If you catch yourself on the streets of NYC or LA and some weird things start happening to you, it could be Eric André pranking you for the next season of his self-titled show on Adult Swim. You might not see it coming, though—the comedian changes his look for every season. For the soon-to-be-released season six, André got ripped. Like, really ripped. No need to wait until the premiere to see his finely sculpted new bod— we got an exclusive insight at André’s new look, and talked to him about how he did it.
Men’s Health: You change your look every season. Why?
Eric André: My basic cable [stardom] has risen a little bit, so I disguise myself. I can’t be in this look when I go out into the streets and prank people. So it’s a little bit out of necessity, but it’s also just a challenge, and I want it to be freaky and comedic. So, for season four, I lost weight. I got as skinny as possible and didn’t really work out. For season five, I gained as much weight as possible. I was just eating pizza and peanut butter sandwiches and piña coladas at night. For season six, I wanted to get ripped. And then as soon as I finished filming, I went back to pizza. It was a journey.
Tell us about that journey.
At my heaviest in season five, I got up to 218 pounds. This season, I got down to 173. I remember I got down to 184 pounds, which was my goal weight, and I looked at myself in some camera tests and the abs still weren’t popping. The camera adds 10 pounds. It’s totally true. I remember my heart sinking. I haven’t weighed 173 pounds since high school. But, it’s what you got to do. It took me six months. It’s a full time job. If you see any middle aged person with abs know that they’re either psychotic or unemployed, because it is a full time job.
More From Men’s Health
What did your workouts look like?
I have three personal trainers: Pieter Vodden, movie prep specialist and the owner of PHAROS Athletic Club; Marc Monroe, personal trainer at Alive Fitness; and Tyler Manzo, head trainer at Undefeated Action Capabilities Workout and Fitness Training. Marc says he is the next Jimmy Butler. They had me work out an hour and a half in the morning. I would do coffee and pre workout before, so I was geeked on caffeine. During the workout, I feel like I’m on crystal meth. But the rest of the day, I’m like, dead.
It was a little bit of everything. It was strength training and HIIT. Chest and triceps on Monday, Barry’s Bootcamp on Tuesday, legs on Wednesday, Barry’s Bootcamp on Thursday, back, biceps, and shoulders on Friday. I would do abs for 10 to 15 minutes and walk for low intensity cardio at night. I wouldn’t work out Sundays. I would do hot sauna to cold plunge, or get a massage. I got lymphatic massage a couple times.
Also, I would make sure I got an hour of sun because Sun is good for vitamin D. I would do zoom meetings outside—I’d be shirtless in a pre-production meeting. I wanted to get a little tan so you could see muscle definition on camera a little more. I would try to get at least six hours of sleep, but really I would try for eight or nine. I weighed myself every day first thing in the morning. I’m trying to piss and shit before—every little last toot I waited to get out of my system before I weighed in.
What’s your favorite workout? Your least favorite?
It sounds really lazy. I like chest day because I get to lie down. I just like lying on that thing when I’m so tired. My least favorite was the sled and Renegade Rows. Renegade rows I never feel like I’m doing right and the sled and the assault bike would just kill me.
What about your nutrition?
I had a calorie counting app so I would monitor my calories. My nutritionist, David Allen, had me on 1,800 and 2,000 calories a day, even while working out a lot. I was eating nothing but fish, chicken, fruits and vegetables. Japanese sweet potato and sourdough bread were my only carbs. My snack would be no sodium tuna, turkey slices, cottage cheese, and grapes. But, if your only carbs are Japanese sweet potato and sourdough bread, and you can’t eat after six o’clock in the evening, and you’re drinking a gallon of water, and you can’t drink any alcohol, and you can’t have hot Cheetos—you start losing your mind.
Did you ever have cheat days?
My birthday was in between shooting the studio stuff and shooting the prank stuff. I had some drinks on my birthday. There were some cheats, and I would just check in with my trainer and log my cheats. Logging my cheats would actually make me feel better about them. And, I would feel better about stepping on the scale in the morning. If I knew exactly how much I cheated then I would know how much my weight was gonna go up. It’s when you start ignoring it and you don’t log it and you step on the scale and you’re surprised by your weight that you feel miserable.
How’d you factor in alcohol?
This is a hack that an actress told me, which might sound gross to some people. She would mix whiskey and water. I like rum—whiskey makes me crazy. So I’ll do rum and water. If you need a drink, try to do it like booze and water. Don’t do a sugary cocktail. And, water between each drink, too.
There was one day where I realized that all my shirtless days were done. I went to Emily Ting, the head of the costume department. I said, “Is there anywhere else where you see my stomach?” She checked, and we found out that day was my last shirtless day. And I remember putting down a few drinks. On that day, I was like, “I need a cocktail.”
What else did you do to celebrate the end of the season?
I went crazy. I lost my mind. I ate a whole pizza. The day I wrapped, I woke up. I went to Russ and Daughters and ate a bagel. And then, I went back to sleep. And then, I woke up and I went to Prince Street Pizza and I ate an entire pizza. I was like a pig. And then, I went to sleep for an entire weekend. Then, I woke up and I wanted to go on a drinking bender. I don’t remember most of that week. I had many conversations with my therapist about it. And I was like, “All right, I gotta behave.” So, I didn’t drink for like a month and a half. I didn’t drink caffeine either. I thought I was back to my senses. But, then, I went to Portugal and I drank my weight in wine. When I got back, I stepped on the scale and I undid all six months of work.
Now, I try to hover between 190 and 195 pounds. Enough of my pants fit. Not all of them. Look, Amy Schumer told me this one time—she goes, “Dude, we’re comedians. We can weigh and look like whatever we want. We ain’t athletes.”
Are you already coming up with ideas for your season 7 look?
I will never do a body modification again. Starving myself season four ended in failure because I was so exhausted that I couldn’t write. For season five, getting fat was the most fun—it’s great at first, but then you’re miserable. I’m still dealing with the ramifications of it. My fat cells are still dealing with the ramifications of it. And then, in season six, I got in shape. But, getting into shape after the age of 21 is so much work that I snapped at the end. They’re like hell.
The new season of The Eric André Show will include guests Jon Hamm, Lil Nas X, Natasha Lyonne, Jaleel White, Diplo, Meagan Good, Lil Yachty, Blac Chyna, and others. Tune in every Sunday at midnight on Adult Swim.
Cori Ritchey, NASM-CPT is an Associate Health & Fitness Editor at Men’s Health and a certified personal trainer and group fitness instructor. You can find more of her work in HealthCentral, Livestrong, Self, and others.
Comments are closed.