Morgan Spector may spend his time on The Gilded Age in three-piece suits playing robber-baron George Russell, but off-camera, the 44-year-old actor is busy plotting a different empire: his quads.
In a new Men’s Health video, the star—dubbed “Railroad Daddy” in reference to his Gilded Age character, the charismatic and charming railroad tycoon George Russell—walks viewers through the workout that keeps him strong enough to run whole railroads and rep a period waistcoat.
Spector has been lifting since he was 10, when his father introduced him to powerlifting “to help an awkward, clumsy kid,” he said in his interview.
Decades later, he still daydreams about a role that would let him go full superhero bulk. “Someone hire me to get enormous… Let me take steroids. Let me get huge,” he joked before admitting that costume departments prefer him a little less “yoked in a contemporary way.” For now, he trains for strength, sanity, and the occasional shirtless photo shoot, which he says he always wants to be “within a couple of weeks of not being embarrassed about that.”
We’ll be the first to say he has nothing to be embarrassed about, and fans in his comment section on Instagram would back us up.
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“Oh your OF channel of you being enormously ‘roided out would likely pay some bills,” said one fan amongst a sea of memes and gifs, and another fan emphatically noted he was “ONE OF THE HOTTEST MEN ALIVE THANK U UNIVERSE.”
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They were far from alone.
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Amidst the “Yes, please, Railroad Daddy” chants, someone joked they felt like they’d cheated on their partner despite being single, while others talked about their desire to watch the post-workout shower.
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The fan who said he can “run a railroad on me in a Newport mansion in which there are no others” was arguably the most relatable.
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For anyone plotting their own Gilded Age glow-up, Spector’s workout includes a mobility warm-up of kickstand airplanes and split-stance ball slams; heavy barbell box squats (five sets total, the last two to burnout); front-foot-elevated reverse lunges; single-arm lat pulldowns; high-rep dumbbell floor presses; and a brutal single-leg lower taken to failure. It’s equal parts gilded grit and modern muscle science. No engine required, just determination and maybe a railroad-grade thirst for gains.
Whether Hollywood ever lets him juice up for a cape and cowl, Railroad Daddy is already on track and unapologetically ready to flex beneath the velvet drapes.