Anthony Anderson Is Getting Fit to Spite Will Smith

At the beginning of May, Anthony Anderson could smell bullshit. His golf buddy Will Smith had posted a shirtless photo of himself with a prominent gut, captioning it: “I’m gonna be real wit yall – I’m in the worst shape of my life.” Two days later, the post became a challenge Smith posed to his followers: spend fourteen weeks making healthier decisions, all in the name of feeling better as we all re-emerge from a year and change of snacking at home.

Anderson and the rest of his golf crew, which includes Don Cheadle, George Lopez, and Marlon Wayans, were immediately skeptical. They knew Smith was, at the very least, using a trainer. (Diplo seems to agree, having commented “This is staged” on the post.) So Anderson and his cohort took Smith up on the challenge, just to prove they could do it without cutting corners. And three weeks in, they’re all going strong.

In the middle of promoting an Advil campaign encouraging vaccinations, Anderson spoke to GQ about all the ways he’s paying extra attention to his health these days.

GQ: How did you end up getting involved in Will Smith’s fitness challenge?

Anthony Anderson: Well, you know, Will Smith thinks he’s better than everybody to begin with. So we had to show him he’s not all that great. There’s a small group of friends that’s doing it: Chris Spencer, Flex Alexander, Marlon Wayans, Don Cheadle, Cedric the Entertainer, and George Lopez. It’s our core group of guys who we all play golf with and hang out with. And Will is included in that. When he issued the challenge we all expected that Will’s gonna cheat. We’re supposed to be doing this with no trainers. Will has a team of trainers. Will has his own personal Equinox built on his property that he lives at. So it’s okay, Will. I’ve just got 35-pound weights in my house in my backyard and a Peloton. That’s how I’m gonna do mine.

But, you know, it was a friendly challenge, and we all just jumped on board. It wasn’t even directed at us. We just took it as that. So a bunch of us are just trying to live a healthier lifestyle. Over the next twelve weeks, we are holding each other accountable for what it is that we’re doing. That’s what a community’s supposed to do, it’s supposed to come together and be there for one another.

What are the workouts like?

It runs the gamut. I have a Peloton, I have a treadmill, I have an elliptical. I have the heavy bag in the backyard and the speed bag and some free weights. It all depends on the mood. I may go out in the backyard and do 30 minutes on the heavy bag. I may do an hour on the treadmill. I’ll do some light weights at night. I prefer the morning, though, because that way I’m forced to get my day started. It always works better for me to get that blood flowing.

But the challenge is really about diet more than exercise. It’s about what we’re putting into our bodies. So just making healthier choices throughout the day, and making sure that we are eating what we’re supposed to eat.

What do those eating choices look like in an average day?

Sometimes it may start with fresh fruit. Or an egg white omelet with some pico de gallo, 40 grams of oatmeal, and a half of an avocado. It gets very boring because it’s the same meal every day. For lunch it’s boneless, skinless chicken thighs or chicken breast, vegetables, and rice. When I want to switch it up, I’ll substitute salmon for the chicken. But that’s it. And tons of water.