Matthew McConaughey is an American actor, full of Southern charm and good looks.
These characteristics of his took him a long way in making him the leading man in many, many rom-com roles.
And to think that he actually enrolled at the University of Texas to study law! But then he switched over to film production, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in 1993.
He appeared in some commercials and a movie too, called Dazed and Confused.
Many thought this was his breakout movie.
The success didn’t end there.
It paved the way for plenty of other successful movies such as Angels in the Outfield, Boys on the Side, and Lone Star. Matthew is married to Camila Alves and they have three kids, Levi, Vida, and Livingston.
They live in Austin, Texas.
Matthew McConaughey’s Workout & Diet Plan
Current Stats
- Weight: 82 kg./181 pounds
- Birthday: 4 November 1969
- Birthplace: Uvalde, Texas, USA
Accolades/accomplishments:
Because the list is so long full of winning awards running over a long span, we are showing you the full list here.
But now, after 30 years of following a movie career, Matthew McConaughey is starting to tell his own story. In an interview with AARP The Magazine in June of this year, Matthews reflected on all of his roles.
He had decided to step down from being the “King of Rom-Coms” movies.
In that time, he wrote a best-selling book; his 2020 memoirs, called “Greenlights” which were published last October.
After he quit rom-com movies, he got some more dramatic roles in movies such as The Lincoln Lawyer, a TV series called True Detective, and a movie called Dallas Buyers Club, for which he lost 50 pounds!
He’s talking now of “livin’ ” even larger – contemplating a run for governor of Texas.
His dieting and his workouts made him a super-hunk back in 2005, and People Magazine voted him The Most Sexiest Man Alive.
Workout Principles of Matthew McConaughey
Matthew finds the time to work out, even if it is at home.
A home workout will consist of pull-ups, doing sprints, and free weights.
He is a fan of mountain biking and surfing too. He likes his workouts to be just as mentally and spiritually beneficial as his physical workouts.
So he will choose outdoor workouts over indoor workouts.
He told Men’s Journal that there are plenty of ways to be active outdoors, “It’s more fun that way.”
So he will cycle the hills, paddle on the lake in Austin, and run on the beach. Halfway on his run, he will do strength exercises.
He says, “At the halfway point I’ll drop down and [do] intermittent crunches and push-ups, and then run the second half.”
Fitness plays a huge part in his life, so he started a non-profit organization called j.k. livin foundation. It funds after-school fitness and wellness programs for vulnerable inner-city teenagers.
Matthew’s Training Methods
If he is too busy for a scheduled workout, Matthew will still fit in bursts of activity.
“I’ll drop and give myself 20 pushups at intervals throughout the day. 9 a.m., bang out 20.
If he sits in a boring meeting at 10:30 am, he will bang out 20. “I do that 10 times throughout the day, I’ve done 200,” he says.
He will even mix it up with squats, or crunches, or whatever.
He also has a 12-pound medicine ball. He says he will pick it up and for 30 minutes he will use it for his fitness.
In the outdoors, he will use a 20-pound rock as his outdoor weight – “Shoulder presses, chest presses, bent-over rows, overhead triceps extensions, and a couple of biceps curls.
Add in hamstring, groin, and back stretches after that, and you’re good.”
His personal trainer attributes Matthew’s youthful appearance to the fact that he trains all year round and not just for the roles he is going to perform in, as a lot of Hollywood actors do.
Matthew McConaughey’s Workout Routine
Matthew trains anything from 3-6 days a week.
He loves fitness and being active, getting in as much activity as he can.
You must love what you are doing, he reckons.
- Day one – He will do circuit training and cardio.
- Day two – Day two is his activity day. He will do biking or rock climbing. Whatever it is, he will be playing sports. He will even get in some sit-ups and push-ups, as well as callisthenic movements throughout the day.
- Day three is the same as day one – cardio exercises and circuit training.
