Jensen Ackles achieved arguably the most muscular physique of his career in his 40s after landing the role of Soldier Boy in The Boys. Like most actors preparing to play a superhero, Ackles needed to bulk up, train harder and pay much closer attention to his diet. He also had an additional reason to add size, with Soldier Boy’s exaggerated masculinity demanding a more imposing frame.

Using little more than the internet as his trainer and minimal equipment at home, Ackles managed to make impressive gains.

‘Funny enough, I’ll give a little shout out to beachbody.com, because I went on there and that’s how I got my cardio in,’ Ackles told Men’s Health. ‘I just followed the random videos. All I had was those adjustable PowerBlocks, so I utilised those as my weights. And I did all my workouts in the basement of my house. I just made it my job, and I put on maybe 15 to 20 pounds [7-9kg] of muscle.’

Making it a ‘Personal Challenge’

Despite that, the 48-year-old initially didn’t realise how significant the physical transformation would need to be. During an early costume fitting for Soldier Boy’s suit, Ackles reportedly asked when the added muscles would be fitted into the outfit – only to discover they were expected to come from him.

‘[The Boys costume designer] Laura Jean Shannon just very pleasantly patted me on the shoulder, and she said, “Oh, Jensen, you’re going to bring me some muscles in April when you show up to set.” And I was like, “Oh. Oh, okay. Yeah. Challenge accepted,”’ he said.

That became the motivation he needed to fully commit to training.

‘Nobody impressed upon me to look a certain way. I just kind of took it as a personal challenge,’ Ackles explained. ‘Look, we’ve all seen Hemsworth as Thor, we’ve all seen Evans as Captain America. We’ve seen these guys transform their bodies and become larger-than-life figures.

‘So I was like, “Well, we’re not quite at the level of spending hundreds of millions of dollars per movie here, but this is a pretty big property, and I should respect that.”’

Eating Clean – Without Becoming Obsessive

Getting into superhero shape usually requires just as much discipline in the kitchen as in the gym. But Ackles didn’t want an overly restrictive diet to impact his young family, so instead of following an extreme eating plan, he focused on making healthier choices consistently.

Doughnuts became apples, fried food was replaced with leaner meals, but he still kept steak firmly on the menu once or twice a week.

‘Don’t overeat and don’t overindulge, at least not all the time,’ he told MH. ‘When I started training for The Boys, I didn’t necessarily go on a specific diet, but I just ate cleaner.

‘Instead of hamburgers and fried stuff, I tried to cut out all the things that I think we all know are not overly beneficial, and tried to clean it up. I’d eat more grilled fish, grilled chicken, steamed vegetables and steamed rice.

‘I do have kids, and I don’t want my diet to be so burdensome on myself and my family that nobody’s enjoying themselves anymore.’

Ryan is a Senior Writer at Men’s Health UK with a passion for storytelling, health and fitness. Having graduated from Cardiff University in 2020, and later obtaining his NCTJ qualification, Ryan started his career as a Trainee News Writer for sports titles Golf Monthly, Cycling Weekly and Rugby World before progressing to Staff Writer and subsequently Senior Writer with football magazine FourFourTwo.

During his two-and-a-half years there he wrote news stories for the website and features for the magazine, while he also interviewed names such as Les Ferdinand, Ally McCoist, Jamie Redknapp and Antonio Rudiger, among many others. His standout memory, though, came when getting the opportunity to speak to then-Plymouth Argyle manager Steven Schumacher as the club won League One in 2023.

Having grown up a keen footballer and playing for his boyhood side until the age of 16, Ryan got the opportunity to represent Northern Ireland national futsal team eight times, scoring three goals against England, Scotland and Gibraltar. Now past his peak, Ryan prefers to mix weightlifting with running – he achieved a marathon PB of 3:31:49 at Manchester in April 2025, but credits the heat for failing to get below the coveted 3:30 mark…

You can follow Ryan on Instagram @ryan.dabbs or on X @ryandabbs_