Ultimate shred.

Bodybuilding is all about building massive muscle, being shredded as possible, and not having an ounce of fat on your frame. It’s a tall task for most people to pull that off and it’s what makes bodybuilding such a unique and challenging endeavor. As bodybuilders, there is a tendency to focus solely on muscle gains rather than fitness. Conditioning is definitely a huge part of being a successful bodybuilder but it isn’t the main focus, not like in other sports like mixed martial arts and boxing.

In those latter sports conditioning is the most important thing, but that doesn’t mean building muscle isn’t key either. The new film Southpaw directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) and starring Jake Gyllenhaal recently featured in the film Nightcrawler, chronicles the journey of a former boxing champion who must battle through tragedy to get his life back on track. The film is in theaters today and audiences can be sure to expect not only some great performances and direction, but an authenticity to proceedings.

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If anyone has seen Nightcrawler which featured a scrawny Gyllenhaal in the main role, it should come as a surprise that the actor packed on a great deal of muscle to play the role of Billy Hope. If nothing else, the transformation was pretty impressive. He may not be huge like the competitors you’d find in professional bodybuilding competition, but Gyllenhaal trained hard and was relentless in his approach to not only portray a boxer on screen, but to transform himself into a boxer in all actuality. With that level of will and dedication it shows that the actor isn’t all talk. He’ll get down into the trenches to improve himself. Check out the intense training that not only Gyllenhaal completed, but director Antoine Fuqua as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIZ6SDCuYkY

Are you impressed with Jake Gyllenhaal’s lean mean form in Southpaw? Let us know in the comments below and be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook and Twitter.