So that Jake Gyllenhaal fella got pretty jacked for Southpaw, huh?
Are steroids involved?
I don’t know.
It’s Hollywood so anything is possible.
If you look at the numbers, Jake Gyllenhaal is 6 feet tall and 195 pounds.
This puts him on the upper end in terms of the amount of muscle you can naturally gain (and be as lean as he is) but of course there are factors like water weight and whatnot at play.
Plus we have no idea when he weighed in at that 195 pounds. Chances are the promo pictures and trailers all show Jake at a weight lower than mentioned.
Again, I have no freaking idea if Jake is on the juice and quite frankly it doesn’t matter. Just focus on yourself.
Tip #1 – Give it time
Jake Gyllenhaal reportedly put on 15 pounds of muscle in 6 months.
That equates about 2.5 pounds of muscle per month. Of course it’s highly unlikely this was 100% muscle. You need to account for things like water and glycogen.
So if you’re trying to gain muscle, know that beginner gain muscle A LOT faster than guys who already put on a decent amount of size.
Once you reach intermediate/advanced stages of muscular development, gaining more muscle becomes extremely slow.
The same goes for weight loss.
The more weight you have to lose, the more weight you will initially lose.
Once you get to those “last 10 pounds,” weight loss slows down dramatically to maybe only 0.25-0.5 pounds per week.
Tip #2 – Lift heavy, lift intense
The absolute best way to pack on muscle fast is by lifting heavy weights.
Now the word “heavy” is subjective so to keep it simple, a large chunk of your workouts should be in the lower/mid rep ranges.
So think, 4-6 reps and 6-8 reps.
This is when you build real strength and muscle.
Higer rep ranges or 10-15 range have their place but they should not make up the majority of your training.
If you lift in these low/mid range combined with tip #3 below, it’s pretty much impossible to not gain muscle fast.
Tip #3 – Eat big to get big
By now you probably know that you absolutely must eat more calories if you want to pack on lean muscle.
While getting stronger in the gym is very important, you’ll never maximize the amount of muscle you put on if you eat like a 12 year old girl.
As for formulas, I recommending multiplying your bodyweight in pounds by 16-18 to get your daily calorie intake to build muscle.
Of course you need to monitor yourself and make sure you’re not getting too fat as well.
If you find yourself putting on weight too quickly (more than 1 pound per week if you’re a beginner), then you’re probably eating.
Tip #4 – Eat less to get shredded
The foundation of all weight loss is a calorie deficit, meaning you need to eat less than you burn every day.
That’s how Jake Gyllenhaal lost weight for Night Crawler. It’s how he probably shed a few pounds to get ripped for Southpaw and it’s how every single human on this planet loses weight.
No magic tricks, magic foods, or magic supplements needed.
To calculate the amount you calories you need to lose weight, multiply your bodyweight in pounds by 10-12.
Tip #5 – Track yo’ shit
If you don’t track what you put into your body or what you’re doing in the gym, how can you ever expect to progress?
What I mean by this is you need to have a firm grip on how much food you’re eating plus how you’re
This boils down to tracking 2 things:
- Your daily calories and macronutrient intake: This helps you know exactly how much you’re eating every day. And I know a lot of people hate tracking their food intake, but if you don’t accurately track what you’re eating, then you’re just guessing. And guessing is a really shitty way to see how you’re progressing.
- Your workouts (e.g. tracking if you’re progressing and getting stronger): The only you get bigger and gain more muscle is by getting stronger in the gym. You need to either be progressing in the form of bumping up the weight or number of reps. Of course there are other ways to progress by increasing overall intensity by decreasing rest times or simply increasing sets but that’s whole other article in itself.
Tip #6 – Don’t overcomplicate this stuff, it’s simple
Notice I said “simple” and not “easy.”
Like I said above, gaining weight is as simple as getting stronger and making sure you’re eating enough.
Losing weight is as simple as eating less.
If you’re just starting out, it’s going to take you at least a few years to get a body on the same level as Jake Gyllenhaal. Sorry, there are no 30 day miracles here.
Building that level of muscle and strength takes time.
Don’t know what kind of workout you should do?
You can follow this sample 6-week Jake Gyllenhaal Southpaw workout below:
Note: This routine is intended only for beginners and can be used either to build muscle or lose weight.
Day 1
- Incline dumbbell press – 4 sets x 4-6 reps
- Flat dumbbell press – 2 sets x 6-8 reps
- Dumbbell shoulder press – 2 sets x 6-8 reps
- Triceps pushdown – 3 sets x 8-10 reps
- Dumbbell side lateral raises – 3 x 10-12 reps
- Weighted cable crunches – 3-5 sets x 10-12 reps
Day 2
- Deadlift – 4 sets x 4-6 reps
- Leg Press – 3 sets x 6-8 reps
- Dumbbell lunges – 2 sets x 8 reps per leg
- Leg extensions – 2 sets x failure
- Standing or seated calf raises – 5 sets x 10-15 reps
Day 3
- Pull-ups (weighted if possible )- 3 sets x 4-6 reps
- Seated cable row – 3 sets x 6-8 reps
- Barbell curls – 2 sets x 8-10 reps
- Alternating hammer curls – 2 sets x failure
- Weighted cable crunches – 3-5 sets x 10-12 reps
If you want a complete system to help you build muscle, lose fat and get a body like Jake Gyllenhaal in Southpaw, then I recommend checking out my course, Superhero X12.
You have a lot of good info on this site for beginners, which is great. So many other sites focus on the gym rat crowd, and a lot of their articles don’t seem appropriate for a newb, maybe even dangerous.
But one thing I think you could do that would help beginners implement your workouts more effectively is definitions for some of the terms you use. You suggest a I do so many reps and so many sets, but what if I don’t know what, say, an “Incline dumbbell press” is? (and I don’t). I know I can google it, but then I’m all over the web instead of staying on your site..
I know enough to know form is very important, so not only do I need to know how to do an Incline dumbbell press, I need to know how to do it correctly. Selecting the correct weight is important too. As a newb, I could use help figuring that out too.
Thanks for all the advice, very glad I found this site!
thank you Russell.
An incline dumbbell press is simply an exercise. I currently don’t have an exercise demo for that, but there are plenty on youtube.
Great post
Looking at his before picture and the picture from the movie, I doubt if he gained any muscle for that. It looks more like he lost some body fat to get leaner and show off some already present muscle. It reminds of how different some of the guys on the wrestling team looked from the beginning of the year to the end of the season. For example, the 158 pounder would come back from summer break weighing about 175-180. The difference between those two points in time look exactly like the difference between those pictures you post.
By the way, that workout you posted, looks pretty good even for a pretty advanced athlete. The older I get, the more I like whole body sets.
sorry the late reply man.
He definitely did gain some muscle for this role and it’s the leanest he’s ever been.
Great post. I reckon Jake was natty in southpaw, he doesn’t look to have much more mass than usual, he’s just shredded. It’s surprising how much BIGGER you can look just from being at very low body fat %.