Actor and producer Jake Gyllenhaal went from the soulful art-house star of dorm room favorite films like “Donnie Darko” and “Nightcrawler” to totally ripped for his portrayal of a tortured boxer in “Southpaw.” How did Jake Gyllenhaal get so ripped?
Jake Gyllenhaal’s daily routine fluctuates based on his filming schedule, but he followed a strict diet and exercise routine while filming the 2015 movie “Southpaw.” The routine involved eating six to seven meals a day and following an intense training regimen.
By following this strict daily routine, Jake Gyllenhaal had a completely shocking physical transformation that left fans wanting to know more about how they could achieve their own fitness goals. If you want to know more about Jake Gyllenhaal’s diet and exercise routine, this is the place.
Exercise Routine
Jake Gyllenhaal is one of Hollywood’s most versatile actors, appearing in everything from intense and heartbreaking dramas like “Brokeback Mountain” to heartfelt romantic comedies like “Love & Other Drugs.”
Still, despite this versatility, fans of the actor were still shocked at his incredible physical transformation for the 2015 film “Southpaw.”
Man of Many went in-depth on Jake Gyllenhaal’s “masochistic” training routine for the boxing drama. The daily routine essentially consisted of six to seven meals, 2,000 sit-ups, running eight miles, sparring, weightlifting, and cardio each day.
Although Jake Gyllenhaal’s daily routine for the film was notoriously intense, it paid off — the results made it look as if Jake Gyllenhaal had absorbed his past self for extra bulk.
In an interview with The Howard Stern Show, Jake Gyllenhaal described his training routine, saying, “I trained twice a day for five months. […] eventually, I was running eight miles, and then I would go and work out for two hours after that.”
However, he started (relatively) slowly, starting at three miles and 500 sit-ups before working his way up. BirchBox reports that Jake Gyllenhaal eventually worked out so much that he was exercising for six hours every day, explaining how he managed such a transformation in just under six months.
Diet Plan
However, he did not fuel his workout routine through personal drive alone — Jake Gyllenhaal also followed a strict diet plan that allowed him to have enough fuel to get through the intense workout routines he was doing each day. It also had to include enough food for him to bulk up instead of losing weight.
Jake Gyllenhaal would eat roughly every three hours, totaling six to seven meals each day.
His diet included protein-rich foods and enough carbohydrates to fuel his daily routine, and he drank a lot of protein shakes. However, there’s one food that everyone can recognize — Chipotle.
Men’s Journal quotes Jake Gyllenhaal as saying, “It was always high protein. I remember eating a lot of Chipotle.” Other than Chipotle, Jake Gyllenhaal’s daily diet focused on natural foods and included lots of vegetables and lean meats.
Skincare and Wellness Regimen
If you don’t want to go to the same extremes that Jake Gyllenhaal did for the movie “Southpaw,” there are other ways to emulate the famous actor.
In a profile for Vanity Fair, Jake Gyllenhaal dropped some exciting details about his skincare and wellness routine that helps his skin stay fresh and youthful onscreen and off. Specifically, he’s a fan of exfoliation, saying, “Exfoliation can be a really wonderful, very manly thing.”
It’s probably much easier to incorporate a BHA/AHA exfoliator into your routine than it is to incorporate six hours of exercise, although the choice is up to you. Either way, you can always jog to Sephora.
Jake Gyllenhaal said that he believes sweating is important, saying, “I believe in sweat, in whatever form.”
In the interview, he continued to say that a balance between rest and exercise is incredibly important for one’s self-care, and although people may mock men for taking care of their skin, they shouldn’t.
“I think caring for yourself is really important, particularly nowadays as men. Being vulnerable and admitting those vulnerabilities is very, very important.”
Although he may have gone to extremes for Southpaw, Jake Gyllenhaal’s daily routine is much more simple when he’s not filming a blockbuster movie. Instead of pushing yourself to the limit, the best parts of daily life are finding balance and allowing oneself to be vulnerable.