Mickey Rourke, the Wrestler: Growth Hormones or Rough Training?

Mikey Rourke can’t believe what is happening to him. He recently won at the Golden Globe for his role in The Wrestler and, now that the list of nominees for the 81st Academy Awards has been released, it seems he’s everyone’s favorite in the Leading Category for his performance. Rumors are not only about his great performance and uprising career, but also about his fit body. How did he do it?

Usually, when covering about a celebrity, we’re thinking of diets, weight loss and exercise. Well, this is not Mickey’s case because, for his role, he had to pun on some weight, more exactly 43 pounds… of muscles. In order to accomplish that, the 52-year-old actor had to go through seven and a half months of rough training, which he describes as being “physically brutal”. And who better to help him sweat and look like a wrestler fighter than a famous Israeli fighter?

“[…] he was real strict with me […] and that's what I needed. I didn't want a trainer who I was gonna tell when I was gonna work out,” said the actor. “Coming from the army, […] he was all about focus and discipline, mixing cardio with weightlifting. There were days where I wanted to do either cardio or weights because I was sore all the time, all day and all night,” added Rourke.

Because of the almost non-stop training, Mickey also changed his diet so that his body could receive enough nutrients and resist the extreme physical pressure. The actor’s diet consisted of six up to seven meals a day and a lot of protein drinks. Rumors are that he took growth hormones in order to enhance his physique.

He argues that “I did some stuff. You wouldn't classify it as steroids, but I did some heavy duty supplements... but not the regular stuff." His only day off was Saturday, which he longed for all week.