Andrew Garfield’s approach to fitness and wellness provides an important lesson for us all. Rather than going 100 miles an hour balancing training, acting and his personal life, the 43-year-old has learned over the years that it’s often best to take a step back and slow down.

Over the past 12 months, Garfield has moved between filming as a grieving farmer leading a rebellion against King Richard II in The Uprising, Sam Altman in Artificial, and the biographical drama miniseries Wild Things. Now, he’s eager to slow down to avoid burning out.

‘I’m going to play basketball, and I’m going to go swimming, and I’m going to be. Just be. And I’m going to remember that I don’t always have to be “on”, performing. And I’m going to think about how to live,’ Garfield told Esquire.

He reiterated that sentiment on the SmartLess podcast, highlighting how he was looking forward to a quieter pace of life by lying down and staring out of the window.

‘I can do it for a couple of months. I really can,’ Garfield said.

Slowing Down on Purpose

It’s clear he isn’t training for anything in particular, instead enjoying playing sports and exercising in ways he finds relaxing. But that natural athleticism will never go away – he competed in gymnastics and swimming as a youngster before becoming an actor, and has previously spoken about his competitive edge.

When Spider-Man Changed Everything

That manifested itself while preparing for The Amazing Spider-Man 15 years ago. Building his Spider-Man physique required an intense training routine that left little time for much else – Garfield worked out for up to seven hours a day for four months alongside trainer Armando Alarcon, incorporating a mixture of training modalities.

‘I didn’t sleep very much, I was in the gym a lot, I was eating soup and berries and I was training in parkour, gymnastics and yoga,’ he explained. ‘So it was really an intense time.’

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.

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_