By Jenni McKnight

Copyright hellomagazine

Michael Strahan revealed a very different experience of changing his physical appearance compared to Thursday’s GMA guest, Dwayne Johnson. The former pro wrestler and his The Smashing Machine co-star, Emily Blunt, joined Michael and his co-anchors Robin Roberts and George Stephanopoulos to discuss their latest film, and the talk soon turned to Dwyane’s incredible transformation, which saw him transform into former MMA fighter Mark Kerr with the help of 22 prosthetics and an extra 30lbs of muscle. After Dwyane recalled the steps it took to become Mark, he turned to Michael and said: “You understand.”

However, Michael was far from understanding, as he said his experience of bulking up while he was in the NFL led to undesired weight gain instead of extra muscle, and he looked nothing like Dwayne’s transformation. “Back in the day, I put on 32 [lbs], but it didn’t look like you!” After roars of laughter from everyone in the studio, Emily asked how he did it. Michael replied: “Mine was Pizza Hut, milkshakes, whatever fast food was out there, that was my dietitian.”

Michael previously admitted that he didn’t know how to bulk up the “proper way” when he was in the NFL, which resulted in him weighing 285lbs. “When I first got in the league, I came in at 250-something,” he said during an appearance on All The Smoke podcast. “But then they told me to gain weight, but, back then, they didn’t tell you the proper way. So, I was just fast food, pizza, I was like 280.”

After he retired from the NFL after a 15-year career in 2008, Michael made a concerted effort to lose his football weight. “For years, I was in the 270s,” Michael added. “Then I went down to the 260s. As I got older, I started gradually losing weight.” Speaking to Men’s Health about his weight loss, he said: “I lost weight because I felt I didn’t need the girth to help me when I was out of position on a play, I knew technique at that point. But once I figured out technique, I didn’t need the weight.”

While he mixes up his workouts today, there’s one exercise Michael refuses to do. “The exercise I hate the most reminds me so much of football that I have PTSD…burpees,” Michael has said. “Full uniform, hot, humid, sweaty, and the coach is blowing the whistle. The second I was done with the NFL, I was done with burpees for life.”

Michael now focuses on using lighter weights and functional movements, admitting the one workout that “completely changed” his life is yoga. “I had to work with a lot more cardio,” he told Men’s Health. “Flexibility, yoga – completely changed my life.”