Terry Crews’ workout and diet plan explained

Is Terry Crews your new workout crush?

This 6’2”, 215 lb. guy has got muscles for days. His physique would be astounding at any age, yet the fact that he’s 54 is just like … [head explodes].

Terry says he looks and feels better now than when he was 22, even though back then, he was playing in the NFL. And was 22. Let that sink in. 

It hasn’t all been smooth sailing. After retiring from the NFL, Terry struggled with his diet and fitness. Emotional eating came for him like it comes for so many of us. Yet, he overcame it—with the help of intermittent fasting, in fact—and now … whoa. To be this built, Terry Crews’ workout and diet must be the stuff of legends. 

His routine may not be something you want to replicate exactly (or maybe you do, you beast), but you can sure as heck learn something from this king of the shred that’ll help you bring the fire to your health and fitness goals.  

Key takeaways

• Terry Crews’ intermittent fasting routine is 16/8, and he eats between 2–10 PM.
• His meal plan is chock full of high-quality nutrition but pretty SIMPLE too.
• He trains six days a week and does lots of lifting as well as running.
• Terry takes a few smart supplements, including horny goat weed. 

So, who is Terry Crews?

Take a quick scroll through Terry Crews’ IMDB page—well, it isn’t really a quick scroll, to be honest. Dude has a list of TV and movie credits longer than that week that time forgot between Christmas and New Year. 

He’s been in Deadpool 2, The Expendables, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and Everybody Hates Chris, and hosted Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, America’s Got Talent, and Netflix’s Ultimate Beastmaster. 

He’s also well known for his Old Spice commercials. (If you’re drinking something right now, you might want to put it down—clicking this link may cause a spit take.) 

Before that, he played in the NFL for the Los Angeles Rams, San Diego Chargers, Washington Redskins, and Philadelphia Eagles. 

His achievements don’t stop there, either: Terry co-founded a design company AND wrote an autobiography called Manhood. 

No doubt this guy is talented. And busy. He’s crushing life in all areas—and looking and feeling awesome while he does it. 

It’s not surprising that 9.3 million people follow him on Instagram: He’s worth looking into (it’s a better way to learn from someone than just looking up to them, some say).

Luckily, we’ve got every scrap of detail about his diet and fitness routine, so if you want to be more like Terry, you’re in the right place. 

Terry Crews’ diet plan 

You’d need to eat a TON of energy to fuel such a busy, full life. TV and film are no less demanding than professional sports. 

His protein intake must be significant to pack on so much muscle, too. 

Wondering what Terry Crews’ diet plan is? Let’s pull back the curtain. 

Terry says he eats his biggest meal at night. According to him, that helps his body produce more testosterone and growth hormone while he’s sleeping and gives him loads of energy to work out the next morning.

He’d need that energy too, as his first meal of the day isn’t until 2 PM. Yup, Terry Crews is a long-time proponent of intermittent fasting (we KNEW we liked this guy!), but we’ll come back to that in a moment. 

First, let’s walk through a typical day of eating for Terry. 

At 5 AM, he kicks off his day with an amino acid supplement. 

In an unorthodox move for an intermittent faster, he sometimes has coconut oil in the morning. Kudos on getting in some fats here, but we see coconut oil as a fast-breaker. Still, no biggie. Fast-breaker, yes; deal-breaker, no.  

At 2 PM, Terry has his go-to lunch: an omelet and bacon with salad, which he keeps ready to go in the fridge. Meal planning and prep for the win! 

His lunch alternative: a charcuterie board filled with salami, cheeses, bread, and almonds. Who doesn’t love a good mezze?

5 PM is protein shake time, and at 8 PM, he smashes his final meal of bread, pasta, bison ribeye, sweet potatoes, and broccoli. 

To finish up the day, at 10 PM, this self-proclaimed “dessert guy” hits up some cheesecake (with an almond flour base, naturally). A shake with casein protein, almond milk, almond butter, a banana, and coconut oil may also be a pre-bedtime snack. 

Oh, and there’s one other thing about Terry that’s the stuff of legend: 

His once-a-week, anything goes, cheat day. 

