6 Health Habits You Should Steal From Ryan Reynolds to Look Better With Age
One may even be “life-saving.”
One may even be “life-saving.”
Whether back-flipping in his Deadpool suit, taking on business ventures like and Mint Mobile, or wrangling his four kids, Ryan Reynolds has his hands full.
Through it all, he prioritizes key health habits to keep up the demand of his A-list lifestyle. And at 46, he looks pretty damn good doing it.
From full-body workouts to quality sleep to mental health tricks that calm his mind, here’s what we know about Ryan Reynolds’ workout, diet, sleep, and health habits.
Celebrity trainer Don Saladino starts Reynolds’ sessions with 10 to 15 minutes of mobility, “allowing the body to move and open up,” Saladino told Men’s Health.
He’s also a fan of the slow and steady workout. “Instead of coming in and destroying one body part like chest or back, we’re going to spread that out over five days,” Saladino said.
This typically involves an upper push and upper pull exercise, a squat and hinge exercise, and core work, per Saladino.
Post-lift—depending on how he feels—Reynolds may do, “three to five sets of 10 seconds of intensity on the bike ERG or 50 to 100 feet climbs on the vertical climber,” Saladino told Esquire.
With Deadpool 3 on the horizon, Reynolds is back to his action-hero diet plan—though we have no reason to believe he strays far from it when not filming.
One key focus for Reynolds: carbs.
“Sweet potato is one of his favorite carbohydrates,” Saladino told Esquire. “He’d do oatmeal and protein in the morning. Brown rice and a little bit of fruit. His body became the best it has ever been when he started consuming carbs; it gave his body the energy it needed to start looking the way he wanted to start looking.”
And the celebrity pair also paid attention to, “getting good fats in, and obviously keeping his protein at the level we feel it needs to be at, which is around a gram per pound of body weight,” Saladino told US Weekly.
With four kids, Reynolds told Extra that he doesn’t get a lot of sleep.
But working with Saladino has its perks—according to the Daily Mail, he wants all his clients to get at least seven hours of sleep.
“You burn calories at rest and when you get proper sleep, your energy levels are better,” Saladino said. “So you’re more active during the day.”
With Saladino in his ear, we hope Reynolds clocks at least seven hours, which is right in line with the National Sleep Foundation’s guidelines of seven to nine hours per night.
Despite his personable public persona, Reynolds told CBS News Sunday Morning that he struggles to quiet his mind.
“I’ve had anxiety my whole life really,” Reynolds said. “And you know, I feel like I have two parts of my personality, that one takes over when that happens.”
But Reynolds took steps to better his mental health, including meditation and a real effort to be more mindful, he told The Wall Street Journal.
“I tend to pave over anxiety with work and, to a lesser extent, achievement,” Reynolds said. “You want to tick boxes sometimes. So these days, my goal is to be as present as I can and not just tick a box just to do it. I’m fully embracing and living that right now. It’s been amazing.”
Reynolds told Entertainment Tonight that he and wife Blake Lively don’t take each other too seriously.
“We’ve always liked each other. We grow together. We learn from each other,” said Reynolds. “So yeah, I’m lucky to have a buddy in that.”
He also joked on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon that his sex life is “totally normal.” While we don’t know exactly how much sex Reynolds has, one study found couples who have sex once a week have higher levels of relationship satisfaction (1).
Reynolds partnered with a colon cancer awareness organization, Lead From Behind, to shed light on the importance of being checked for colon cancer.
In the process, doctors found a subtle polyp on Reynolds’ colon that was “potentially life-saving,” highlighting the importance of early detection.
Around 1 in 23 men have a lifetime risk of developing colon cancer and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force says adults ages 45 to 75 should be screened. You should talk to your doctor about which colon cancer screening is right for you.