Meet the ‘body beast’ who got Eminem into shape

THIS Israeli bodybuilder and Eminem have a mutual admiration. Eminem’s lyrics help motivate Sagi Kalev in the gym, and in turn Mr Kalev helped Eminem get his health back on track.

courtesy of Sagi

HE MAY be wildly rich and famous, but when rapper Eminem gets into shape, he doesn’t enlist the help of a pricey celebrity trainer.

Rather, he prefers the method of stay-at-home mums and suburban dads battling middle-age spread — workout DVDs hawked on infomercials.

The Slim Shady hit-maker is a devotee of Sagi ‘Body Beast’ Kalev, an Israeli hunk who could easily be a body double for the Incredible Hulk.

In the September issue of Men’s Journal magazine, Eminem, 42, reveals that in 2007, while in the throes of drug addiction, he topped the scales at a whopping 104kg. But the 172cm rapper has since replaced pills with exercise — particularly workout videos.

So who is the musclebound man who helped the indefatigable Detroit native get ripped?

Kalev is a former skinny kid who defied expectations by twice being crowned the “Mr. Israel” bodybuilding champion.

Before developing his Body Beast program, the 44-year-old Tel Aviv native graced the covers of fitness magazines, and appeared on Baywatch and The Young and the Restless.

Sagi’s workout videos inspired Eminem to get fit.

Still, he was surprised to learn that Eminem is a disciple.

“I had no idea he was doing Body Beast,” Kalev said. “But I knew he was a beast at heart.”

Though the pair have not been in touch, Kalev says the rapper is a “huge influence” in his own life.

“While I was filming Body Beast, I had the lyrics of ‘Till I Collapse’ and ‘Lose Yourself’ on the wall of my private dressing room. Each time before we shot the next workout, my meditation was reading and listening to these lyrics. That’s what got me into Beast mode.

“I feel honoured knowing that Body Beast is helping him in his recovery. His music gave me strength when I needed it, and now Body Beast is doing the same for him.”

Like the rapper, Kalev is motivated by doubters.

“I got into [fitness] after getting bullied as a young kid for being so skinny,” he says. “Mr. Israel was just a stepping stone in my fitness career.”

Eminem has battled with his health for years. Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris.

Kalev came to the US in 1993 to pursue bodybuilding, and became a fitness model and actor after being discovered working out at an LA gym.

“I wouldn’t even count that as acting,” he says of his TV credits. “My biggest accomplishment while out in LA was landing my first international cover of Men’s Workout, which then led to many others.”

Kalev, who married fellow fitness coach Barbie Kalev in May, says bodybuilding taught him to believe in himself, and that “Body Beast is about awakening the beast inside of you.”

The 90-day program was developed in 2012 and relies on basic weightlifting moves that can be done with limited equipment such as dumbbells.

The circuit-based workout includes moves like side forearm planks, bent-over rows, stiff-leg dead lifts, bicep curl-ups and hammer pull downs.

According to his website, users can expect “sexy, contoured muscles and nothing that jiggles when you walk.”

This article originally appeared on The New York Post.