Busta Rhymes shared he was in good shape before, but something that happened made him neglect his health.
Busta Rhymes, whose real name is Trevor George Smith Jr., is an American rapper and actor. He received 12 Grammy Awards nominations throughout his career. Aside from his hard work in his craft, the 50-year-old star has also started to work hard on his weight.
The year 2020 marked Busta’s weight loss diet. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, he stayed healthy and lost weight. In fact, he had lost 100 pounds in recent years. He shared this news in an interview with Men’s Health.
In the January-February 2021 issue of the magazine, the rapper opened up about his journey and shared his weight loss secret. He admitted that he neglected his health while working on his album “Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath of God,” which was released in October 2020.
“Believe it or not, I made the album when I was at my most unhealthy,” Busta told Men’s Health. “I was so focused on the music being the best that it could be, I didn’t put any time into taking care of myself.”
The album was recorded from 2013 to 2020 and was his first release since 2009. The singer said that he was in good shape when he was making albums in the past. He added that he was doing daily training while recording his 2006 album “The Big Bang.”
However, tragedies happened and caused him to neglect his health.
Busta Rhymes' Weight Loss Tricks
The main keys to Busta’s successful weight loss:
- He decided to lose weight after he dozed off in the backseat of his car in 2019
- He let go of his unhealthy lifestyle and prioritized his overall health more
- Professional bodybuilder Dexter Jackson helped him shed pounds
- He committed to a 30-day fitness plan
- He changed his eating habits
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Busta Rhymes stopped dieting and working out when tragedies struck him while working on "Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath of God."
In 2012, Butsa’s friend and longtime manager, Chris Lighty, died. Then in 2014, his father also passed away. Their death impacted him big time. The rapper described them as “the two most important male figures in my entire life.”
“Early on, Chris Lighty was telling me that this was the best album that I ever made. He never came to my studio sessions in 22 years. And during the making of this album, he started to come. I was waiting for him to tell me that I was making something special, and then he tells me, but he dies before I could put the album out?”
Busta continues, “And then my father dies before I could put the album out? I felt cheated. The two people I wanted to see me win were no longer here to see it.”
As a result of what had happened, he focused solely on his strict responsibilities to care for his six children and neglected his own health. Everything changed for him after the deaths of his friend and father. He started eating poorly and stopped working out.
What was the wake-up call for Busta Rhymes to live healthily?
Busta recalls a pivotal moment that occurred at the beginning of 2019. After a long night of partying, he dozed off in the backseat of a car. One of his sons, serving as his road manager at the time, saw his father having trouble breathing because of his sleep apnea.
It took his son and his security crew 20 minutes to wake him up and get him inside the house. Busta went to see a throat doctor the next day since he had been losing his voice for three years. He was on prednisone to reduce the swelling in his throat.
The doctor discovered that Busta had polyps in his throat. Because of this, 90 percent of his breathing was obstructed. The physician advised him to proceed directly to the UCLA Health emergency room for surgery.
“That’s when I knew s— was serious,” the rapper noted. “The doctor told me that if I caught a cold or slept wrong that I could die. . . . It felt like this was on me now, and I had to steer things in a different direction. I was too young to be on all of these blood-pressure medications and acid-reflux medications.”
After his surgery, professional bodybuilder Dexter Jackson tagged Busta in an Instagram video. The rapper decided to reach out to the professional bodybuilder to help him with his fitness journey. He sent him a DM, and he replied immediately.
This is how Busta Rhymes' diet plan and workout routine were created.
Busta told Jackson he wanted to get in shape and was willing to do anything. The professional bodybuilder made a specific demand to achieve his goal. The rapper must move to Jacksonville, Florida, for 30 days and commit to the training program.
Busta rented a house for himself, his chef, and his security team less than a month later. He and Jackson started their training right away, going twice a day on Tuesdays and Saturdays and three times a day on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
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His eating habits drastically changed. He ate every two and a half hours, with meals such as 12 egg whites and oatmeal, followed by a workout, and then a ten-ounce steak. Busta’s weight rose from roughly 290 to 340 pounds initially, but he was developing muscle and revving his metabolism.
“Also, I stayed inside,” he added. “We didn’t go out. We just watched movies and recorded songs. Went to bed early, got up, and got back to work.”
Busta and Jackson traveled to Los Angeles after the 30-day period, where Busta trained as Jackson got ready for the 2019 Mr. Olympia competition. Then, the singer returned to New York and began working with his trainer Victor Munoz five days a week at PROEdge.
Busta continues to maintain a strict diet, focusing on meals like a salad for lunch, fish or steak with vegetables for dinner, and oatmeal and eggs in the morning. He weighs 254 pounds, which is a significant change for him.
What matters to him is that he is sleeping better, moving better, and is in a better position to help and protect his people. Most of all, his motivation for pursuing health is staying alive.
Build a muscle like Busta Rhymes
Busta got in shape the traditional way, focusing on bodybuilding exercises from coach Victor Munoz. Try these two supersets:
Superset 1
- Exercise 1: Hammer Curl – Moving only at the elbow, curl the dumbbells upward, keeping your palms facing each other. Pause, then lower.
- Exercise 2: Triceps Pressdown – Stand in front of a cable column, torso hinged forward, hands gripping a bar or rope attachment at chest height. Keeping your upper arms perpendicular to the floor, straighten your arms, driving the attachment downward.
Superset 2
- Exercise 1: Close-Grip Bench Press – Lie on a bench, holding a loaded barbell, arms straight, wrists directly above your shoulders. Lower the weight to your rib cage. Press back up.
- Exercise 2: Spider Curl – Lie with your chest on a bench set to a 45-degree incline, a single dumbbell in your right hand, your arm hanging naturally. Keeping your upper arms perpendicular to the floor, curl the dumbbell up, squeezing your biceps. Switch arms.