Celebrity fitness is often a balancing game between aesthetics and endurance to pull through hundreds of photo ops and shoots. Interestingly, Ghostbusters fame Ernie Hudson seems to have nailed the tightrope walk as he often draws compliments for his youthful look at 78. He recently sat down with Men’s Health to talk about his workout routine and daily diet as he thrives energetically ahead of the ‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’ release.
Gifted with an athletic physique, Hudson’s priority is to keep his body safe and healthy. Previously, he survived life-threatening diseases twice – prostate cancer in 1998 and rectal cancer in 2011. Hence, the actor’s workouts now focus on his flexibility and strength while making sure he doesn’t push himself too hard.
In his seventies, he finally felt the need to add some serious gym training to his life, and he did so with the help of Garba ‘Mister G’ Onadja. Training thrice a week and focusing on keeping his heart rate below 130 seems to work for the actor as he walked fans through his routine.
Incidentally, Hudson includes balance and mind-body coordination as a crucial part of his workout since that’s one of the main causes of serious injuries in people his age. Pairing that with stretches to improve flexibility and strength training to reinforce his core worked well for his needs.
“Size is not my friend. Even now, at 78, I can’t be grandpa looking like the Hulk.”
While he often spends more than an hour at the gym, Hudson admits that his trainer saves those days for when he plans on an intense workout. This includes extending his exercise hours by a few more minutes and asking Hudson to climb stairs or run on the treadmill for an extra aerobic push.
“I love when we’re talking and I can lift the weights and I can get through that, but it’s that aerobic push at the end that just…I dread.”
Despite his well-crafted gym routine, Hudson continues to perform pushups as his go-to exercise. However, since being in his 70s, he avoids long-distance running and focuses on limiting his heart rate spike from going too far. Moreover, while his gym routine serves as the ideal plan to help him stay fit, his stellar nutrition adds to the kick.
Ernie Hudson reveals his no-nonsense diet plan
For the Ghostbusters star, following a strict diet isn’t necessarily on the charts. However, his schedule from day to night runs such that he ends up practicing intermittent fasting by not eating anything before noon and after 7 PM. His fridge essentials include hard-boiled eggs and salmon, but his allergy keeps him away from any kind of shellfish.
Ernie Hudson doesn’t restrict himself but generally practices good eating habits, which include cutting out fast food, alcohol, recreational drugs, and so on. On top of it, his well-stocked supplement cabinet includes collagens, peptides, vitamins, and fish oil to add some extra benefits to a healthy diet. The secret to looking ravishing at 78 lay in good habits and practices, and Ernie Hudson is a living testimony of that.