This might include “the biggest, most sugary apple fritter you’ve seen in your entire life” and/or “pizza, ice cream”—basically “anything I’ve been thinking about during the week … When my cheat day is on, it is on.”

Terry Crews has some core principles for his meal plan:

1. It’s gotta taste GOOD. (We agree—healthy eating should be enjoyable!)
2. He likes to keep things SIMPLE and frequently repeats the same meals to help with consistency. 
3. Every six months, he does an “audit” where he writes down everything he eats and drinks for a solid 30 days, so he can see where he’s at. 

These are some smart behaviors. It’s starting to become very clear how Terry Crews has built the body he has. 

(If you need a hand with how to meal plan like a pro, btw, we gotcha covered. Plus, check out our app for resources, recipes, insights, and support to help you crush that meal plan. Get started today by taking out SIMPLE quiz.)

Terry Crews’ intermittent fasting diet plan

After struggling with his eating habits post-NFL, Terry Crews says he thought to himself, “I don’t like the way I feel. I’ve got to change something. Let me try this.” 

“This” was intermittent fasting, and it seems to be an essential contributor to Terry’s ripped physique.

Starting his eating window at 2 PM and closing it at 10 PM tells us that Terry Crews follows an intermittent fasting 16/8 routine. (Given his action hero vibe, we thought he might be a warrior diet kinda guy, but 16/8 is a strong pick.)

He reports drinking a gallon of water a day. That, plus coffee, amino acids,  and those controversial spoonfuls of coconut oil, is all he consumes during his 16-hour fasting window.

He even maintains his 16/8 fast schedule during his cheat day.

Looking at his food choices, like: 

• eggs
• steak
• salad
• sweet potato
• almonds
• broccoli
• etc.

you can see that Terry packs his intermittent fasting diet with plenty of high-quality nutrition. 

Are there also some less-than-stellar choices in there? Sure. But nutrition never has to be perfect. It’s a ratio thing. Cheesecake? Yes. But also, lots of vegetables and lean protein. 

What to eat during intermittent fasting can be a challenge, but hats off to him—Terry’s doing a solid job. 

Although … we might suggest a little less red and processed meat and a little more Omega 3.[1]

And, while many of Terry’s foods are healthy, recent research suggests that varying our food intake—especially the plant-based foods we eat—gives us a wider range of benefits. So, although repetition can help us build habits, being as repetitive as Terry may actually be limiting for our health. 

If we were to use our imagination and take Terry’s diet to the next level, we’d pack it with more varied plants. More varied plants equals a greater range of microbes in the large intestine and, likely, better overall health.[2] 

We all respond differently to food, so no diet will have the same effect on everyone. If you’re feeling inspired, use Terry Crews’ diet—plus our suggestions—as a basic blueprint to build one that helps you feel and perform your best. 

For any on-the-fence potential fasters out there, here’s a little of why Terry loves IF: 

“For me, the intermittent fasting thing has been a bit of a fountain of youth. … For the first four or five days, I was so hungry it was unbelievable, but all of a sudden, my body adapted, and the hunger pains went away. Now I don’t eat as much, and I get full a lot faster. … It’s changed my life. I’ve managed to maintain all my muscle and burn away all my fat.”

Fancy trying it yourself? Check out our intermittent fasting for beginners guide, or better yet, take our SIMPLE quiz and get off the starting blocks right here, right now.

Terry Crews’ workout principles

Many of Terry Crews’ workout principles are tried and true.

He loves compound exercises like deadlifts and push-ups. 

These build what Terry calls “total-body power” as well as hitting the smaller muscles, which he then goes on to pound in C.T. Fletcher “I COMMAND YOU TO GROW!” style, using isolation exercises like bicep curls. 

“To me, the arms are part of the whole body, and they get hit when you’re doing any kind of upper-body pulling and pushing movements, and then you can finish them off with specialized movements afterward.” 

He believes in training smarter, not harder, especially for older dudes. 

“I’ve felt the need to change my workouts a lot as I’ve got older.

As a young man, I could jump off a roof, fall on my back and get up without a problem. But now, if I stub my toe, I’m out for two weeks. It made me realize that instead of just working harder, I needed to work smarter. 

