It’s an epic battle worthy of Homer.
Hollywood titans Ralph Fiennes, 63, and Matt Damon, 54, have both undergone intense physical transformations to play the famous Greek warrior Odysseus.
Fiennes’ gritty portrayal in Uberto Pasolini’s “The Return” debuted in December, while Damon is currently filming Christopher Nolan’s more action-packed version “The Odyssey.”
Pictures of the two of them looking jacked recently went viral, given that the buff stars are hardly spring chickens — making their bods all the more impressive.
Fiennes lookin’ fine
For his part, Fiennes embraced a rigorous five-month training regimen, telling his trainer, Dan Avasilcai, that he wanted to look “like a bit of old rope.”
“There is no gym in ancient Greece,” Pasolini told The Independent last month.
To achieve this lean, weathered physique, Fiennes followed a strict regime that began with 5:30 a.m. workouts — six days a week — that incorporated running, weight training and even ballet.
“At that age, injury prevention is everything,” Avasilcai told the UK’s The Times. “You can’t train a 60-year-old like you would a 20-year-old. Their muscles, bones and joints are different. I kept Ralph’s workouts strict and safe. Form is everything.”
Training began two and a half months before they started filming in Corfu — reducing Fiennes’ weight from 176 pounds to 160 pounds by day one of shooting.
Ambrosia, food of the gods — or protein shakes, food of the fit?
He adhered to a strict diet of protein-rich meals that included plenty of lean meat, fish, Greek yogurt and protein shakes — with some of the meals cooked by Avasilcai himself.
He also completely eliminated bread, desserts and alcohol — although there was a cheat meal here and there.
“Occasionally, I would surprise Ralph with our favourite Italian gelato,” Avasilcai said.
Other days, Fiennes would have to abstain from water the night before and the day of shooting to attain that frayed appearance — which Avasilcai emphasizes is not recommended.
“That look is just for a few days shooting the movie,” he said. “It’s not sustainable. In a normal routine, it’s important to hydrate properly.”
Now he’s just showing off
What is perhaps even more impressive than his ripped physique is the fact that Fiennes has largely continued this fitness and diet regime even though filming has long ended, sharing photos and videos on his X account.
“He feels great,” Avasilcai told The Times. “He has more energy, no joint pain and he’s stronger than ever. He can do 17 pull-ups, 78 press-ups in a row and he’s bench-pressing [143 pounds]. At 62, that is incredible.”
How to get ripped like Ralph — especially over 60
While the celebrity trainer believes anyone over 60 can follow in Fiennes’ footsteps, he also maintains that “the main goal should be to become the best version of yourself — don’t compare yourself to other people.
“And remember that with all diet and fitness advice, there is no one size fits all. Everyone is different and has different needs.”
That being said, if you are a sixty-something who wants to look like Fiennes, Avasilcai recommends focusing on strength training, with compound lifts like squats, rows and presses.
“Form, tempo and discipline — that’s what gets results,” he said.
He also advises keeping workouts to under an hour to give yourself time to recover, and throwing in some cardio three times a week — even if it’s just a brisk walk.
“For people over the age of 50 or 60, or people with mobility issues or the degenerative issues with bones that come with age, running on a treadmill is safer than running outside because it gives you a bit of that suspension,” he said.
Diet-wise, it’s important to get more protein in — especially if you’re older — to help you maintain muscle, regulate blood sugar levels and reduce cravings, according to Avasilcai.
As strange as it sounds, he also recommends a small portion of healthy carbs — such as sweet potatoes, oats, or rye bread — right before bed, as they “help lower cortisol and improve sleep,” aiding in recovery as you rest.
Finally, he suggests getting a sports massage three or four times a week to release toxins and sticking to a handful of exercises with a focus on progress. Try fasting after a night of overindulging to aid digestion and avoid overtraining, otherwise “you’ll burn out, injure yourself or just lose motivation,” he said.
Damon’s disciplined physique
While less is known about Damon’s current training for “The Odyssey,” the action star is no stranger to insane physical transformations, having previously worked with trainer Jason Walsh on several films in preparation for his shirtless scenes in 2016’s “Jason Bourne.”
To get into insanely good shape at the age of 45 for the role, Damon did 100 sit-ups, 300 push-ups, 50 squats and 50 squat jumps daily.
“He loves challenges,” Walsh says. “We got to the point where we were doing 100 pull-ups two or three times a week. We’d see how many sets it takes to get 100. Once you lose some of that excess weight, pull-ups get a lot easier. He was doing 30-some pull-ups per set.”
He also performed pull-ups with 35 pounds strapped to his waist and single-leg squats with 125-pound dumbbells in each hand.
“He loves challenges,” Walsh — who also works with Jake Gyllenhaal, Milo Ventimiglia, Bradley Cooper and Brie Larson — told Men’s Health.
To enhance his conditioning, Damon incorporated sprints on the VersaClimber machine and long-distance runs — including through the streets of Dunhuang in northwestern China.
“People would look at us like, “What the hell is going on?’” Walsh said.
But there were also exercises they avoided doing — like barbell back squats and heavy deadlifts — to avoid injury at his age.
“My biggest worry was him breaking,” he said. “Keeping him injury free for two straight years, doing action films, was the biggest accomplishment.”
Matt’s method
Nutrition-wise, Damon’s chef provided around 2,000 calories per day during shooting.
Like Fiennes, his water intake was strategically reduced to highlight muscle definition before specific scenes — a technique that is often used during shirtless sequences.
In a recent interview with ET, Ben Affleck joked about the viral photos of shirtless Damon in Favignana, Italy, saying, “Look at my man trying to act like he didn’t know they were taking this picture…You went out there and flexed. Somebody told him the paparazzi were out there.”
“I have to respect it, it’s a lot of hard work,” he admitted. “It doesn’t get any easier when you have the very long gray beard.”
So, which Odysseus has more of that Trojan horsepower? It’ll be hard to say until Nolan’s film is released in 2026, but one thing’s for sure: Fiennes and Damon are living proof that a mind-blowing physique can be achieved at any age.
