Michael Fassbender's Workout Routine & Diet Plan (Updated)

James Cunningham, BSc, CPT
Published by James Cunningham, BSc, CPT | Staff Writer & Senior Coach
Last updated: February 19, 2024
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Michael Fassbender is an awarded Irish-German actor, production company Peanut Productions owner, and racing driver.

Anyone who’s seen him in Band of Brothers, 300, Assassin’s Creed, Inglourious Basterds, 12 Years a Slave, X-Men: First Class, X-Men: Days of Future Past, or any other movie must have noticed his fantastic athletic shape.

As a fitness trainer, I spent some time looking through Fassbender's workout and diet plan to find out what he did to earn such a killer body.

Here's what I found.

Quick Summary

  • Michael Fassbender's workout routine mostly comprises weighted lunges, boxing, dips, push-ups, pull-ups, barbell deadlifts, single-arm rows, and ab wheel rollout.
  • Fassbender's exercises are divided into circuits, each comprising different workouts.
  • Michael mostly takes meals with low carbs, high in animal protein, and also adopts the paleo diet.
  • Fassbender's supplement intake comprises BCAAs, pre-workouts, protein shakes, L-carnitine, multivitamins,and probiotics.

Michael Fassbender’s Stats

  • Height: 6ft
  • Weight: ~175lbs
  • Birthday: 2 April 1977

Michael Fassbender Workout Routine

Michael Fassbender Routines

Michael Fassbender's workout routine actually encompasses several workout routines, mostly relying on circuits that include boxing, push-ups, and various other compound exercises.

To gain strength and get in his peak physical condition Michael Fassbender often pushed his body to the limits, training 3–6 days a week on average.

His trainer said that he even completed 100 pull-up repetitions in one session while working out to get in shape for a role.

Let’s see specific examples of Michael Fassbender’s workout routines.

Michael Fassbender Circuit Training Sample

man training with a coach

One of Michael Fassbender’s favorite workout routines includes circuit training.

A typical day when he trains in circuits to get that killer body shape may look like this:

  • Deadlift: 5 sets of 5 reps with a 2-minute rest between sets
  • Circuit 1:
    • Weighted lunges: 5 sets x 10 reps per side
    • Weighted pull-ups: 5 sets x 8 reps
    • Weighted push-ups: 5 sets x 10 reps
  • Circuit 2:
    • Dips: 4 sets x 12 reps
    • Single-arm rows: 4 sets x 12 reps per side
    • Ab wheel rollout: 4 sets x 8 reps
  • Boxing: 3 rounds of 3 minutes
  • Cooldown: 1015 mins on a foam roller

Other celebrity workouts:

His Assassin’s Creed Workout Routine

man doing shadowboxing

While preparing for his movie role in Assassin’s Creed, Michael Fassbender worked with a personal trainer David Kingsbury.

Their main goal was improving core strength and getting as fit as possible without getting injured during all those grueling workouts and combat work in the movie.

Filming in remote locations made it more challenging and required a lot of improvisation.

So, Michael Fassbender did various compound exercises, bodyweight workouts, and martial arts training, including (kick)boxing and Muay Thai to add lean muscle and get stronger quickly.

Before every shooting day, he was also working on his physical conditioning for 90 minutes.

Michael Fassbender’s Assassin’s Creed workout routine mainly included the same exercises as his circuit workouts:

  • Barbell lunges - 5x10/side, no rest
  • Pull-ups (weighted) - 5x8, no rest
  • Push-ups - 5x10, 90-sec rest
  • Single-arm dumbbell rows - 4x12, no rest
  • Dips - 4x12, no rest
  • Shadowboxing - 3 sets of 1-minute (kick)boxing, 60-sec rest

Once Michael Fassbender got “Assassin” fit and strong, he didn’t let the stunts take the punches for him but filmed around 95% of the fight scenes himself.

His 300 Workout Routine

man doing push ups

The 300 Workout got its name from the total number of reps.

This insanely intense workout was used as a “one-time test” to measure the actors’ fitness levels. The final score is based on the total time, and the aim is to complete everything in under 20 minutes.

To get that perfectly chiseled Spartan physique for the movie, Michael Fassbender and the other actors and stuntmen performed two sets of this workout 3–4 times per week for 8–12 weeks.

It includes the following weight-training exercises without rest between the movements:

  • 25 pull-ups
  • 50 barbell deadlifts with 135lbs
  • 50 push-ups
  • 50 24-inch box jumps
  • 50 floor wipers (a core and shoulders exercise) with 135lbs
  • 50 clean and press with 36lbs kettlebell in each hand
  • 25 more pull-ups

The 300 workout program is for advanced athletes and might be seriously harmful to beginners, so experts advise caution. [1]

“This [program] was done for a stylistic effect, to look like a Spartan. The out-of-shape person who starts [the 300 graduation test] is going to be dead the first day. No one could do this without prior training. You have to progress.

 

If you have [heart problems] or are not screened, you could have a variety of exertional problems [with this workout], from serious tissue breakdown to heart attack to kidney problems. It’s too extreme for the average person.”

- William J. Kraemer, Ph.D., Kinesiology Professor at the University of Connecticut

To prepare for the fight, the movie crew also performed weapons and boxing training, Olympic ring drills, flipped tires, ran steep hills, lifted weights, etc.

They combined various compound movements, throwing, lifting, sledgehammer chops, and medicine ball work, using basic tools like kettlebells instead of fancy gym machines.

They trained for 10–12 hours a day, five days weekly, for four months, eating just enough for recovery.

Michael Fassbender Diet and Supplements

fish and leafy greens

Michael Fassbender diet includes natural foods in smaller meals, high in lean animal protein and low in carbs. He drinks plenty of water to stay hydrated.

He adopted the Paleo diet and went through some extreme, restricted diets to lose over 40lbs when preparing for particular roles.

His Diet

Fassbender's diet includes the following foods:

  • Poultry
  • Lamb
  • Steak
  • Fish
  • Seafood
  • Eggs
  • Oatmeal
  • Leafy greens
  • Broccoli
  • Sweet potatoes
  • Vegetables
  • Avocados
  • Berries
  • Nuts

Foods He Avoids

Fassbender avoids the following foods at all costs:

  • Refined sugar/carbs
  • Junk food
  • Artificial ingredients

His Supplement Stack

While Fassbender isn't public about his supplement use, we can assume he takes the following:

They help his body cover all the essential nutrients in his diet, build muscle mass while cutting fat and cravings, boost energy, strength, focus, endurance, and support recovery after his tough workout.

Sample Meals

Breakfast 
  • Oatmeal
  • Egg whites
  • Protein shake

Snack

  • Berries
  • Nuts
Lunch:
  • Chicken/Lamb
  • Greens

Dinner 

  • Fish
  • Broccoli

References:

  1. https://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/default.htm
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