James Haskell
PODCASTER, AUTHOR AND MMA FORMER RUGBY PLAYER TURNED THE WORLD TO RIGHTS OVER HOPEFUL JAMES HASKELL PUTS OF GOOD NUTRITION HEALTH, FITNESS AND THE MEANING
The former rugby player puts the world to rights over fitness and the meaning of good nutrition
James Haskell is not one to mince his words. The 77-cap England international, British and Irish Lion, and now prominent voice across rugby media, has been labelled many things since retiring – shy and retiring aren’t among them. Post-rugby, Haskell spent a bruising year training to become a MMA fighter, only for his debut to be put on hold due to the pandemic. But he’s hardly been twiddling his thumbs since: what with being an international DJ; co-host of The Good, The Bad & The Rugby podcast; and author of bestselling memoir, What a Flanker. While his outspoken approach rubs some people up the wrong way, plenty others applaud his refreshing honesty. And when Men’s Fitness sat down for a chat with The Unbelievable ALT. ambassador, he was quick to call out the bogus fitness information, fad diets and ‘miracle’ weight-loss cures flying about the internet. Beneath the complex training plans and nutrition protocols, says Haskell, getting in shape comes down to moving more and eating better – and it’s difficult to argue with that. Men’s Fitness: You’ve admitted to taking the mickey out of vegans in the past – so why the change of tack and this partnership with e Unbelievable ALT.? James Haskell: e Unbelievable ALT. is such a unique brand in terms of what it’s doing (“We’re not meat, but we’re for meat lovers”). It’s not about whether you’re vegan or not, it’s about whether you want to add something di erent to your diet. I take the piss out of everyone, and I’ve always taken the piss out of vegans because you get a reaction, but just like meat eaters there are always those with extreme views. With social media all context is lost, too, so I nd it quite fun to pull the pin out the grenade and watch people go mad.
MF: Is plant-based protein something you’re beginning to embrace?
JH: I have never given my body a rest
from eating meat, and obviously there are the environmental reasons to reduce meat consumption, so I wanted to see if I could try something di erent. e taste and texture is incredible: there’s very little di erence between this stu and actual meat. My whole nutrition approach is lots of protein, and plenty of plant-based bre. e Unbelievable ALT. ticks all boxes, and the company isn’t really bothered whether you’re vegan or not, it’s just creating a di erent option for people.
What do you think most people are missing when it comes to nutrition? JH:
People can get protein from di erent sources, but the bigger issue here is that nobody understands nutrition. e government doesn’t get it, your average reality or social media stars who are ogging nonsense don’t get it, and people on the street don’t get it. ey couldn’t tell you whether something is a complete protein or not. I love it when people say stu like, ‘You get more protein in a bucket of broccoli than anything else,’ but it’s not a complete protein [made up of all nine essential amino acids] so your body can’t process it e ectively.
Stop worrying about what diet you’re on, and understand what good food is. I’m in a transformation process at the moment, trying to get lean: 12 weeks ago I was 120kg, now I’m 114kg. And that’s all through diet – there are no magic pills or ‘skinny teas’ or any of that nonsense. It’s all about eating the right food and making good choices.
MF: What does your diet look like?
JH: It’s very simple: I try to get 220g protein a day, and about 3,100 calories. I get most of my protein from real food; the only time I top it up is if I have a shake after training. I try to have around 1,000 calories at each meal. If I’ve got excess calories at the end of the day, I’ll make myself some protein oats, or have a Grenade par or something, just to get that extra hit.
Coronavirus put your MMA debut on hold, but how did that type of combat training compare to rugby?
It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. I was in the cage, sparring, three days a week, and I loved it, but it absolute broke me. I had all my bloods done, and my creatine kinese levels – the stu that shows muscle breakdown – was the same as if I had played back-to-back test matches against South Africa, and that was on a day o ! One day I got choked out eight times in a row and couldn’t swallow for a week.
e guys at Shoot ghters [the MMA
gym Haskell trained in] are incredible coaches, but they’re not messing around in there. I learned a lot about myself – I don’t mind a tear up, for instance, in fact I quite enjoy it – but it was all-consuming. And I knew that going into it, but I was back being a full-time sportsman again.
MF: What are some of the biggest tness mistakes you think a lot of people make?
JH: Terrible technique is rst and foremost, which often comes down to the male ego: blokes trying to lift big weights that they can’t control. People always look for the sexiest thing to be doing, and the same thing goes for nutrition, but the truth is, this is how to change your body: calorie de cit plus exercise. at’s it. But people go, ‘No, it can’t be that simple.’ It is!
People haven’t grasped the basics. ere are no shortcuts and there are no miracle
xes: eat less, move more. Each diet works in its own way, but ultimately it’s all about getting into a calorie de cit so you lose weight. I’m just jealous, because I haven’t invented some shit thing that I can og for millions!
MF: Do you still train with the same intensity you did when you were playing professional rugby?
JH: I’m training four or ve days a week, but it’s a variety of training. I used to only have two modes: on or o . So when I was working out I wanted to end up being sick in a bucket and lifting really heavy. But now I’m a lot smarter with how I go about things. I’m trying to get leaner at the moment, so four days a week I’m lifting – with a focus on hypertrophy – and two of those days I’ll put in some high-intensity cardio at the end.
“ere are no magic pills or ‘skinny teas’ or any of that nonsense. It’s all about eating the right food and making good choices”