AHEAD of his much-anticipated world heavyweight title unification clash with Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley Stadium this Saturday (April 29), Anthony Joshua has been working tirelessly in the gym. In order to sufficiently refuel his mammoth muscles, he has had to consume a colossal amount of calories, as his nutritionist, Mark Ellison, explains below.
“Anthony is a huge man, and he burns a lot of calories during his training sessions. Certainly during the heavy blocks [of training] when he’s really grafting, we’re hitting the upper limits [of calorie intake] – 4,000-5,000 calories a day. It’s a challenge to eat that much food in a day, so we try to get a lot of it in through liquids and products, such as carbohydrate and protein recovery shakes after training.
“The food shopping costs a bloody fortune! It’s around a couple of hundred quid, just for Monday to Friday. We use a fantastic butchers – all locally sourced organic meats. I empty my wallet in there on a Monday morning! We’ve got a great local greengrocers that helps us out – I’m knocking on the door at 7am on a Monday to fill the boot of the car with vegetables and grains!
“Anthony is easy to look after, as he’s not fussy. It’s just fuel to him. He’s like, ‘Give me anything, I’ll eat it.’ But at the same time, because he’s a big guy, often in his yogurt I’ll put little sweet things like meringue in there, because he burns through the calories. So he can enjoy his food. It’s not a massive chore. There’s loads of variety. If we want to treat him or cheer him up, we’ll give him apple pie or apple crumble with custard. That’s one of his favourites.”
JOSHUA’S DAILY MEAL PLAN
BREAKFAST
– Five eggs
– Two avocados with lime and seasoning
– A load of spinach with garlic and seasoning
– A few rounds of wholemeal toast
– A smoothie with lots of fresh fruit, oats, yogurt, milk and honey
LUNCH
– A huge amount of wholemeal pasta with loads of tomatoes, vegetables and sauce
– Two full chicken breasts
– A large pot of yogurt with big portions of fresh fruit, nuts, honey and granola
AFTERNOON SNACK
– A round of wholemeal sandwiches
– A few pieces of fresh fruit
– An energy drink or a couple of energy gels
– A coffee
TEA
– A protein and carbohydrate recovery shake
– A few pieces of fresh fruit
– Another serving of wholemeal pasta with loads of tomatoes, vegetables and sauce
DINNER
– Fish or fillet steak or lamb with sweet potato, quinoa and rice
– Fruit juice
SUPPER
– Dairy foods
– Nuts
– Casein shake
