Miles Teller takes his fitness seriously – and genuinely enjoys training. Across his career, the American actor has taken on physically demanding roles, from portraying a boxer in Bleed for This to a fighter pilot in Top Gun: Maverick, and more recently a highly skilled operative in The Gorge. Each has required him to maintain a strong, capable physique.
Celebrity trainer Jason Walsh has supported the 39-year-old through many of those transformations. Depending on the demands of each role, Walsh has helped tailor Teller’s training accordingly.
‘I’ve been working with Miles for years, and he’s someone who’s always taken the preparation very seriously,’ Walsh told Men’s Journal.
The Mindset Behind Teller’s Consistency
While achieving specific physiques for roles is part of the job, Teller’s approach to fitness goes beyond that.
‘He’s consistent with his diet, whether we’re training for a film or not, so he’s a pretty easy client in that sense,’ Walsh says.
‘We don’t talk enough about the psychology of training – it’s very important. A lot of people start and stop because they don’t have that switch. Miles sees the bigger picture and understands that training keeps him mentally balanced. He values longevity and the application of training. He does the work, puts in the time, and he’s in it for the long run.’
The Training Method That Keeps Him Screen-Ready
While different roles have required shifts in focus, intensity has remained a constant. Walsh regularly programmes heavy compound lifts, often using Peripheral Heart Action (PHA) training – pairing upper- and lower-body movements – to create efficient, high-demand sessions.
For Top Gun: Maverick, that intensity was essential. Teller needed to gain 25 pounds while maintaining single-digit body fat, all while building a core strong enough to handle the extreme g-forces experienced by fighter pilots.
That meant heavy lifting – including deadlifts over 450 pounds – alongside targeted core work and learning how to brace effectively under load.
That athleticism carried over into 2025’s The Gorge. Playing a highly skilled operative, Teller combined sniper training with four gym sessions per week.
‘It was very physically demanding, and we had great stunt coordinators and stunt teams helping us out,’ he told UniLad.
According to Men’s Journal, this is a key high-volume workout Walsh has programmed to get Teller screen-ready.
Miles Teller’s Workout
EMOM (alternating exercises each round)
Round 1:
Round 2:
Round 3:
How to Do the Movements
Trap Bar Deadlift
Position yourself inside the trap bar, with your shins aligned with (or just in front of) the centre of the bar. Push your butt back as far as possible, bend your knees, and reach down to grip the handles. Grip as tightly as possible. Keep your head in a neutral position, keeping your gazed fixed at something in front of you. Squeeze your shoulder blades to create tension, and turn the pits of your elbows forward, facing out.
Make sure your hips are lower than your shoulders, then prepare to initiate the lift. Push your feet through the floor to stand straight up, squeezing your glutes at the top. To finish the rep, push your butt back as far as you can, then bend your knees to set the weight down.
Dumbbell Bench Press
Lie back on a flat bench holding two dumbbells above you with a shoulder-width, overhand grip. Drive your feet into the floor to contract your quads and glutes, and clamp back your shoulder blades to shorten the weight’s path of travel. This increases neural drive to your chest, delts and triceps. From the starting position, breathe in and lower the weights slowly until they skims the middle of your chest.
Focus your mind on activating your chest muscles and push the bar dumbbells to the starting position explosively as you breathe out. That’s 1 rep.
Romanian Deadlift
Start standing tall with your feet underneath your hips. Hold your weight (dumbbells or a barbell) in front of your thighs. Send your hips behind your heels with a flat back as if you’re ‘shutting a car door’ with your backside. Keep the knees directly above your heels and shins vertical to the floor. As you lower the weight, keep your shoulder blades drawn towards each other and head in line. Feel a stretch in your hamstrings. When the weight is below your knees, send your hips forward to return to the starting position.
Dumbbell Shoulder Press
Stand with feet hip-width apart, glutes lightly engaged, ribs stacked. Bring the dumbbells to shoulder height with forearms vertical. Think: elbows slightly forward, knuckles to the ceiling. Lock the ribcage over the pelvis – don’t let your lower back arch. Move your head slightly back to clear the bar, then return to neutral as the weight passes your face. Fully extend your arms overhead, with biceps close to ears, shoulder blades rotated upward. Think: grow tall at the top. Bring the weight back to the shoulders without collapsing posture.
Bulgarian Split Squat
Stand 2-4 feet in front of a bench (depending on your height), facing away. Have one leg resting on the bench behind you, laces down, with your feet in line with your hips. Sink your body down until the knee of your back leg almost touches the floor. The front knee should be at a right angle. Push up through your front foot to return to the start position.
Bent-Over Row
Grab a barbell with an overhand grip, hands slightly wider than shoulder width apart. With your legs slightly bent, lock your core, keep your back straight and send your hips behind your heels so that your torso is almost perpendicular to the floor. Row the weight upwards in an arc shape towards your hips. Pause and squeeze the shoulder blades together for a beat whilst keeping the shoulders away from the ears. Slowly reverse the rep back to the start.
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Ryan is a Senior Writer at Men’s Health UK with a passion for storytelling, health and fitness. Having graduated from Cardiff University in 2020, and later obtaining his NCTJ qualification, Ryan started his career as a Trainee News Writer for sports titles Golf Monthly, Cycling Weekly and Rugby World before progressing to Staff Writer and subsequently Senior Writer with football magazine FourFourTwo.
During his two-and-a-half years there he wrote news stories for the website and features for the magazine, while he also interviewed names such as Les Ferdinand, Ally McCoist, Jamie Redknapp and Antonio Rudiger, among many others. His standout memory, though, came when getting the opportunity to speak to then-Plymouth Argyle manager Steven Schumacher as the club won League One in 2023.
Having grown up a keen footballer and playing for his boyhood side until the age of 16, Ryan got the opportunity to represent Northern Ireland national futsal team eight times, scoring three goals against England, Scotland and Gibraltar. Now past his peak, Ryan prefers to mix weightlifting with running – he achieved a marathon PB of 3:31:49 at Manchester in April 2025, but credits the heat for failing to get below the coveted 3:30 mark…
You can follow Ryan on Instagram @ryan.dabbs or on X @ryandabbs_
