Will Smith’s Personal Trainer on Getting in the Best Shape of Your Life

Jan. 11 , 2022 – Will Smith is inspiring galore to yet tackle those lingering quarantine pounds.

The actor’s six-part YouTube series, “Best Shape of My Life,” which debuted successful aboriginal November, documents his extremity to lose 20 pounds successful 20 weeks. (At the time, Smith was besides completing his memoir, Will, which is present a New York Times bestseller.)

Smith’s clean fare and rigorous exercise challenges seen connected the amusement -- including climbing 2,909 stairs of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest gathering successful the satellite -- prompted galore viewers to instrumentality connected their ain wellness and fitness challenges.

But for some, the travel began successful May 2021, erstwhile Smith took to Instagram to stock his quarantine weight gain and his plans to chopped other pounds. In the post, helium utilized the hashtag #bigwilliechallenge, which rapidly went viral.

Sashea Lawson, a fittingness blogger and parent of 2 young girls, has mislaid much than 35 pounds since taking connected the #bigwilliechallenge, by cutting backmost connected chocolate and easing her mode backmost into accordant exercise.

She besides revitalized her heavy passionateness for running.

“I was capable to bash a triathlon, which was my archetypal successful 7 oregon 8 years, and past I ran the New York City Marathon successful November,” Lawson says. “That was my archetypal marathon since 2017.”

But Smith’s bid besides shows that optimal wellness takes a batch much than painstaking workout and excellent subject successful nutrient choices.

“Physical actions are precise simple,” Aaron Ferguson, Smith’s idiosyncratic trainer, tells WebMD. “It’s not easy, but it’s simple.”

Rather, says Ferguson, “it’s much the mental and affectional worldly that we person tied up astir it.”

Dig Deeper Than Ever

A “Best Shape of My Life” travel is much than a mindset, Ferguson says.

“You truly person to research your relationship with food, your narration with exercise, and your narration with your carnal body,” helium says.

“You person to dedicate the clip and the vigor to inquire yourself questions and spot what the blocks are that person existed previously, truthful you tin truly commencement to transcend who you person been previously.”

Taking a person look astatine emotions attached to definite behaviors -- similar picking up a container of doughnuts erstwhile you’re sad oregon the pleasance derived from mindless eating connected the sofa -- tin beryllium uncomfortable.

“Most radical aren’t prepared to spell there,” Ferguson says.

“The ones that are prepared to spell determination aren’t past prepared to person a look at, ‘What has made maine consciousness affectional successful that moment, that I privation to shift my vigor by eating food?’” helium says.

These are called antithetic levels of consciousness, Ferguson says.

“Unless we commencement to recognize ourselves to a greater grade and truly let ourselves to spell to those deeper vulnerable spaces, that’s erstwhile we tin make a shift.”

This “higher level of consciousness” is however galore radical maintain acceptable physiques for years, adjacent decades, without yo-yo dieting, helium says.

“[If] you recognize your relationship with food, past you don’t thin to usage it successful a mode that’s not beneficial for your health,” Ferguson says. “It’s the aforesaid with exercise.”

Practicing moderation, portion staying consistent, is besides prioritized.

“Even clip off, maintenance, that’s truly important, too,” Ferguson says.

Know Your Limits

While Smith whitethorn person taken connected 2 immense challenges -- that is, penning a memoir and shedding pounds successful a reasonably abbreviated play of clip -- that doesn’t mean we should each bash thing similar.

“Somebody similar Will -- who’s been truthful palmy successful what he’s done -- he’s a beast, helium tin instrumentality connected these things of monolithic magnitudes,” Ferguson says.

“For immoderate people, a workout program tin beryllium enough,” helium says.

“You effort to support it 100% each day, it tin beryllium challenging, particularly if you person a full-time job, if you’ve got kids, immoderate your beingness circumstances are.”

The main happening is to not spell past your edge, and that borderline volition beryllium connected the person.

“I’m ever encouraging of radical going 10% past wherever they’re at, but determination are a batch of times erstwhile I’ve gone more than 10%, and I’ve suffered the consequences of that, too,” Ferguson says.

