Kevin Hart will leave you in stitches, whether you’re laughing your ass off at his stand-up or gripping your sides because he just inspired you to grind out a seven-minute mile.
Fitness and #ComedicRockStarShit go hand in hand for the 38-year-old. Hart is the first comedian endorsed by Nike—but that’s not to say he’s just a billboard for the swoosh.
Sure, he’s got his very own kicks, Hustle Harts, but he also encouraged legions of people to “Move With Hart,” a global running and training movement to push limits and reach one’s potential.
Hart ran the 2017 NYC Marathon with a time of 4:05:06—his biggest fitness accomplishment to date, he says. “My current fitness goal is to run about five more marathons during this crazy life of mine, so I can say I did it in a high-level, unique way,” Hart says.
In March 2018, Hart again motivated people to pound the pavement, this time by running on a treadmill in the back of a specially designed see-through truck as it traversed a Los Angeles freeway for Nike’s latest Epic React Flyknit shoe campaign, #ChooseGo, calling out passersby in typical Hart fashion.
And while Hart is quick to post his gym sessions on Instagram (“I like to do core and dread anything with legs…but I do it because I don’t want to look like Bambi,” he says), running trumps his penchant for strength training.
“Running acts as a therapy session for me,” Hart says. “Having the opportunity to get out there by myself, think, clear my head, and do it while gaining miles is something I’ve developed a heavy love for.”
Humor, hard work, and transparency have helped Hart pivot from sidekick to headliner, comic to colossus. His relatability and hunger appeal to the masses. He strives to be more: Work harder, aim higher.
Of course, honesty and a little vanity don’t hurt, either: “The hardest part of my fitness journey is not taking my shirt off every single day, because I love the results,” Hart jokes.
But we’d argue that Hart’s latest venture—What the Fit, a new comedy series on his Laugh Out Loud Network YouTube channel—is one of his best fitness-inspired gags yet.
“The goal was to do something different and unique—find a way to incorporate my personality, physical fitness, and my friends who have no idea what we’re doing or how we’re doing it, and shooting it,” Hart says. He’s tackling some of the weirdest, most popular, most grueling fitness trends with A-listers. That manifests itself into Chance the Rapper doing beer yoga, Conan O’Brien sumo wrestling, and James Corden flexing at Muscle Beach, though firefighting with Niecy Nash is hands down the hardest workout, Hart admits.
But we couldn’t help but notice that of all the comedians, actors, and personalities, there’s one friend of Hart’s who’s missing. A certain 6’5″ hulk of a man named Dwayne Johnson.
When we ask whom Hart would rather train with—The Rock, Usain Bolt, or elite distance runner Eliud Kipchoge—Hart doesn’t skip a beat.
