Road House Star Jake Gyllenhaal Shows Off Insane Workout

Originally posted on Men's Journal | By Griff Griffin | Last updated 3/25/24

Jake Gyllenhaal got himself in tremendous shape for Road House, but he didn’t do it alone.

In a behind-the-scenes video posted on Men’s Health’s YouTube channel (show be, Gyllenhaal's trainer Jason Walsh details exactly what the process entailed.

“Not only did Jake need aesthetics,” says Walsh, “but also needed to perform stunts across from Conor McGregor, a professional athlete from the UFC, who has also never performed stunts before on screen. So Jake needed athleticism, resilience, and overall strength.”

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In the video, Gyllenhaal seems to perform every exercise known to mankind, from deadlights to pull-ups while getting punched in the stomach. Other drills included isometric exercises, heavy sled work, squats, bag drills, chain push-ups, climber sprints, and something called a Proteus resistance trainer, which is basically a long level attached to an anchor you can push, pull, and rotate.

That’s in addition to his fight choreography with McGregor which mirrored the mechanics of an actual high-level MMA contest Since Gyllenhaal plays retired UFC fighter Elwood Dalton in Road House, his striking and submissions had to reflect his martial arts expertise.

That’s not all. Gyllenhaal’s diet was also a major component of his transformation, with the actor needing to sacrifice sugar and ramp up his protein intake to fuel his muscle gain. Every single calorie was tracked and monitored to ensure Gyllenhaal looked the part of an ex-athlete.

“Unless you've trained like this you just don’t understand,” says Walsh. “To take the long road, to take the hard road, to take the high road, to do this clean, no shortcuts, but what you earn, what you gain along the way by taking these roads is unlike anything else.”

Read our Road House review roundup: Conor McGregor is a knock out.