{"id":801891,"date":"2026-07-14T19:00:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T19:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/801891\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T19:00:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T19:00:15","slug":"gunnas-fitness-journey-is-bigger-than-workouts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/801891\/","title":{"rendered":"Gunna\u2019s Fitness Journey Is Bigger Than Workouts"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Estimated4 min read<\/p>\n

THE FIRST THING Gunna wanted wasn\u2019t muscle or endurance. It was discipline. The 33-year-old rapper, born Sergio Kitchens, started working out for the same reason millions of people do: Life was loud, and his mind needed a safe and quiet place to settle.<\/p>\n

Four years ago, his world was in chaos due to legal issues related to a racketeering conspiracy charge that ended in an Alford plea (in which you plead guilty but maintain your innocence). He began running, which he found allowed him to build focus. The more regularly he ran, the more he realized he was also building discipline in other areas of his life. He used to always arrive late to meetings; now he was getting to them early.<\/p>\n

He was calmer overall.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m in a good space, a good mental space right now,\u201d Gunna says in a quiet but smooth voice that drips with Atlanta\u2019s vowel-blending AAVE (African American Vernacular English).<\/p>\n

He\u2019s just finished an upper-body workout and sprints on Malibu\u2019s County Line Beach. \u201cIt\u2019s not just because of the music. It\u2019s because of the discipline. It\u2019s because of the journey. I feel like it goes together now. Can\u2019t do one or the other. Fitness and music go together for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MuscularJoao Canziani<\/p>\n

Gunna photographed exclusively for Men\u2019s Health in Malibu, California, on May 29, 2026.<\/p>\n

Running and exercise started as a solo venture. But the reaction to his fitness quest demanded he give it more attention. Gunna smiles a big, toothy, full-face smile as he looks around the room at members of his inner circle. He approached them about doing something with the newfound interest in his health. They didn\u2019t think small.<\/p>\n

The rapper hosted his inaugural Wunna Run<\/a> 5K club in Brooklyn\u2019s Prospect Park in September 2025. Since then, he has led runs on the streets of Toronto, Washington, D.C., Miami, Atlanta, London, Johannesburg, Houston, and Los Angeles, with thousands of fans lacing up and joining in. (Under Armour took note and is now an official sponsor.)<\/p>\n

The overwhelming majority of runners at Gunna\u2019s 5Ks are Black folks, who, as a community in America, have faced structural and cultural barriers when it comes to adopting fitness as a form of health care. \u201cWe were not taught fitness like that,\u201d Gunna says, explaining that fitness in the Black community has been gatekept by athletics. \u201cYou got to be, like, that one who really didn\u2019t go and hang out with the other friends. You stayed in the backyard and played basketball. You kept going to practice, to the football field. It wasn\u2019t for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"GUNNA:Prince Williams\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Gunna performs in Atlanta, December 7, 2025.<\/p>\n

\"ADesmond Kye<\/p>\n

Leading the Wunna Run 5K in Los Angeles, December 16, 2025.<\/p>\n

To an outsider, hearing a trap heavyweight opening up about mental and physical struggles and community and positivity might feel like record-scratch moments (and not in a good way). The played-out cultural stereotype insists that hip-hop demands machismo and bravado, ruthlessly discouraging any sign of weakness or vulnerability.<\/p>\n

But in truth, the genre has been dissecting its own trauma since Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five gave us \u201cThe Message\u201d in 1982. It\u2019s a lineage that spans from Scarface and the Geto Boys\u2019 paranoia in the \u201990s to Logic\u2019s 1-800-273-8255 suicide-prevention lifeline track in 2017.<\/p>\n

Gunna isn\u2019t merely inheriting this cultural legacy; he is scaling it and amplifying it. As a multiplatinum artist, he\u2019s dropped six studio albums\u2014his latest, The Last Wun, debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 and has garnered more than 104 million streams. He boasts a social following<\/a> of more than 10 million strong. But while the charts measure his commercial dominance, a far more potent metric is how he is connecting with fans on the pavement.<\/p>\n

\"AthleticJoao Canziani<\/p>\n

Gunna\u2019s follows a hybrid training program that features both strength work and cardio intervals,<\/p>\n

\"AthleticJoao Canziani<\/p>\n

\u201cWorking out helps me as a performer with my breathing, my stamina,\u201d says Gunna.<\/p>\n

Gunna wants to show the culture that muscular strength and run clubs aren\u2019t exclusive to the most athletic among us. You don\u2019t have to play sports to go to the gym, a sentiment that has become a deeper responsibility for him.<\/p>\n

He works out five or six days a week, often with trainer Dustin Enriquez, alternating run days with total-body lift days and boxing sessions. On Gunna\u2019s recent global tour, 27 stops on four continents, Enriquez traveled with him and says they barely missed a day. They usually trained in the morning or did a gentler workout in the afternoon prior to the concert. \u201cWorking out helps me as a performer with my breathing, my stamina,\u201d Gunna says. \u201cI can move more, engage more, and give my full energy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AJoao Canziani<\/p>\n

Running helps Gunna stay lean and also slays stress.<\/p>\n

In his mind, losing discipline or slacking off are not options. \u201cHonestly\u2026\u201d He pauses to take a look at the ocean before lowering his head. \u201cI would feel like a failure.\u201d<\/p>\n

No need to worry on that front. Gunna\u2019s fans have fueled him from the beginning of this journey. The reactions to his fitness-related social media posts have been different, he says. More views. More engagement. \u201cPeople wanted to be more educated on the workout tip and the health journey,\u201d he says. He\u2019s also a co-owner of both Flerish<\/a>, a watermelon-based electrolyte drink with \u201cno fake stuff,\u201d and Cymbiotika<\/a> Wellness Bar, where he has a signature protein smoothie.<\/p>\n

Gunna isn\u2019t setting his sights only on 5Ks. He\u2019s looking at longer distances, maybe even a Wunnathon, as he calls it. He has also taken up tennis and is curious about triathlons and Hyrox.<\/p>\n

Gunna doesn\u2019t know exactly what the next cycle holds, but he believes that \u201csometimes you do things and you don\u2019t know the purpose till later.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Men's<\/p>\n

Jo\u00e3o Canziani<\/p>\n

Photographs: Jo\u00e3o Canziani
Styling: Bobby Wesley
Creative Director: Jamie Prokell
Visual Director: Sally Berman
Video Executive Producer: Dorenna Newton
Video Set Producer: Lauren Hampton
Video DP: Ryan Murphy
Video Editor: Kyle Orozovich<\/p>\n

A version of this story appears in the Summer 2026 issue of Men\u2019s Health.<\/p>\n

\"Headshot<\/p>\n

Milo Bryant, CSCS, is a California-based trainer and an award-winning journalist.<\/p>\n