I used to lift lots of heavy weights for lots of reps, but it would wear me down. So I tried lowering the reps, and I found that if I just got two heavy reps in per set instead of five or six, I’d get more benefit from it. Plus I’d recover better, and I wouldn’t feel as tired.”

He advocates using training to improve mental and emotional health.

“Running makes me feel so good – the endorphin rush it gives has the same effects as an antidepressant. Once I get a good sweat on it helps to get the blood flowing to my brain and it helps me think clearly, which is why I use that time to learn my lines. 

I really notice the difference when I don’t run – I become irritable. I’m not the same person.”

He is consistency’s biggest fan. 

“Remember now: Consistency. Most of my workout has been the same; literally 90 percent of it has been the same thing for 20 years.”

He knows there’s no substitute for getting it done. 

“The reality is you get zero points for intentions.”

(But he’s not a hardass about it.)

“The best you can do is always good.”

When he works out, he believes in bringing his full focus. 

“I purposefully do not check my emails or phone until I have finished my workout.” 

What we really love about Terry Crews is that he does things his way … and succeeds. 

For instance, he doesn’t believe in bulking or cutting. But he’s so built it looks like his muscles have muscles, and he’s absolutely shredded. 

And he’s been following roughly the same program for 20 years. He doesn’t use fancy tricks; there’s no “muscle confusion”, complicated training methodologies, or odd, niche exercise equipment. 

Just full commitment and old-fashioned heavy lifting. One thing’s for sure—whatever he’s doing is working. 

Terry Crews’ workout routine

Want the specifics of what exactly this mountain of muscle does to be so jacked? 

Of course you do! 

TL;DR version 

“I do a five-minute warm up … 

Then I go to my first exercise and that depends on what day it is:

• Monday is legs
• Tuesday is chest and arms
• Wednesday is stretch, abs, and run
• Thursday it’s my back
• Friday is usually about shoulders and plyometric exercises.

I usually do four sets with 10 descending repetitions. So, it will go 10, eight, six, four. And I usually try to go as heavy as I can, but every workout, every day, ends with a four-mile run.”

All the details

For those who love every last detail, here’s the kind of weekly workout Terry Crews has been using, more or less for the past 20 years, to get so stacked. 

Monday: shoulders, arms, abs, and cardio 

• Upright row: 2 sets of 6 reps 
• Romanian deadlift: 2 sets of 6 reps
• Power clean and jerk: 2 sets of 6 reps
• Jump squat: 2 sets of 6 reps
• Alternating dumbbell front lateral raise: 2 sets of 5 reps
• Arnold dumbbell press: 2 sets of 5 reps
• Side lateral raise: 2 sets of 5 reps
• Rear dumbbell flye: 2 sets of 5 reps 
• Hammer curl: 2 sets of 5 reps 
• Ab crunch: 1 set to failure
• Hanging leg raise: 1 set to failure
• Running: 30 minutes 

Tuesday: back and cardio 

• Barbell deadlift: 4 sets of 8 reps 
• Pull-up: 4 sets of 10 reps
• Rocky pull-up / pull-down: 1 set of 15 reps
• Side-to-side chin-up: 1 set of 6 reps right, 6 reps left, 3 reps center
• Reverse grip bent over row: 4 sets of 10 reps
• Seated cable row: 4 sets of 8–10 reps 
• Running: 30 minutes

Wednesday: cardio  

• Running: 45 minutes

Thursday: chest, arms, abs, and cardio 

• Power clean and jerk: 4 sets of 6 reps
• Incline bench press: 4 sets of 8–10 reps
• Barbell bench press: 4 sets of 8–10 reps 
• Dumbbell flye: 4 sets of 10 reps 
• Bicep curl: 4 sets of 10 reps 
• Dips: 2 sets of 10 reps 
• Push-up: 4 sets of 15 reps 
• Leg raise: 4 sets of 6-8 reps 
• Running: 30 minutes 

Friday: legs, triceps, abs, and cardio 

• Barbell squat: 4 sets of 8–10 reps 
• Leg press: 4 sets of 8–10 reps 
• Standing calf raise: 4 sets of 10 reps 
• Hack squat: 4 sets of 10 reps 
• Close grip barbell bench press: 4 sets of 8–10 reps  
• Leg extension: 4 sets of 10 reps 
• Ab crunch: 1 set to failure
• Hanging leg raise: 1 set to failure
• Running: 30 minutes 

Saturday: cardio 

• Running: 30 minutes 

Sunday: rest

The 24s

Terry Crews is also famous for doing 24s as part of his go-to workout routine, especially while filming when there isn’t enough time to fit everything in. 

