Chase Stokes talks running, workouts with girlfriend Kelsea Ballerini, and body image

Chase Stokes seems healthy and athletic at any age, but when the 32-year-old actor tells me he struggles with body dysmorphia, it doesn’t completely shock me.

After all, Stokes is best known for his role in the Netflix drama Outer Banksin which he plays a teenager. Impersonating someone more than a decade younger is no easy task. And when he explains that negative online comments were terribly inappropriate and hurtful, it’s a stark reminder that celebrities are not invincible specimens, either mentally or physically.

Of course, this notion isn’t breaking news, but it’s an interesting point that Stokes brought to the surface of the conversation after discussing a knee injury he’s been rehabilitating – a reminder that the people we see on the Staring at the screen, they are not superhumans. Even famous actors have bad days and go to physical therapy… when they don’t want to (read: try to put it off). And now, after (understandably) ignoring the pain, dealing with the pain, and healing it, he’s able to do something he loves: running again… which is why I’m sitting down to have a conversation to lead with Stokes.

He teamed up with Brooks Running to celebrate the launch of Brooks Running’s new flagship running shoe, Glycerin Max. During our one-on-one conversation, he… Ugly The actor talks about his return to running, the fitness classes he’s been taking (with and without girlfriend Kelsea Ballerini), and dealing with unwanted comments online.

Brooks runs

HS: How did you get involved with Brooks Running?

Chase Stokes: I hurt my knee and spent a lot of time running, but I didn’t take responsibility and take care of it right away. And then I finally did it and just got back on the running track. Since rehabilitating my knee, I’ve really started doing it again. The Glycerin Max makes me excited about running again, which is something that after a 10-year athletic career I didn’t think I would get into running and say, “Oh, I want to run and run.”

HS: Are you training for something specific, like a marathon or half marathon?

CS: Not in the near future because work kind of takes me away from it… but I feel like I run a marathon every season Outer Banks. Honestly, for me, because I slowly started running again: I just kept to my own pace, which was nice. That’s why I try to get outside for at least 20 to 25 minutes at least three days a week.

HS: What else do you do in terms of cross-training?

CS: Apparently my friend (Kelsea Ballerini) really got me interested in Lagree, which made it a lot of fun for me to learn. Kelsea has a girl named Joy who comes into the house and has worked with her for years. She recently opened a studio in Nashville. We took out the mega-reformers and I kept getting my ass kicked.

I have always been interested in HIIT training. I have always been interested in weightlifting, with a sporting background. I started boxing two years ago, which was another passion of mine. I work with a gym in Orlando called Orlando Boxing Club. It’s cool because they don’t treat me like I am in the real world. They treat me like another kid coming in for training.

HS: Do you get punches in the face?

CS: Often.

HS: Do you and Kelsea run together?

CS: I got it working. She has a treadmill downstairs in her home in Nashville. I usually go out and run.

HS: Do you take any supplements to support your training?

CS: I’m pretty simple. I take my multivitamin in my preprobiotics. I take magnesium at night.

HS: How has your job affected your diet and exercise routine?

CS: Since the internet is constantly staring at you no matter which direction you walk, and what your body looks like back then compared to now: I’m a little overly sensitive to that. Definitely a little body dysmorphia for me in this area. Because I’m 32 years old and I play a teenager on TV, she’s just aware of that.

HS: As for body dysmorphia, are there any co-stars you’ve worked with who share this opinion?

CS: When you keep such a close eye on your career, everyone is constantly facing some form of scrutiny. I think you find a way to focus on these things. When you don’t feel comfortable in your own skin and then someone mentions something about something that resonates with you, we are immediately drawn to it because we are self-deprecating by nature. I saw a comment the other day that said, “He’d be a lot more attractive if he had better abs.” And I said, “Okay. That hurt my feelings, but that’s rude.” That’s the nature of things and I think that’s just part of the industry I work in.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Hilary Sheinbaum is a journalist, founder of GoingDry.co, an alcohol-free events and menu curation company, and author of three books: The Dry Challenge (HarperCollins, 2020), A Journal For Bad Days (Simon & Schuster, 2023), and Going Dry ( Quarto, September 2024). The New York Times calls her “Ms. Sheinbaum, the MVP of Dry January,” the Wall Street Journal featured her in a cover story, and she has appeared many times on Good Morning America. Her TEDx talk went online in October 2023.