Sam Claflin has marked his 40th birthday with a shirtless selfie, proving the Daisy Jones & The Six actor is entering his new decade in seriously lean shape. Also known for his roles in Peaky Blinders and The Hunger Games, he captioned the photo: ‘Goodbye 30’s. Ello 40.’
The actor previously leaned out for the role of Billy Dunne in Daisy Jones & The Six, a rock singer whose drug use meant he was intended to appear gaunt and underfed.
Claflin told Men’s Health US: ‘So we wanted a more withdrawn, slightly slimmer look and feel. When I got the part, I had a bit of extra muscle weight to me. I put on a pair of flared jeans initially, and they were just way too tight around my thighs,’ he admitted.
To achieve that look, Claflin said cardio was firmly on the menu.
‘So, we basically did as much cardio and careful dieting as was safe,’ he explained. ‘I was training with a personal trainer, and was on a very, very specific calorie-per-day intake – he’d mapped out a daily meal plan, and I stuck to that as closely as possible. And no word of a lie, within a month we started to see results.’
Of course, Claflin’s goal was highly role-specific rather than part of a general fitness plan. But his approach does highlight the fundamentals of getting lean, alongside the expert support many actors have access to. Either way, as he enters his 40s, those habits appear to have stuck.
What to read next
If there’s one thing Kori Sampson knows, it’s how to optimise your body composition for performance. To tap into his knowledge as an elite athlete and coach, we asked him to create a 4-week plan to help you move faster, recover quicker and keep pushing when the fatigue sets in – all while improving your muscle-to-fat ratio.
Ready to build muscle, burn fat and come out the other side looking, feeling and performing better? Click here to get 14 days of free access to the plan via the Men’s Health app.
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.