A 24s workout consists of 6 reps of 4 four different exercises (6 x 4 = 24). These are a few 24s workouts Terry has done over the years. 

Shoulders

• Upright row
• Power clean
• Romanian deadlift
• Jump squats

Back

• Side-to-side chin-up
• Reverse grip bent over row
• Deadlift
• Burpee

Arms

• Bicep curl 
• Hammer curl 
• Weighted lunge 
• Dumbbell deadlift 

Legs

• Front squat
• Weighted step-up
• Straight leg deadlift
• Weighted jump squat

Chest

• Clap push-up
• Dumbbell bench press
• Dumbbell clean
• Weighted dips

What’s not surprising here is that Terry Crews’ workout is full of both strength and cardio training. As exercise choices go, these are Top Dog for how to burn fat. 

Inspired to kick it into beast mode next time you hit the gym? If so, follow Terry’s guidance: 

• Make your workout work for you. “You need to experiment and see what works for your body.”
• Do what feels good for your body and mind. “Your workouts should always make you feel better, not worse.”

Sound advice. 

Terry Crews’ supplement regime

We’ll just come out and say it: Supplements should be supplemental to a high-quality diet. The foundation has gotta be strong first. 

With Terry Crews, that foundation is in place. So, he boosts the power of his workout and diet by including these supplements:

• Vitamins three times a day to bump up his micronutrient levels. 
• Amino acids to keep his energy up, assist his muscle growth, and support his recovery.
• Protein powder to help build muscle, which is key to his jacked status. 
• Garlic extract to charge up his immune system and dial down inflammation.
• Glutamine to help reduce muscle soreness and delay fatigue.
• Horny goat weed to (potentially) increase libido and stimulate testosterone production.

SIMPLE’S expert opinion and final thoughts

Terry Crews says it’s his intermittent fasting schedule that gives him the edge. 

He works out early in the morning, long before his 2 PM eating window, and he feels that fasting makes his workouts more productive.

For now, he’s happy with the results. 

And, we gotta say, this guy sure looks to us to be winning at life. 

If this intermittent fasting action hero has got you itching to do something new to sharpen up your diet and fitness, try our SIMPLE quiz. 

We’ll walk you through how to get started with intermittent fasting, remind you to drink lots of water, and help you master your food choices. 

Crushing it in the gym, though—that’s all you! 

Frequently asked questions about Terry Crews’ workout and diet

What does Terry Crews eat every day?

Every day, Terry Crews eats a variety of carbs, protein, veggies, and fats, like eggs, salad, sweet potatoes, almonds, broccoli, bread, bison steak, protein powder, bananas, and so on.

How many hours a day does Terry Crews work out? 

Terry Crews works out for about 1.5 hours a day.

How many times a week does Terry Crews work out? 

Terry Crews works out six days a week with one rest day. 

How many meals does Terry Crews eat? 

Terry Crews eats around four meals a day, starting at 2 PM and finishing at 10 PM. His dinner is his biggest meal of the day.

Does Terry Crews use protein powder? 

Yes, Terry Crews uses casein protein powder, often in a pre-bedtime shake.

Could I use Terry Crews’ workout and diet for weight loss?  

Terry Crews’ workout and diet could help with weight loss, though we’d say it was more geared towards fat loss and muscle gain. That may create weight loss or not, depending on your starting point. Need more details? We break it down here: fat loss vs weight loss.

This article is for informative and entertainment purposes only. The article does not constitute an endorsement of the application by or collaboration with any public figure. Any information regarding such persons is based on readily available sources and does not represent the views and opinions expressed personally by anyone.