Luke Cage has something going for it that many of its Marvel universe peers, with a very notable exception, are sorely lacking: compelling, driven villains. The first season of Luke Cage set a high bar with Mahershala Ali and Alfre Woodard, who played a pair of corrupt, murderous cousins. The second season's nemesis doesn't disappoint, either: Mustafa Shakir as Bushmaster, a capoeira-trained outlaw who arrives from Jamaica to try and seize control of Harlem's underworld.

While Mike Colter famously had to put on 30 pounds to become Luke Cage, the already-comic-book-character-fit Shakir actually had to bulk down when he landed the gig, becoming leaner and more nimble in order to nail the elaborate fight choreography. That might sound intense, but fortunately for Shakir, he has a lot of what he calls "velociraptor energy," which makes him ready to handle just about any fitness challenge that gets thrown his way. We're talking veganism, intermittent fasting, and precisely-measured smoothies—in fact, we're mostly talking smoothies, and not much else.

GQ: To start off, what was your workout routine before Luke Cage?

Mustafa Shakir: I did a mixture—still do, actually—of weight training, bikram or hot yoga, and some running and here there. With martial arts, I do kick drills and kata, which is essentially going over forms. It’s a version of shadow boxing. That’s the gist of the regimen, but there’s a lot of variation with the weightlifting and calisthenics mixed in between sets.

The supervillain training montage. How did that change when you were getting in shape for the show?

I just did a lot more cardio. When I went in, my first thought was that I wanted to match Luke in terms of brawn, you know what I mean? I thought that was the whole thing about being a formidable foe. But quickly I found out I was supposed to be doing capoeira and stuff like that, so I went in the other direction, just leaning out as much as possible. I bolstered the percentage of cardio versus weight training, and I kept the bikram to stay limber. Sometimes I would be up super early and do one morning workout and one in the middle of the day. There was also volume training, where I did one big workout and then three 15-minute joints.

Is it hard to lose weight and slim down while staying jacked?

Not really, if you know what you’re doing. I mean, you can’t just eat when you want or whatever you want. But that's fine—I’ve been a pretty strict vegan for six years, so I don’t eat a bunch of crap anyway, You just have to, you know, switch around how you take in your carbs.

After filming, did you ever just say, “I need a break”? Or feel like you needed to just veg out?

That is my form of vegging out. I got sort of a velociraptor energy, and if you keep that caged up, it’s not a good thing. So I keep moving. It’s sometimes wiser to do more yoga, especially in instances like this, where it’s a lot of intense moving and staying up all night—your cycles are off. So I did try to incorporate more yoga and be more restorative. It’s active rest.

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What made you decided to try veganism?

The truth is, after a pivotal moment in my life, I didn’t want to take any intoxicants, or anything that was going to poison my system. I stopped drinking and taking a lot of things, and I focused on being really conscientious about the diet. That happened in 2012. It’s all about feeling good and keeping my vibration high.

What was that life-changing event?

It was after a Lakota Native American sweat lodge. I went down for some ceremonies for the end of the Mayan calendar and I had some powerful experiences that made me ask some pivotal questions about what I wanted for my life. And the things I started to cut out were not going to help with those goals, so they had to go.

So, when you were training for Luke Cage, what’s the first thing you would eat each day?

Sixty-four ounces of a green smoothie, which consists of kale, spirulina chlorella, and some lemon or lime. I would throw some bananas or strawberries in too, maybe a little bit of mango. Blue-green algae. Some iron taurine—that helps oxygenate the body, which is huge. You don’t need that much food in the body if your cells are fed. You’d be surprised how well you can maintain your body weight with just liquid, so I drank a lot of my food.

And what do you usually have after a bigger workouts, then? Another shake?

Yeah, MRM has a great veggie protein, so I have a shake. Throw some Irish sea moss in there, which is amazing—

Sorry, did you say, “sea moss?”

Yeah, Irish sea moss.

I’ve never heard of that.

Oh. Well, you’re welcome. There’s not, like, a crazy taste to it or anything—just throw that in a smoothie and it gives you a lot of energy, like there's electricity in your body. The green smoothie is generally for nutrition. The protein shake is for building, to make sure that my muscles are maintained. So any time I do a workout, I make sure to do a protein shake. Otherwise, I just eat my green smoothies.

Just smoothies all the way down. Would you do anything different at night?

It depends on how rough the day was, but it’s good to have some protein before you go to sleep, so sometimes I'd have a protein shake. But I’ll put some turmeric in it, a little black pepper, and ginger. There’s a drink called golden milk, which essentially is almond milk, turmeric, black pepper, and ginger. I put agave in it—I don’t do honey. I add protein, too. It takes down all the inflammation in the body and really puts you to sleep.

How different was your diet before prepping for the show?

Not that different, man. If I’m just chilling and I’m in L.A., I’ll go to Greenleaf for some chicken and pancakes—not real chicken, obviously—but that’s about as far as I’ll go. Most people maintain diets because they’re trying to get some physical effect, and it’s not that for me. It’s about spiritual attunement. It’s to feel good. So a "cheat day" for me is just cheating myself.

I don’t really like sugar—if I have it, I get these spikes in my blood pressure and my mood, and that’s not fun for me. And if I have heavy, greasy stuff, it has a depressive effect on my body. Cheat days are having an extra shot of wheatgrass. I know it sounds crazy, but I’m grateful, because I understand how food has affected my body. So with that information, I can have my hand on the steering wheel more firmly.

But yeah, I’m beyond cupcakes.

That’s so funny because the last guy I talked to was all about cupcakes. Is there anything you miss from before being vegan?

You know, not really. Sometimes I have flashbacks to having drunken dance parties, but I can dance and have fun without that. At the end of the day, they want to be nice and level-headed, like I am when the night is over. So I choose my poison.

Luke Darby is a contributor to GQ, covering news, entertainment, and the environment. A Louisiana native, he now resides in Cleveland, and his writing has also appeared in Outside, the Dallas Observer, and Marie Claire.Related Stories for GQReal Life DietMarvelLuke Cage