- Day four is another activity day – anything from rock climbing to biking, to sports.
- Day five is another cardio and circuit training day.
- Day six is another activity day again where he will participate in anything he loves doing.
Want to stay ripped all year round as Matthew does?
Matthew McConaughey’s Diet
For the one movie that Matthew was in, Dallas Buyers Club, he lost 50 pounds for this role.
He had to portray the role of Ron Woodroof who died due to complications from Aids.
Dallas Buyers Club is based on Ron’s real-life experiences.
To play the role of Ron, McConaughey had to lose weight.
This meant he “chewed a lot of ice” getting himself down to 10 stone for his role. He also ate a lot of veggies and fish, trying to lose so much weight in the healthiest way.
Fish is often cited by dietitians as an excellent source of protein for people who want to lose weight.
Vegetables, too, are considered the best weight-loss foods. They have plenty of fiber and nutrients in them and are low in calories.
Matthew says he met up with a nutritionist, giving himself four months to lose the weight.
He ate his programmed meals and lost 3.5lb a week.
He said he become hyper in his head, needing 3 hours less sleep every night.
He also said that during this time, he didn’t do any exercise.
But when it came to Magic Mike, Matthew got so shredded – this was another role altogether.
Read about his journey here, his workouts, and his nutrition.
Since Dallas Buyers Club days, Matthew has reverted back to the “80/20 balanced” lifestyle that the Paleo diet promotes.
He still has his glass of wine daily, plus he has protein shakes between his meals to support his very active lifestyle.
The Paleo diet focuses on fish, meat, vegetables, and fruit.
The Paleo diet is also scientifically proven to help stave off degenerative diseases – like cancer, obesity, diabetes, Parkinson’s, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, infertility, and depression.
It offers plenty of energy too.
Here are samples of what to eat on the Paleo diet:
- Grass produced meat, not grain-produced meat
- Fish and other seafood’s
- Fresh fruits and veggies
- Eggs
- Seeds and nuts
- Healthy oils like walnut, olive, macadamia, flaxseed, coconut, and avocado
Foods not to eat on the Paleo diet:
- Cereal grains
- Dairy
- Legumes, which includes peanuts
- Potatoes
- Salt
- Processed foods
- Refined vegetable oils
Today, besides drinking plenty of water and eating a healthy diet, Matthew says he doesn’t eat his main meal after 6.30 pm.
He also prefers to eat smaller amounts of food, so that he has about four to five meals a day.
Every day he will drink a bottle of kombucha, which is fermented tea.
He also tries to get in at least nine-and-a-half hours of sleep every night.
Matthew McConaughey’s Supplements
- Protein
- Multivitamins
- Mass gainer
- Coenzyme-Q10
- Green Tea Extract
- Pre-workout
- BCAAs
- Glutamine
His Noteworthy recommendations
Matthew McConaughey offers some noteworthy recommendations for those people who, according to his dad, haven’t “gotten their ‘lick’ yet.”
He says his dad would every day wake up and throw his legs off the bed saying, “Today’s gonna be the day! ‘I’m gonna hit a lick!”
That means make a big sale.
So what does Matthew have to advise for those who haven’t gotten their lick yet?
Well, he says it’s all about a saying that came from the German literary giant, Goethe, and goes like this, “Cease endlessly striving for what you want to do and learn to love what must be done.”
Matthew says it’s another way of embracing or taking responsibility for what you have to do in your life.
That leads straight on to self-reliance, he says.
He says further, “We gotta go to work. Let’s work. Everybody,” said McConaughey.
And when you are faced with more challenging periods in your life, he says, remember that they have a lesson in them that we are supposed to learn from.
And when we have learned the lesson in them, that is what makes them green lights
“It’s fun to feel healthy, and it’s fun to feel good and I gotta have both. Working out is Monday. Eating good food, having a cocktail, going dancing? That’s Saturday. But you can have it all in the same day” – Matthew McConaughey