=\"body-link css-10fnnmt emevuu60\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">arms<\/a> in fitted suits on our TV screens each week. Along with his infectious laugh, he&#8217;s impossible to miss.<\/p>\n<p>Inside His Training Regime<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"19\" class=\"css-1ood0zq emevuu60\">When he&#8217;s consistent, Richards has confirmed he hits the gym once a day to lift weights.  <\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"24\" class=\"css-1ood0zq emevuu60\">&#8216;As you may be aware, I take my fitness and gym quite seriously,&#8217; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/C5ytmR7MVU7\/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" data-vars-ga-outbound-link=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/C5ytmR7MVU7\/?hl=en\" data-vars-ga-ux-element=\"Hyperlink\" data-vars-ga-call-to-action=\"he said\" data-node-id=\"24.1\" class=\"body-link css-10fnnmt emevuu60\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">he said<\/a> on his Instagram. &#8216;And Big Meeks needs to stay BIG.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"28\" class=\"css-1ood0zq emevuu60\">Of course, Richards has had periods where his motivation has lapsed. Last year, he says he fell into a habit of drinking a bit too much alcohol, which led to his motivation to train dwindling.<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"33\" class=\"css-1ood0zq emevuu60\">He revealed on The Rest is Football podcast that he knocked alcohol on the head for a while as a result, in a bid to lose weight after &#8216;putting on timber&#8217;. <\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"37\" class=\"css-1ood0zq emevuu60\">&#8216;What&#8217;s happening is that I&#8217;m drinking and not going and doing my exercise the next day. I also had a problem with my back and had the epidural injection. <\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"41\" class=\"css-1ood0zq emevuu60\">&#8216;Now, I&#8217;m not drinking and feel great. I feel like I&#8217;ve got more energy,&#8217; <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RestIsFootball\/status\/1975168792557711574\" target=\"_blank\" data-vars-ga-outbound-link=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RestIsFootball\/status\/1975168792557711574\" data-vars-ga-ux-element=\"Hyperlink\" data-vars-ga-call-to-action=\"he explained\" data-node-id=\"41.1\" class=\"body-link css-10fnnmt emevuu60\" rel=\"nofollow\">he explained<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>Why He Does Boxing for His Cardio<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"46\" class=\"css-1ood0zq emevuu60\">That back issue and the problems with his knee that forced him to retire from football, mean he isn&#8217;t able to run or kick a ball at all. When his injuries were at their worst, he said he needed to drain fluid from his knee every three days.<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"50\" class=\"css-1ood0zq emevuu60\">With that in mind, he&#8217;s had to find an alternative way to maintain his cardiovascular fitness, with boxing forming a central part of his routine.  <\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"54\" class=\"css-1ood0zq emevuu60\">&#8216;I have been working on it a little bit but technique&#8217;s a little off, right knee is not great,&#8217; he explained on Sky&#8217;s A League of their Own. &#8216;I&#8217;m trying to train, just for fitness.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"58\" class=\"css-1ood0zq emevuu60\">That boxing training has also included sessions alongside his CBS colleague Kate Scott&#8217;s husband, Malik Scott, who has coached heavyweight Deontay Wilder. And Scott was impressed with what he saw.  <\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"62\" class=\"css-1ood0zq emevuu60\">&#8216;Micah is strong and has good punching mechanics,&#8217; he explained. &#8216;When I had him on the pads, it felt like I was coaching someone very coordinated. He knows what it takes to compete because he&#8217;s competed at the highest level in his sport.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Training with Thierry Henry<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"67\" class=\"css-1ood0zq emevuu60\">Just don&#8217;t expect Big Meeks to keep up with Thierry Henry in the gym anytime soon. Richards has struggled to match the intensity of the Frenchman in sessions gone by, with Henry explaining that he is still waiting for him to return. <\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"71\" class=\"css-1ood0zq emevuu60\">&#8216;Micah came twice and it took him at least two years to come back,&#8217; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.menshealth.com\/uk\/workouts\/a71636123\/thierry-henry-abs-workout\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-vars-ga-outbound-link=\"https:\/\/www.menshealth.com\/uk\/workouts\/a71636123\/thierry-henry-abs-workout\/\" data-vars-ga-ux-element=\"Hyperlink\" data-vars-ga-call-to-action=\"Henry told Men&#039;s Health\" data-node-id=\"71.1\" class=\"body-link css-10fnnmt emevuu60\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Henry told Men&#8217;s Health<\/a>. &#8216;He came the other day, and it was a strong <a href=\"https:\/\/www.menshealth.com\/uk\/building-muscle\/a757285\/best-ab-exercises\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-vars-ga-outbound-link=\"https:\/\/www.menshealth.com\/uk\/building-muscle\/a757285\/best-ab-exercises\/\" data-vars-ga-ux-element=\"Hyperlink\" data-vars-ga-call-to-action=\"ab\" data-node-id=\"71.3\" class=\"body-link css-10fnnmt emevuu60\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">ab<\/a> session for 50 minutes \u2013 50 seconds work and 10 seconds recovery for 50 minutes. I&#8217;m still waiting for him to come back.&#8217; <\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"76\" class=\"css-1ood0zq emevuu60\">If there\u2019s one thing Kori Sampson knows, it\u2019s how to optimise your body composition for performance. To tap into his knowledge as an elite athlete and coach, we asked him to create a 4-week plan to help you move faster, recover quicker and keep pushing when the fatigue sets in \u2013 all while improving your muscle-to-fat ratio.<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"80\" class=\"css-1ood0zq emevuu60\">Ready to build muscle, burn fat and come out the other side looking, feeling and performing better? <a href=\"https:\/\/link.menshealth.co.uk\/join\/signup-mens-health-summer-2026-titlesite\" data-vars-ga-outbound-link=\"https:\/\/link.menshealth.co.uk\/join\/signup-mens-health-summer-2026-titlesite\" data-vars-ga-call-to-action=\"CLICK HERE\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-vars-ga-ux-element=\"Hyperlink\" data-node-id=\"80.1\" class=\"body-btn-link css-1pnd5gs emevuu60\" target=\"_blank\">CLICK HERE<\/a> to get 14 days of free access to the plan via the Men\u2019s Health app.<\/p>\n<p><img draggable=\"true\" alt=\"kori training plan\" title=\"kori training plan\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"3000\" height=\"3995\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" style=\"color:transparent;width:100%;height:auto;\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/a0458edc-7621-4ee9-b810-f61ea8e958c2.jpg\" class=\"css-0 e1ddfba50\"\/><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When it comes to energy and physique, they don&#8217;t come much bigger than the self-proclaimed &#8216;Big Meeks&#8217; \u2013&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":564497,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[1134,238458,1107,499,103,61,60,184510,1135,238457,223989],"class_list":["post-564496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-content-type-default","tag-contentid-b2d9f8fd-72ff-4f5a-9f76-37be616c0ec8","tag-displaytype-standard-article","tag-fitness","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-issyndicated-false","tag-locale-gb","tag-shorttitle-how-micah-richards-built-his-physique","tag-sponsored-false"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=564496"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564496\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/564497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=564496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=564496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=564496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}