We are all familiar with the fantasy character He-Man. In 1987, Dolph Lundgren portrayed the character in the Masters of the Universe movie. However, in addition to acting, Lundgren was a martial artist, which helped him develop a massive body for the role.

Now that the character has been recreated by Nicholas Galitzine in the movie The Masters of the Universe (2026), which was released on June 5 in the US, fans have been shocked by how much hard work the actor has put in to look that much bulkier, more massive, shredded, and muscular.

Recently, the actor shared the story of his transformation with Men's Health. On June 5, the Men's Health Instagram account shared a short clip of Galitzine, revealing his bulked-up story. Galitzine said,

“My He-Man workout on a day-to-day basis, after I had built all of the muscle and had cut mostly, was just doing a variety of exercises to kind of maintain the muscle mass that I'd built. My training has changed a lot since I filmed He-Man because I have been filming a lot of other roles that don't require me to be that large.”

The 31-year-old actor had been an athlete growing up, playing rugby. However, working out for He-Man was intense.

With the guidance of Jason Walsh, a Hollywood celebrity coach, Galitzine picked up momentum. The coach revealed that the actor’s bulk-up routine relied on compound movements, performed up to five days a week for three months.

But there was a challenge. Galitzine said,

“A really tricky thing when you’re putting on a lot of size is it’s very hard to gain pure muscle without gaining some fat as well.”

The actor in The Idea of You started at about 175 lbs. After a pump-up, he reached 231 lbs, and during filming, Galitzine had to shred, coming down to 200 lbs.

The actor also revealed that maintaining that size through nutrition was challenging.

So, apart from the process of bulking up, what exercises did Galitzine adopt to become bulkier?

Nicholas Galitzine’s basic workout to get a physique like He-Man

According to Men's Health, Galitzine shared some basic movements for becoming He-Man.

The movements include the following:

• Dumbbell Chest Press: 2 to 3 sets × 8 to 12 reps
• Cable Triceps Pressdown: 3 sets × 8 reps
• EZ Bar Reverse Curl: 3 sets × 8 reps
• Overhead Cable Extension: 3 sets × 8 reps
• Cable Upright Row: 3 sets of × 8 to 12 reps

Even his transformation has been praised by his fans, and after releasing the movie, Galitzine said, “I didn't even recognize myself anymore! It was a very strange process. You see yourself every day, and you have to keep trusting that you're going to reach that goal in the end, even when it feels out of sight. I'm just very floored and very honored that people's reaction to it has been so positive”.

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Written by

Supradeep Dutta

Edited by

Ashvinkumar Patil