Earlier this month, I attended a family get-together where I was chatting with one of my wife’s cousins. She asked me what I did for work and I didn’t realise until then that my job is pretty hard to explain! So, I’d like to take you behind the scenes of my business and through my working life.
All Around the World
Last summer, I spent a lot of my time in the international space station, albeit a fake one in a studio. I’ve also worked on location in the streets of New York, whaling ships in the Med and in galaxies far, far away.
It might sound like there is a lot of variation in my work but there’s a good helping of consistency too. The hours are long, the work is high-pressure and the focus is always on safe, efficient training.
Results are driven by food planning and while film work is a big part of what I do, I balance my time on set and training with the running of my gym and online business. Due to the nature of film work, I am often on standby which gives me the time I need to check in with online clients, write plans and look to the future of what I can offer to keep stepping things up a level.
I am currently doing just two personal training sessions per day and then offering a couple of hours’ support during stunt/performance rehearsals. I’m also spending a few hours each day at circus school.
A Packed Schedule
Below I’ve given a snapshot of my current schedule. This is not a standard schedule because, for me, there is no such thing.
4.30am My alarm goes off. I either cycle to my gym at Pinewood or drive into London depending on where my training sessions are based that day.
6-8am
Personal training sessions.
8–10am
Stunts/Performance rehearsals.
10am–5pm
Back to the office at Pinewood to work on my online business.
5-6pm
Make my way home and pick my daughter up from nursery.
The film I am currently working on is studio-based, so my schedule is similar every day. This will change over the coming months as we have a few weeks away on location.
Home and Away
During the past three years, I have been UK-based a lot more, except for the couple of months I spent away training the team on Assassins Creed.
Prior to this three-year period, I spend most of my time on the road. In 2013, I was abroad for a total of 11 months.
As the work that I do is seriously results-driven, that’s where most the pressure comes from. To ensure I achieve the desired results for my clients, everything we do has to be focused on clear, set goals with every training session designed to optimise progress.
For years, I have also created brand new food plans every time I started working with an actor. This has resulted in a database of hundreds of recipes that I have used to create my online products, Beyond & BetterSelf.
I now use the system built for BetterSelf and Beyond to deliver calculated calories to all the actors I work with and their personal chefs. This removes the chance of failure. If you have fitness goals, you simply need to eat for them. Bon appétit!
