After an injury and a grueling schedule left him with extreme fatigue, his doctor recommended TRT. “It was just: There was a hormone that was missing for me, and I needed it.”
ANYONE WHO HAS watched Prime Video’s recent hit Reacher has probably noticed a clear difference between lead star Alan Ritchson’s aesthetic in season one versus season two: He bulked up. Big time.
The gains came after a call from Skydance Television, the company that coproduces Reacher, that came after season one wrapped, Ritchson revealed in his Men’s Health cover story. He had lost too much weight, they told him.
He tried to keep up with his lifting regime while filming, but he was on set nearly seven days a week. It was demanding on his body. By the end of the first season, he was “utterly fatigued and broken,” and dealing with an injured shoulder. Luckily, there was a full year-and-a-half break between the two seasons.
A few months into that break, Ritchson’s doctor suggested he try testosterone replacement therapy, or TRT. Testosterone plays a role in hair growth, sex drive, red blood cell production, and (of course) maintenance of muscle mass. TRT is designed to raise testosterone levels in the body for those with low levels of the vital hormone. There are several different kinds, including injectables, topical gels, cream patches, pills, and even nasal sprays—all of which come with different side effects.
Ritchson started the therapy under his doctor’s supervision and says it has made growing muscle mass much easier. That doesn’t mean he’s putting less effort into his time in the gym, though. “People can think what they want, but I work out very hard,” he says.
His work has paid off, too—his gains have been well noticed upon his return to the show for season two. Fans have been gawking over his new aesthetic—some approving, some not. “The more grizzled look works for me much more than it did for the first season,” one Redditor wrote. “Like he has grown into the role.”
And now, that new physique has stirred some buzz about him filling an upcoming superhero rule. Ritchson doesn’t care that TRT helped him get to this point though. In his cover story, he joked about someone referencing it as ‘steroids with a doctor’s note’.
“I guess it is,” he says now. “I didn’t even know that it was considered an anabolic steroid to some people. It was just: There was a hormone that was missing for me, and I needed it.”
Source: https://shorturl.at/lmqxZ
