6 A.M. With...Wiz Khalifa

Seven years of training helped the rapper bulk up 30 pounds-and fall in love with the process of building muscle.

- By Mark Lelinwalla

Kickboxing work that builds athleticism and doubles as cardio.

WIZ KHALIFA lies under the weight rack, hands grasping a barbell a few feet above. He tightens his abs and squeezes his glutes, then pulls his chest to the bar. He's tackling one of his favorite moves-the inverted row, a devastating bodyweight exercise that blasts lats, biceps, and forearms. I love inverted rows, says the rapper. They're good for my back. I've got a really wide-ass back for some reason. Khalifa's been building muscle onto that back-and the rest of his wiry, six-foot-four frame, too-for the past seven years, and in that time he's come to crave the training process. That's why the 34-year-old shows up at Unbreakable Performance, an MMA gym in West Hollywood, five or six days a week. And he doesn't just do the exercises; he studies them.

I feel like it's a constant learning process, he says. When you're training, you're always picking up new methods or techniques, or you're doing things better, whether it's months in advance or three months after you start or three years after you start. I love that feeling.

Pullups

Along with making and producing music, Khalifa is growing his side gigs: Khalifa Kush, a marijuana brand, and Hot Box by Wiz Khalifa, an online delivery-only restaurant. He also churns out regular content for his massive social-media fan base, which includes more than 35 million Instagram followers and more than 25 million YouTube zealots.

Renegade rows