If the name Dane Cook isn’t familiar to you, his roles certainly will be. Over the course of his career, actor Dane Cook has come to play some of the most iconic characters in film history, delivering lines with his penchant wry smile and charismatic bravado. As far as comedies go, Cook has covered his bases. There was the fiery chemistry shared between Cook and Kate Hudson in My Best Friend’s Girl, the hilariously irreverent rom-com Good Luck Chuck alongside Jessica Alba, and then he played a restaurant chef in Waiting.
In a recent Instagram post, Cook gave in to nostalgia as he looked back at the range of roles he’d played during his nearly 30 years of comedic acting. While he said they all had one thing in common – his face – he explained that it’s his body that has come to be quite a priority. “My body is a different story,” wrote Cook. “I’ve had a heck of a time over the years transforming it to match some kind of theme I was cultivating.”
It’s the reason why, when he released his 2005 comedy album Retaliation, Cook wanted to have a “warrior-type” figure, but for Mr. Brooks, he wanted to portray a guy with bad skin who was “transforming into an animal.”
In his 2019 role in the thriller American Exit, Cook transformed his physique once again, gaining weight for the lead role. He had originally planned to keep the weight on for a subsequent role, but when the world went into lockdown and production was halted, he decided that once again he had to get in shape. So, what workout did he do to rid himself of the weight gain? swimming. Or, more specifically, tethered swimming.
Cook credits tethered swimming for seeing him drop the extra pounds and get back in shape, claiming he’s burned “1000 calories a day, every day since, and it’s been the greatest workout i’ve ever done. Nothing compares. Nothing.”
Cook explained that the benefits go well beyond the cardio burn, even going so far as to compare the workout to a form of meditation. “The air to the brain, the sun on my skin (use heavy SPF though) – it’s changed my thinking, my abilities physically, and my body. Pants sizes decreased and across the board feeling incredible,” he said.
