Chris Evans had his work cut out for him ahead of Captain America: The First Avenger. At the time, he turned to British PT Simon Waterson for help, as they worked to build muscular shoulders and back.

Now, with Evans returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as part of Avengers Doomsday, let's see how his workout plan looks like.

Chris Evans' diet and nutrition plan

Standing 6 feet tall with a chiseled physique, Chris Evans biggest challenge while bulking up for his role as Captain America was consuming calories. According to his personal trainer, Simon Waterson, “The biggest challenge for Chris was eating enough to put on muscle but avoid storing any excess energy as fat.”

He further added, “We relied on low-carb protein shakes in between meals and snacks such as fruit and nuts,” he said in an interview with Philstar Global.”

Waterson revealed what an average Chris Evans meal plan looked like:

• Breakfast – Bowl of porridge with dark berries and walnuts
• Morning snack – Whey-based protein shake and 5g branched-chain amino acid (BCAA)
• Pre-workout snack – Apple and almonds
• Post-workout snack – Whey-based protein shake and 5g branched-chain amino acid (BCAA)
• Lunch – Chicken salad with brown basmati rice
• Afternoon snack – Protein shake
• Dinner – Lean protein (i.e. fish, chicken, or beef) with veggies
• Before bedtime – Protein shake (primarily casein)

Although consuming eight meals a day is quite challenging, Evans’ efforts paid off. He increased his weight from 77 kg to 82 kg while reducing his body fat percentage from 12.5 percent to just 8 percent.

In one of his interviews with bodybuilding.com, Evans further broke down the number of supplements he took to achieve that physique.

“Supplement-wise I used a bit of glutamine, whey protein shakes, branched-chain amino acids, then 500mg supplements of Omega-3, Omega-6 and Omega-9 fatty acids every single meal to make sure that my joints were functioning well—I needed it because the working out was so intensive, especially with things like the gymnastics.”

How did Captain America train?

Targeting different muscle groups differently, Chris Evans trains five days a week. During workout days, Captain America used to take rest periods of 2–3 minutes for heavy, low-rep lifts and 60–90 seconds for higher-rep sets. Here’s the full list of his workout routine.

Waterson explains, “Chris had done some weight training before, but as with a lot of guys, it had been focused exercise on the vanity muscles of the chest, arms and abs…These guys are always amazed when I point out that they have muscles on the backs of their bodies, too.”

He further added, “But Chris was great to train. He understood the importance of a balanced physique. I had to work him hard but at a sensible pace – I couldn’t afford to have him sidelined for four weeks with an injury.”

Here’s the list of his workout routine.

Clean and Jerk

• Sets: 3
• Reps: 10
• Rest: 60 seconds

Dumbbell Thrusters

• Sets: 3
• Reps: 20
• Rest: 60 seconds

Renegade Rows

• Sets: 3
• Reps: 20 per arm
• Rest: 60 seconds

Shoulder Taps

• Sets: 3
• Reps: 20 each side
• Rest: 30 seconds

Push Ups

• Sets: 3
• Reps: 10
• Rest: 30 seconds

That’s how Chris Evans molded himself into Captain America. Given that, what are your thoughts on his return to the Avengers franchise?

Written by

Suryakant Das

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar