Tony Horton

Has all the square-jawed normalcy of a leading-man superhero—which means he’s not normal at all.

While the 53-year-old fitness and lifestyle muscle-whisperer might not (quite) be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, he’s the brain, body, brawn and cross-training burn behind P90X, the best-selling DVD fitness program in the U.S., as well as a library of other Beachbody fitness programs that have grossed in excess of $500 million and won him his legions of fans, from body-conscious celebs (Demi, Ashton, Pink, Usher) to pro athletes (Carl Banks, David Akers, Mike Tyson). Yet that was just a warm-up for Horton, who moved to SoCal from Rhode Island in 1980 to seek fame and fortune as an actor/comic/model but “spent more time as a waiter, retailer, carpenter, production assistant, beachfront mime and, finally, trainer” (he was also Dolly Parton’s gardener for a summer).

He recently launched the “Bring It” Minute with Tony Horton on the airwaves and the new P90X2 hits the market this month. The latter has “multiple plane exercises, polymetric exercises and traveler’s versions of every single move,” says Horton.

So, what’s the secret of his cross-demographic, all-age appeal, as well as the six-pack, off-the-depression-medication results? A sense of humor paired with tenacity and discipline leavened with empathy.

“I wasn’t an athletic kid. I didn’t lift weights until college, which is when I had my first good coach,” he says. “You do what you can do and you improve.”

No fat—or kryptonite—in that.