Coach Jared Shaw transformed Chris Pratt for The Terminal List”

“The terminal list” is Amazon Prime Video's latest big-budget offering, streaming now, and is based on the acclaimed novel by Jack Carr, a Navy SEAL. Chris Pratt plays James Reece, a Lieutenant Commander who finds himself deep in a conspiracy when the rest of his team is killed during a disastrous mission.

The filming process of "The Terminal List" required Pratt to dig deep to show his heartfelt respect to the real veterans brought to the set, because everyone involved in The Terminal List wanted each episode to look as authentic as possible. Luckily, Pratt's longtime trainer Jared Shaw, also a former Navy SEAL and one of his closest friends, was up to the task of getting the "Jurassic Park Dominion" star in shape for his latest showstopper, now streaming on Amazon.

In teaser videos released by Amazon Prime Video, Shaw had said that director and executive producer Antoine Fuqua demanded authenticity for The Terminal List. “As a former operator to be in the SEAL teams, we’re doing what we can to make it as real as possible.” Pratt agreed, saying, "I hope it's obvious that we care deeply about this community. We really wanted to honor their sacrifice and what they stand for." In an exclusive conversation with Muscle & Fitness, Shaw explains how he worked with Pratt to make this happen.

Teamwork makes the dream come true

Jared Shaw, who is originally from El Paso TXm and ran track in high school, fell in love with the idea of ​​becoming a Navy SEAL when he saw a brochure advertising new recruits at age 16. “It said, ‘So, you think you have what it takes to become a Navy SEAL?'" he recalls. "I read that and knew at that moment that I was going to do this." In total, Shaw spent 11 years in the military. He first met Pratt on the set of Zero Dark Thirty, where he led SEAL training for that production. After working together on this film, they became friends and later, when Shaw left the military, he ended up becoming Pratt's preferred personal trainer.

“I do everything with him,” Shaw says. "The restricted calories, the losing weight, whatever it is, and the training. I do it all with him because it's always better to have someone [with you] when we're embracing the suck. We call it embracing the suck. You go in there and do it, and when you have someone who's in that grind and living it, it makes it a little bit easier."

Stay ready to be ready

When they're not in the middle of a project, both Shaw and Pratt are left with about 80% of the training and nutrition they could do to prepare for a shoot. This allows them to stay ready and reduces the work required to get back in shape when the camera rolls again. “You can cheat here and there, but we’ll stick with it.” Says Shaw, who also appreciates the fact that he's having a dialogue with Pratt's famous father-in-law, the one and only Arnold Schwarzenegger. "He said it best, he once told us, 'Hey, always stay away for six weeks.'

Within You can be in top shape for 6 weeks So that’s something that made all the sense in the world to me.”

Intermittent fasting is also a staple. “We eat for eight hours and then fast for 16 hours,” says Shaw. For scenes where Pratt needs to look ripped on camera, that fasting window can increase to 20 hours. But a 20-hour fast is held back and used very rarely because Shaw says Pratt's body responds well to eating clean and putting his best into training.

Simple is best

The exercises Pratt had Shaw conduct were not unlike the types of exercises the SEALS would actually conduct. “When we go abroad we don't have good gyms, sometimes we have nothing except maybe a few dumbbells if we're lucky,” he says. To emulate the physique of a Navy SEAL, Pratt performed routines that included pull-ups, push-ups and squats.” This type of short but impactful training was important as it could be adapted to The Terminal List's demanding filming schedule. Shaw focused on that Bodyweight exercises and added runs into the mix when logistics permitted. “It’s very similar to what we do overseas, so he kind of embodied that and it worked out great.”

Frogman on Fridays

“We call it Frogman Fridays,” Shaw says. "We would have him in his kit; the stuff he would wear on the show, you know the body armor and magazines and all that, and he would do the training in that to add some extra weight, actually drive it home on a Friday and then rest on the weekend and then come back. We also threw in some burpees or 8-count bodybuilders (moves done to a counted beat), which is a big exercise that we do in SEAL training “It’s not fun.”

Honor through authenticity

Running around Jurassic Park with a gun is one thing, but passing what Shaw calls the "sniff test" among real SEALs on set is another thing entirely. "It's kind of two-fold. You have to have the physical ability and the conditioning, but also be able to move and look like a real special operator, a SEAL," says Shaw, who also appears in "The Terminal List" and co-stars as Ernest "Boozer" Vickers. Ray Mendoza, who was also a Navy SEAL, served as senior technical advisor and spent time with Pratt, Shaw and other cast members to make sure everything looked right, focusing on every detail, from the way they walked to the way they drove around corners. “[Pratt] is very fluid and good-looking,” Shaw says.

While preparing for The Terminal List was a truly difficult challenge, Pratt and Shaw's partnership once again knocked it out of the park. “Chris is always such an easy-going, funny, good guy,” Shaw says. "With his crazy hours and his crazy schedule, he maintains that discipline. When we need to be at 100%, when there's a shirt-off scene or a physical scene or whatever, when we really need to lock it in, he's dedicated...You couldn't have a better training partner than Chris."