Cheat Days

Anyone who has ever taken connected a fittingness regular knows the occasional cheat time is tempting.

“It’s a tricky concern due to the fact that there’s cheat days and past there’s people’s mentation of a cheat day,” says Ferguson. “If you tin springiness [people] state wrong a confined area, it benignant of keeps them accountable for a longer play of time. But if they spell ballistic, they tin undo each the enactment of a full week, past it defeats the purpose.”

“Here’s 1 happening I would say: it’s never a cheat day, it’s lone ever a cheat meal,” helium says. “Cheat meals should beryllium sufficient, and I’m each for that; but again, it has to beryllium wrong moderation.”

Diets

When it comes to diets, Ferguson says helium doesn’t urge a peculiar one.

“I deliberation it’s up to the idiosyncratic and what they choose, due to the fact that you privation them to beryllium compliant. The greater they instrumentality to it, the greater the effect that they’re going to get,” helium explains, noting that for himself, helium prefers a “balanced magnitude of macronutrients: carbs (40% to 50%), proteins (30%), and fats (20% to 30%).”

That said, “if you’re looking for assemblage manipulation, it’s much astir energy management, truthful that means consuming energy, expending energy.”

“If we’re looking astatine optimum performance, past it’s going to beryllium a small tougher to spell retired of macronutrient balance, determination are definite diets that I wouldn’t urge successful that situation,” helium says.

New Year’s Weight Loss Resolutions

Did you marque a solution to suffer value successful the caller year? Ferguson thinks everyone should person this resolution:

“It's ace important to marque definite your wellness is apical of caput starting immoderate new year. We should each beryllium looking astatine ways we tin amended connected the basal we've built,” helium says. “So, the questions that go important are: What is that adjacent level? What americium I presently blessed with? Where are the areas I'd similar to improve? What is the archetypal measurement that I tin instrumentality today?”

But the biggest question of all, according to Ferguson, is to inquire yourself: What’s gotten successful the mode of previous value nonaccomplishment and wellness journeys?

“And pursuing connected from that: Am I successful a presumption that the aforesaid things won't travel up? Do I person a strategy for erstwhile challenges bash occur? What is my program for getting backmost connected way if things bash spell off? Am I committed to pursuing done for an extended play of time?”

As for applicable ways to instrumentality to your value nonaccomplishment resolutions, Ferguson says it’s not a one-size-fits-all approach.

“While I'd emotion to person a definitive reply for radical successful presumption of what they should do, the world is it volition beryllium antithetic for everyone,” helium says. “I conjecture the biggest happening that everyone could bash is incorporated a play reappraisal of however things are going: What worked? What needs improving? What actions tin I instrumentality present that volition marque an impact?”

Ferguson recommends anyone starting a value nonaccomplishment travel to “have a plan,” suggesting it’s champion to constitute it down. “Implement that plan, reappraisal that program astatine the extremity of the week,” and, if necessary, “revise that plan,” helium says.

“Those 5 minutes volition beryllium the biggest happening you tin bash for your wellness and value nonaccomplishment travel moving forward,” helium says.

Health and Fitness ‘Hacks’?

“I don’t cognize if it’s a hack, but there’s a mates of things that are truly simple,” Ferguson says. “Firstly, I would ne'er look astatine a standard value autarkic from the assemblage fat caliper.”

“It’s important due to the fact that the information that you cod doesn’t let you to beryllium manipulated, some by different radical and by yourself, successful presumption of weight nonaccomplishment and fluid nonaccomplishment and each the antithetic things that tin hap successful your system,” helium says.

For instance, “a bully coagulated magnitude of water, a minimum of 2.5 liters -- and that’s from each sources -- volition satiate [people] successful a mode that they astir apt didn’t realize. A batch of the times, [people] are gravitating towards nutrient is due to the fact that their assemblage is needing fluid.”

Sleep is incredibly important, too, says Ferguson.

“I deliberation sleep has got to beryllium your eventual hack. In this time and age, we each thin to person that ‘I’ll slumber erstwhile I’m dead’ attitude.”

But, reminds Ferguson, “you get your top adaptations erstwhile you’re asleep. If you’re stopping that system, you’re going to enactment yourself down your 8 ball.”