Prepping to swim with sharks may make you think of elaborate equipment and apparatus, however, author and swimmer Ross Edgley has been prepping with a diet of full English breakfasts and seven litres of custard, amongst other hyper caloric meals.
In his new documentary, ‘Shark Vs. Ross Edgley’, Edgley goes head to head swimming against sharks. Not enough to race against them, Edgley explained to the MailOnline that it’s their diets that he finds so interesting.
‘Fasting is quite trendy now, but I think we humans could learn a lot from a shark’s primitive fasting and feasting,’ says Edgley.
In a bid to completely deplete his energy stores, Edgley fasted for 24 hours before spending 16 hours in a heat chamber at Loughborough University to speed up the process. This method was used to dehydrate the body and deplete it of electrolytes. Training in a fasted state in a sports science setting can also be used to deplete the muscles of glycogen (carbohydrate) stores, making them readily available to store glycogen again, once more food is consumed.
‘You can’t sleep because you’re so hungry and your body starts cramping because you’re so depleted of water and electrolytes,’ he shared.
‘Tiger sharks will migrate for thousands of miles without food but then when it finds a whale carcass or a turtle shell, it is able to just gorge,’ says Edgley. And gorge is what Edgley – and former MH cover star – did, consuming 41,000 calories worth of high fat and carbohydrate meals.
And the result? Over just 24 hours, Edgley gained a whopping 10kg.
‘It was all scientific and systematic, so immediately we had to replenish water and electrolytes,’ says Edgley. ‘Then it was vitamins and minerals, so we made a “hulk smoothie” with greens and double cream and ice cream,’
After the hyper palatable food fest, with its high sugar and salt content, he explained his ‘taste buds went off to a very strange place.’
‘I was dehydrated,’ says Edgley, ‘but I also needed calories, so custard seemed like the logical choice, and I just saw off seven litres. My favourite was taking a 12″ baguette and then wrapping it in a pizza like a calzone, it was amazing.’
Edgley worked with tiger shark expert Dr Mike Heithaus. The pair sat down to calculate how much a tiger shark could eat in a single bite. From their calculations, it could consume as much as 20,000 calories. ‘There I was thinking I’d done well with 40,000, and it turns out the tiger shark would have beaten that in two bites,’ says Edgley.
Ross Edgley’s 41,000 Calorie Tiger Shark Diet
Here’s the complete rundown of what Edgley ate:
- 4 x Haribo mix: 1,400 calories
- 6 litres PHD electrolyte sports drink: 1,050 calories
- ‘Hulk Smoothie’: 2,173 calories
- 2 x pizzas: 4,480 calories
- 5 slices lemon blueberry cheesecake: 3,000 calories
- 5 slices choc mint cheesecake: 3,500 calories
- Fish and chips: 1,000 calories
- 2 x burger and chips: 2,000 calories
- 2 x cinnamon loaves: 1,500 calories
- 4 x Ben and Jerry’s tubs: 4,000 calories
- 2 x full english breakfast: 1,000 calories
- 7 litres of custard: 5,000 calories
- 4 x Mars bars: 1,000 calories
- 7 x PHD mass gainer shakes: 10,000 calories
Total: 41,103 calories
Kate is a fitness writer for Men’s Health UK where she contributes regular workouts, training tips and nutrition guides. She has a post graduate diploma in Sports Performance Nutrition and before joining Men’s Health she was a nutritionist, fitness writer and personal trainer with over 5k hours coaching on the gym floor. Kate has a keen interest in volunteering for animal shelters and when she isn’t lifting weights in her garden, she can be found walking her rescue dog.
