Time to start working on his body! Will Smith is back in the gym after he shocked fans when he not so proudly showed off that he developed a pandemic bod from too much “grazing thru the pantry” during lockdown. The Bad Boys For Life star wore a short pair of boxer briefs and nothing else in a May 4 Instagram boomarang video, where the Hollywood icon wasn’t afraid to show that he had an actual gut hanging down over his waistband. Now he’s started the #bigwilliechallenge to get himself and other fans like him back in pre-quarantine shape, starting with hitting the gym on Friday, May 7.
The 52-year-old shared an Instagram photo of himself in front of his home gym, with carido equipment including a treadmill and elliptical machine behind him. He wore a white t-shirt with the logo “Bel-Air Athletics” to cover up his chest and mid-section that he had used to shame himself with in earlier shirtless photos. One thing about him that hasn’t changed is Will’s million-watt smile, which he flashed in the gym snapshot seen here.
“Back to square one. Lookin like a circle. Let’s get it!” Will captioned the photo of himself ready to begin his workout. The fitness journey began on May 2, when the Independence Day star shared an IG post that read “I’m gonna be real wit yall – I’m in the worst shape of my life,” going shirtless with just short black shorts and an unzipped windbreaker jacket on.
![Will Smith](https://hollywoodlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Will-Smith-Shutterstock-embed.jpg?resize=620%2C413)
But it was his video showing off his gut two days later that ended up becoming a meme for out of shape Will. He wrote in the caption, “This is the body that carried me through an entire pandemic and countless days grazing thru the pantry. I love this body, but I wanna FEEL better. No more midnight muffins…this is it! Imma get in the BEST SHAPE OF MY LIFE!!!!! Teaming up with @YouTube to get my health & wellness back on track. Hope it works!”
Will started getting trolled by fans sending in videos of people in incredible shape doing extreme workouts. But he also got a bunch of photos and videos from supportive male fans, showing themselves in the same shirtless pose wearing black shorts and not so proudly exposing their flabby, pandemic bods. Even black-ish star Anthony Anderson joined in. As a result, Will started his #bigwilliechallenge so others can join him in getting their pre-COVID-19 bodies back.
The Hollywood superstar shared a collection of his participants in an Instagram post seen above. He can’t wait to see everyone’s “after” photos in 12 weeks once they’re done doing the workout challenge alongside Will. This is a man who was once in such incredible shape he played Muhammad Ali in a biopic about the heavyweight boxer. So Will knows what it takes to put in the work to achieve a ripped body.