Inside Michael Phelps’ insane 10,000 calorie diet and brutal 365-day training regimen that fuelled the greatest Olympian of all time
Michael Phelps is one of the greatest Olympians ever.
He's also one of the greatest eaters ever.
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The American swimmer won a record 28 Olympic medals - 23 of which were of the coveted gold variety - over the course of his illustrious career.
The Baltimore Bullet's achievements in the pool are the stuff of legend - but so too are his diet and training regimen.
In the run up to the Beijing Olympics in 2008 - where Phelps won eight gold medals and broke Mark Spitz's 1972 record of seven at a single Olympics - the Flying Fish made headlines by revealing that he consumed up to 10,000 calories a day.
Despite only weighing around 85-90 kilos when he was competing, Phelps gorged on a mammoth amount of food - around 8,000-10,000 calories a day divided into three big meals - to fuel his explosive work in the water.
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"I just sort of try to cram whatever I can into my body," he once said. "It’s pretty much whatever I feel like eating, I’m going to eat.”
Phelps, who started swimming at the age of seven and set 39 world records before retiring in 2016, famously ate like a small family.
A typical breakfast during his peak often involved a trip to Pete’s Grille in his native Baltimore. Pete's was a particular favorite of Phelps' and in his autobiography, ', he revealed what a typical order would look like.
"Start with three sandwiches of fried eggs, cheese, lettuce, tomato, fried onions and mayonnaise; add one omelet, a bowl of grits and three slices of French toast with powdered sugar; then wash down with three chocolate chip pancakes."
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The most decorated Olympian of all time was burning so many calories during training that he could essentially eat what he wanted, when he wanted.
"Eat, sleep and swim, that's all I can do," Phelps once said.
Phelps was also big on carbohydrates, as they helped provide the energy he needed to workout.
Carbohydrates supply humans with energy in the form of glucose, which is then stored in the muscle as glycogen for later use. Phelps would stick to this diet during competitions so there would be no glycogen depletion - the result of not getting enough carbohydrates - so he could fuel more rapidly which in turn allowed him to train more intensely.
For lunch, Michael would swallow down half a kilogram of pasta, two large ham and cheese sandwiches on white bread smothered with mayonnaise, and a set of energy drinks.
Pasta would also be on the menu for dinner, usually a pound of it with carbonara sauce, as well as a large pizza, and more energy drinks.
"Think about this: For 25 years, eating was a part of my job, it was a part of my profession," he told in 2021.
If that amount of calories sounds like a lot, that's because it was.
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But it was a necessity given that Phelps trained relentlessly during the course of his career. He would supposedly train almost six hours a day, 365 days a year, including on Christmas Day.
According to former coach Bob Bowman, Phelps would swim 13 kilometres a day, for six or seven days a week, and complete three gym sessions a week. As a result, he burned around 1000 calories per hour during training.
It's no wonder he had an 8 per cent body fat.
Phelps retired from competitive swimming for a second time after winning five gold medals and one silver at the Rio 2016 Olympics.
Retirement enabled him to spend more time with his family, which includes wife Nicole Johnson and their four sons, and put more energy into charity work.
Phelps set up the Michael Phelps Foundation in 2008 and has become a vocal advocate for mental health support, which was explored in The Weight of Gold, a 2020 documentary produced and narrated by Phelps himself.
He also loves golf and was part of the 49ers Enterprises’ takeover of Leeds United in July 2023.
Training and eating are never far from his thoughts though, as he explained in a 2021 .
Phelps revealed that he prioritizes getting 7-9 hours of sleep every night, hitting the hay shortly after 7:30pm and waking up between 5:30-6:30am.
He'll make eggs for breakfast, and guzzle down a smoothie that has spinach, almond milk, cacao nibs, figs, and Silk Ultra - a kind of protein milk.
Unlike his competitive swimming days, Phelps goes decidedly less heavy on carbs, instead incorporating more vegetables into his diet.
Unsurprisingly, gone are the days of him spending six hours a day in the pool.
These days, the 39-year-old is into high-intensity interval training (HIIT) - a training protocol alternating short periods of intense or explosive anaerobic exercise with brief recovery periods - usually lasting between 10 and 15 minutes.
Phelps also lifts in the gym three times a week for about an hour to an hour and a half with his wife. They'll sometimes do cardio together, or she'll do Pilates or yoga whereas he'll swim or get on the elliptical machine.
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Phelps is clearly enjoying the fruits - and vegetables - of his labor.
While he won't be competing at the upcoming 2024 Olympics in Paris, Phelps' impact on both the sport and Olympics will continue to be felt in the pools for decades to come.
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