This isn’t Neal McDonough’s first rodeo, however after coaching for his position as a rodeo legend, the veteran actor is now shifting with the identical vitality he confirmed on pitching mounds of Syracuse College greater than 4 many years in the past.
At an age when most actors start their evolution into grizzled grandfathers, McDonough, at 59, has re-sculpted himself right into a chiseled motion hero. He can proudly tear off his shirt mid-scene—he’s acquired the abs to show it. And all through this body-transformation journey, he’s turn into re-energized, including mixture of energy and stamina that enables him sustain with actors, and even some athletes, half his age.
“I didn’t know that I might have a six-pack at this age—I didn’t assume it was potential,” he admits. “Once I ripped my shirt off and I might see all of the younger rodeo guys, like, whoa, I didn’t see that coming. That was my badge of honor.”
McDonough’s profession has ranged from loyal 1st Lieutenant Buck Compton in Band of Brothers to a futuristic crime fighter in Minority Report. Followers of the hit collection Yellowstone might know him finest as Montana energy participant Malcolm Beck, a job that cemented his standing as an on-screen drive.
However for his latest rodeo position as Joe Wainwright—a retired champion bull rider who decides to experience yet one more time so as to pay for his grandson’s life-saving mind surgical procedure—McDonough needed to up his recreation within the fitness center. At first, he had some doubts about nailing the look of a official skilled bull-riding grandfather in the Final Rodeo. “I used to be anxious I might by no means have that Clint Eastwood physique, that I’d by no means appear like a man who was a one-time absolute deadly badass on a bull,” he admits.
Going from Yellowstone cowboy to a champion bull rider required McDonough to go all-in on a whole bodily and psychological overhaul. He enlisted the assistance of a private coach, dedicated to a months-long early morning exercise routine, and completely revamped his diet. The outcomes: a leaner, stronger physique—and, in fact, the on-screen six-pack.
“I used to be so happy with that particular second, as a result of we constructed as much as it,” he says. “Once I wrote it within the script, after I rip off my shirt, that second was at the back of my thoughts.”
He’s now extra muscular than he’s been in many years and may now declare his motion star standing. By his personal admission, nonetheless, McDonough is way from competing with the likes of match 50-something actors similar to Frank Grillo and Jason Statham for display time. As an alternative, the down-to-earth actor’s motivation for extra muscle is directed towards household longevity slightly than movie legacy. “I would like them to see that their dad’s 59 years previous, he’s nonetheless enjoying ball, and he’s nonetheless robust as nails,” he says. “If anyone messes with the household, he’s going to be the primary one to leap in and throw a punch. And that’s sort of who I’m.”
Neal McDonough’s 40-Yr Health Evolution
Many years earlier than McDonough’s health method was formed round sustaining macros and different muscle-building methods, his old-school routine was partly molded by the archaic “run until you puke, then run some extra” mentality as a Syracuse pitcher. “Our job as pitchers was simply to run stadiums for so long as you possibly can,” McDonough remembers. “My coach would say:
‘McDonough, what did you have got for lunch?’
I’d say, ‘Roast beef sandwich, sir.’
‘I need to see it.’
And he was useless severe—in case you weren’t throwing up working, you then weren’t doing all of your job arduous sufficient.”
Immediately’s athletes could also be spoiled by post-workout luxuries similar to infrared saunas, ice baths, and purple mild remedy. In these days, McDonough says restoration was simplistic and doubtlessly harmful. “Six aspirin and a six pack—that’s the way you mounted your self up after,” he jokes. “We didn’t have all of the bands or dietary supplements gamers have now. I used to be simply throwing something in my system apart from steroids that may get me as huge and as sturdy as potential.”
By 2025, the shift in methods applies to diet as effectively. Sober since 2016, McDonough has seen a optimistic change in how his physique capabilities within the fitness center, even earlier than connecting with St. John. The mix of extra coaching and no beer, nonetheless, has elevated his health to a good higher degree.
“Beer was my factor,” he says. “I drank up an excessive amount of beer, and would get bloated, and was carrying round an additional 15 kilos of fats. As quickly as I began giving up beer, I began feeling my physique and mindset altering.”
