14 DAY TRIAL // Usher appears to be more ripped than ever on the cover and inside the pages of the November 2013 issue of Men’s Health magazine. He reveals he’s been training hard to play boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard in the upcoming “Hands of Stone” movie.
He even offers a few details about his challenging workout routine, which, of course, includes plenty of boxing, saying, “I train like an athlete every day, believe or not.”
Luckily, Usher goes into the specifics, making it practically impossible for you to not believe him anymore.
“My commitment to this character demands that I not only physically get ready, but also become him. The hair, the personality, the manner he conducts himself in – all that. He’s an incredible man,” he says of his decision to immerse himself in the role.
Seeing how he already was in excellent shape, Usher thought training even harder would be a piece of cake. It turned out it wasn’t.
“My second day I decided to ride to the gym. So I rode there. Boxed. Rode the bike back home. Mentally, I’m the type of person who can ignore the pain. Put it somewhere else and allow my body to just go there. But I always suffer,” he says.
“You can’t box, ride a bike for 20 miles in the heat – Georgia heat – and then go to the studio and rehearse. That’s not happening,” Usher adds.
He had to learn that the hard way but at least he’s now closer to the body he wanted to have; anyone picking up the latest issue of the magazine at newsstands can see that for themselves.
“Hands of Stone” also stars Robert de Niro as Leonard’s manager, and is directed by Jonathan Jakubowicz on a script he wrote.
It will be out in 2014.