Jinder Mahal On People Thinking He’s On Steroids, His Go-To Restaurant, Which Supplements He Takes

Jinder Mahal spoke with GQ in an in-depth interview as part of their “Real Life Diet” series profiling the nutritional habits of professional athletes. The WWE Champion candidly discusses the diet that put him on the championship track, from what motivated him to get back in shape in the first place to his workout schedule and the one place he’ll eat on the road if he has absolutely no other options.

Mahal also addresses accusations of PED and steroid use. Highlights from the interview:

The one place he’ll eat on the road if he has absolutely no other options:

“You can actually eat very clean at Chipotle. They have white rice, they have brown rice, and they have chicken. I stay away from the guac and the sour cream. I just get lettuce, double-meat chicken, and a white or brown rice. Sometimes you don’t realize how bad you feel from just eating out all the time at fast food places. I haven’t eaten McDonald’s or any other fast food in I don’t know how long. Not even pizza.”

Which supplements he takes:

“I actually take quite a few supplements. I have protein with me all the time. I always have branched-chain amino acids. I take those with water before my morning cardio. They prevent muscle breakdown. I take a magnesium supplement before my workout because it prevents cramping. You know, I have to wrestle every night and I have to train so hard—sometimes I’ll work out and then, later on, I feel my back starting to cramp up. So magnesium helps a lot with that. I take multivitamin packs. There’s like 10 different multivitamins and digestive enzymes all in one little packet. I take one packet of those every morning. I take creatine and a pre-workout before I work out. And I always switch my pre-workout. Every bottle I finish, I get a different one so my body never gets used to it.”

People who see the physical transformation he’s gone through and immediately write it off as PEDs or steroids:

“I don’t think people realize the hard work that goes into it. Nobody sees the work I’m putting in the gym. Nobody sees me doing cardio first thing in the morning. Nobody sees me lugging around that suitcase. And just generally, people don’t have that much knowledge about diet and the effects that diet alone can have on your body. If you see a bodybuilder before they’re in competition shape to when they get into competition shape, that’s all dieting, carb cutting, and macronutrients. I mean, you can totally transform yourself just by cutting carbs and even something as simple as drinking a gallon of water a day. The average person—like, 90 percent of the average population—is dehydrated. That’s another thing that I do now, which has been a huge key.”

You can check out the interview here.