David Banner on How Method Man Motivated Him to Get Fit

David Banner recently spoke about embracing physical fitness and shared how it was a fellow rapper who got him to focus. During an appearance on Big Boy’s Neighborhood, Banner talked about how he committed himself to fitness and revealed that it was Method Man who helped inspire and motivate his wellness journey. 

“I didn’t believe Rockwilder was from New York because he did something that we do in the country!” Banner said before revealing how the superproducer connected him with Meth. “I was like, ‘I really want to do a record with Method Man, bro.’ He said ‘hold on’ — and hung up the phone! [He] called me back in five minutes and said ‘Meth said call him tomorrow — here go his number.’”

The Mississippi native said that his first interaction with the Wu-Tang Clan star was immediately gracious. “I called Method the next day, he did the verse the next day,” Banner shared. “He said, ‘I gotta go, my daughter’s graduating. I'll have the verse tomorrow.’ I called him [later] like, ‘Meth, bruh, you don’t know me, why you do that?’ He said, ‘Cuz I’m on Black Twitter and Black Twitter says ‘protect David Banner,’ so I’m gonna listen!’” 

Banner went on to explain that as he began to experience certain health issues and saw how Method Man was championing fitness and posting workout videos, Banner sought his advice on how to take control of his situation. 

“So we got cool and I called him one day because I saw his transformation,” Banner said. “I said, ‘Meth, bro, I can’t sleep, dog.’ And he was like, ‘Banner, the same thing happened to me.’ And he [said] that's when he started going to the gym. He said, ‘The gym in New York opens up at 4:30 and I couldn’t sleep anyway, so I started going to the gym.’"

Banner continued, “[Method Man] said, ‘Banner, the common denominator in everything that you go through is you. So you have to change you.’ So I started going to the gym every day but Sunday. And even the days that I didn’t want to go, I would just go and sit out in the parking lot.

“A wise man [asked] me, ‘You know what the heaviest weight in the gym is?’” Banner shared, “The front door. If you can’t open the front door, you can’t get to no weight anyway! So that’s the heaviest thing. Because we don’t go, we stop going.”

He explained that the biggest hurdle is forming good habits. 

“There’s a book called Atomic Habits, and they say that in Atomic Habits,” he said. “I’m serious, y’all. This sounds crazy, but even if you go and work out for one minute, it’ll stop you from having that bad habit. Because weeds grow quicker than fruit. So, if you don’t go for one day, [that] one day will turn into two weeks, and then turn into 2 years and then you’re dead. So just go for that one minute. Go sit in that parking lot.”