McDonough doesn’t rely energy, however sticks to a routine of wholesome staples—rooster, spinach, and oatmeal, to call just a few. In contrast to his faculty days, and with a always busy schedule, he depends on dietary supplements greater than ever. It’s a part of the rationale why he partnered with Flip My Life. “Now, there’s simply a lot stuff over-the-counter that you could keep in form with. However, you recognize, we actually didn’t have any sort of protein powder like Flip My Life, that’s for sure.”
The Blueprint That Helped Neal McDonough Shred for ‘Final Rodeo’
When researching his position for The Final Rodeo, which he additionally co-wrote, McDonough underestimated the athletic look a lot of immediately’s skilled bull riders possess. Dropping layers of fats to look the half grew to become one other problem in nailing the position of Joe Wainwright.
“I met a few the rodeo guys simply after I began writing the movie, and I seen how shredded these guys are—simply prime athletes,” he says. “We labored so arduous to be sure that we didn’t cheat the viewers. We needed to be one hundred pc plausible.”
The “we” he was referring to was coach Scott St. John. The pair of New England transplants, now residing in Los Angeles, first crossed paths at a sporting occasion. McDonough shared his imaginative and prescient for what he needed to attain, and from there, the 2 went to work.
“I knew Neal was an athlete, in order that made it actually easy so far as what we have been going to have the ability to do collectively,” Scott remembers. “We had a really quick window of time, so I knew it was going to be actually intense. I knew we needed to do it seven days every week, and we have been actually going to need to stability the physique.”
St. John packed quite a bit into his program, mixing loads of body weight strikes like pushups and chin-ups with heavy kettlebell workouts to maintain it difficult however not overwhelming. “You don’t want a variety of gear to get into actually nice form, and also you don’t have to overcomplicate it,” he says.
To maintain McDonough’s physique shifting and burning, conditioning drills grew to become a main coaching tactic. Workout routines like med ball throws, slams, and squat jumps have been often carried out. “We centered in on constructing muscle, however then additionally protecting the depth actually excessive for many of the exercise to assist actually crank up his metabolism.”
To simulate the chaotic actions of a bull experience, BOSU ball stability drills, split-stance deadlifts, and plyometric strikes like squat jumps and snatches have been key. Scott even included post-workout restoration yoga to take care of McDonough’s mobility.
“We put in a variety of stability work, core work, power work, and explosive work that every one relate over to what bull using is all about,” St. John says.
Whereas the method was a painstaking take a look at of coaching self-discipline, it took only one scene—his defining shirtless second—for McDonough to verify this system’s success.
“Nobody had seen me with my shirt off,” he says. “And there’s my snap button shirt, and I ripped it. I might see all of the younger rodeo guys, like, I didn’t see that coming. That was superior.”
Neal McDonough’s Subsequent Chapter
For the reason that launch of The Final Rodeo this previous Could, McDonough continues to thrive in each his profession and along with his still-shredded physique. He starred in one other movie, Weapons & Moses, and has a recurring position within the Sylvester Stallone hit collection Tulsa King.
“I couldn’t be in a greater spot in my life than I’m at this second,” he says.
He’s additionally turn into a part-owner of the PBR’s Austin Gamblers. “To be simply immersed on the earth of bull using is—it’s pure Americana, and that’s what I like about it,” he says. “To be a part of the PBR household now, and to be a part of it, you recognize, proprietor of one of many groups, it’s so superior. I can’t converse extremely sufficient about what PBR stands for, what they do for his or her followers, and the way wonderful the athletes are.”
As a longtime consumer of Flip My Life—the complement firm he’s partnered with—McDonough has seen the outcomes firsthand, particularly when the shirt comes off. He says teaming up with the model was the logical subsequent step. “It modified my physique a lot and altered my vitality,” he says.
Greater than a yr since coaching for the position of Joe Wainwright, McDonough nonetheless continues portion of St. John’s routine, creating a brand new love for kettlebell coaching. “My physique doesn’t ache as a lot doing kettlebells,” he says. “You’re not simply jacking up weight—there’s a move to it. It’s nearly like ballet with weights. It’s modified the way in which that I take into consideration exercises—it’s modified the way in which my physique appears.”
Pushing 60, it doesn’t matter what his subsequent position could also be—motion star or clever previous grandfather—McDonough might be prepared. He might already be looking for the subsequent shirt to tear off. “I need to be the very best model of me potential for so long as I can. I’m simply getting began.”
