Marvel / Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Paul Rudd is nearly as celebrated for his perpetually youthful appearance as his acting. The movie star, who turns 54 in April, was named People’s Sexiest Man Alive the year before last. He’s done it without an awe-inspiring set of abs or delts. However, the self-professed unlikely superhero is performing superhuman feats, most recently in this year’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and he’s made fitness a lifestyle. Paul Rudd recently talked to Men’s Health. What follows are the fitness highlights.
PAUL RUDD ON BEING A SUPERHERO
Paul Rudd remembered how he entered the MCU as the title character in the 2015 blockbuster Ant-Man: “My agent set up a meeting with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige. Marvel was pretty new. They weren’t even part of Disney. It would’ve been like somebody saying, ‘How would you feel about doing Dancing with the Stars?’ A superhero franchise was never on my radar.
“I never really thought I was the type of actor that they would offer any of those parts to. But when this idea came around, I was excited about doing something that was so out of left field, and I knew that if it was announced that I was going to be joining a superhero franchise, most people would say, What the f**k? And I got to wear a superhero suit.”
Rudd spent a year training and dieting for a shirtless scene in Ant-Man. The scene was filmed but didn’t make the final cut.
“On one hand, I was annoyed because I put in a year’s worth of hard work,” Rudd told Men’s Health. “On the other, if I had to look at myself shirtless in a Marvel movie, I would just want to make fun of it in every single way. Ultimately the movie was running long, and the scene wasn’t essential.”
Rudd has now been in four more Marvel movies: Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Endgame (2019) and this year’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
PAUL RUDD’S FITNESS ROUTINE & DIET
“I get up and I have a cup of coffee, and then I do cardio before I eat anything. I never would’ve done that before (Ant-Man). I lift weights, hopefully at least three times a week,” Rudd said. “And I’ve learned so much about how my body reacts to foods, how it reacts to exercise, and where I’m happiest and how much it affects me mentally….If I’m in this suit, running around playing a character who’s supposed to be a superhero, I just feel better [being fit]. And I feel less like an impostor. ”
As for his diet, it’s relatively high protein and low sugar. Rudd eats eggs daily and a lot of salmon. And he regularly drinks protein shakes.
“It sounds like hell. It’s really not. I find routine comforting,” Rudd said. In fact, anything that interferes with his routine causes him discomfort. “There isn’t an office that we [actors] have to go to every day where we see the same people and do the same kind of job. Routine is a human need. It’s grounding in a really positive and healthy way.”
PAUL RUDD’S FITNESS SECRET
Paul Rudd’s most important tip for a superhero body, eternal youth, and happiness is…
“Sleep,” he said.
“Then diet. Then weights. Then cardio,” Rudd said, ranking each of those progressively lower below sleep. “People ask me, ‘Can you send me your meal plan? How many times a week do you work out? Do you drink? Do you eat carbs? Do you have a cheat day?’ The most important part of training is sleep. People will set their alarm and then sleep for four hours, and they’ll get up so that they can train. They’re doing themselves a disservice. If you can somehow get eight hours of sleep…”
There it is. The secret. Sleep.
PAUL RUDD ON FITNESS AS A WAY OF LIFE
Paul Rudd said he no longer needs to train or diet specifically for a role, because he’s doing it all the time. “[T]he fitness that I do now has less to do with the fact that I might have to do another Marvel movie or a magazine shoot and more because I finally understand if you make fitness a part of your lifestyle, you’ll just feel good.”
For the fitness routine of Rudd’s Quantumania opponent, check out: Jonathan Majors Workout and Diet Tips
