Success Story: Steve Harvey
"I Can Whip Somebody's Ass!" See how the funnyman reclaimed his body at 50
Denene Millner | Photos by Taj Stansberry
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"Right there, I walked in with an instant amount of respect; he's the eight-time Mr. Olympia," Harvey says simply. "That automatically makes him far more knowledgeable about anything when you're talking about changing my body. He changed his, and was the best in the world eight times. That made me go, Okay, I got the best guy; all I got to do is do what he says."
And he has, following Haney's two biggest directives: "Eat for what you're about to do, not what you've done." (Translation: if you're about to work out, eat carbs; if you're about to go to sit on your butt, eat a small meat-and-vegetables-only meal.) And, "Stimulate, Don't Annihilate." (Translation: You don't have to tear up your muscles to see results.) But don't get it twisted: It hasn't been easy for Harvey.
His biggest problem has been changing the way he eats—a challenge, Harvey says, because of his busy schedule hosting his radio show, touring, acting, running a mentoring foundation, managing a staff of 26, being a husband and father of seven, and because, well, he loves "key lime pie, fried chicken. I care deeply about hot oven bread. I don't know what it is about cream sauce—I like salmon, but when it has a dipping sauce on it, it's my weakness." He admits that he still eats those things from time to time, but now, he knows that screwing up the eating plan doesn't mean his program is over. "I just put in some extra time on the treadmill, and if I miss a workout, I do it the next time and go back to eating clean."
Haney's method of stimulating and not annihilating "was brand new," says Harvey. "I wanted to get in there and really just tear something—feel like I was going to die the next morning and then go back in there the next time and do the same thing."
Haney says Harvey's tendency to over train is a product of his getting advice and direction of less experienced trainers who insisted on putting him through the paces of men half his age. "If you've never been 40, you don't understand how it feels. We had to unlearn the feelings he had. I'm constantly saying, "Steve, we don't have to kill you to get results," says Haney noting that in some exercises, Harvey was using as much weight as he does. "That wasn't necessary. It was great that he saw the results of a good regimented training program that's not overbearing, that made him feel good, wake up recovered the next morning, and functional."
If his workout was any indication, Harvey is beyond functional. During the course of an hour, Haney put Harvey through a serious circuit training pace, constantly moving him between aerobic and core stimulation (on the treadmill and doing crunches and lunges) and some hardcore lifting (military dumbbell presses, bent over rolls and lateral and frontal raise combos, and lat pull-downs). No breaks. Always on his feet, in stances that simulate real-life movement (for instance, Harvey did the military dumbbell press with one foot firmly planted behind him, as if he were pushing a heavy box).
Harvey displays lots of huffing and heavy breathing, but gets it done; in the beginning with seemingly little effort, toward the end with the soft-spoken Haney by his side, encouraging him with "Come on baby, give me one more."
The training, Harvey says, has upped his strength, endurance, and metabolism, trimmed him down, and made him so sexy and virile that now Mrs. Harvey "taps me on the shoulder at night."
"It's a virtual fountain of youth," adds Haney, a wide smile crossing his face. "Age management at its best." "He's not only healthier, he's truly functional, he looks good physically, and he can handle his business," Haney adds as his charge takes his last turn on the treadmill.
"That," Harvey says, "means I can whip somebody's ass. That's what that means."
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