If there is one movie genre that reveals the true dedication of an actor it is the boxing genre. From DeNiro’s Raging Bull, Stallone’ Rocky to Will Smith’s Ali, actors have got into amazing shape to look the part in a boxing movie. Mark Wahlberg is no exception to this rule, as he got into excellent shape for The Fighter. In The Fighter he plays ”Irish” Micky Ward, the younger brother of Dicky Eklund (played by Christian Bale).
Mark Wahlberg has featured in an assortment of movies before The Fighter, including Boogie Nights where he played the lead role of Dirk Diggler, the seafaring action/thriller The Perfect Storm, the remake of The Italian Job, and the critically acclaimed The Departed.
The Fighter Workout Plan
Mark Wahlberg did real boxing training to get in shape for the role, with a combination of pad work, cardio workouts, plyometrics and weight training. Lots of functional exercises and high intensity conditioning exercises.
What you must know, is that he spent 5 years preparing for this role. Getting into excellent shape is never easy, so he made sure that he took his time and did it right to get in shape, while still working on other projects. Mark had wanted to play this role since he began acting as he was friends with Micky Ward since he was 18 years old.
Mark Wahlberg took his training very seriously, so seriously in fact that he had a boxing ring installed in his house.
To do a workout similar to Mark Warhlberg you have to perform the boxing workouts every day, plus run each morning and perform weight training and other core conditioning exercises throughout the week. Really the best way to train like him is to join a kickboxing gym where you will receive the fitness instruction and sparring opportunities to really get in shape.
Weight Gain and Weight Loss for The Fighter
He had to both increase weight and then lose again for his role. In the film he is 30 pounds over weight at one point, and to get into that condition he simply ate a lot to pile fat on top of the muscle that he had already built. But then he had to lose all the weight for the boxing scenes for when he was in shape again in the movie.
To get in shape his diet involved consuming more protein than he was used to, but really just following a healthy diet was the key. As his training was over a period of 5 years he did not do any drastic diets, although he did have to re-shoot some fight scenes after he had gained weight again, which meant he had to rapidly lose weight.
Weight Loss Workouts
As Mark was told that they had to re-shoot some fight scenes he had to lose a lot of weight in just 5 weeks. Just like Bale he used running to lose weight. Each morning he would run 8 miles which involved a lot of hill work. This was before breakfast. Then he would do about 45 rounds of boxing training a day, plus basketball, then the conditioning workouts.
However, since the filming has stopped he admits that he is happy to be able to go back to a more relaxed lifestyle of drinking wine and eating fine foods. Although he is still determined to maintain some of the figure that he has developed over the last 5 years.
Interview With Mark Wahlberg about The Fighter
Sources
OnTheRedCarpet.com