EXERCISE IS NOT OPTIONAL: A Guest Post with Shona Denovan

I’m a Personal Trainer who trains performers. I tried my hand at acting for a few years but the fitness industry is where my heart is. I absolutely love my job because I love to help people get what they want and I’m very good at getting people to do what I need them to do. And actors are generally very interesting people who like to talk about themselves and I’m very nosy.

I’m not the kind of trainer who is mean, people who know me always say how smiley I am but for the purposes of this blog I’m going to give you some real talk:

EXERCISE IS NOT OPTIONAL. Too many people think it is. If you are an actor and you don’t exercise then please do something about it. It’s a no brainer – your body is your tool; don’t let it get stiff, rusty, immovable.

I’ve just started training an actor named Tom. Tom is a fantastic actor and very driven but is facing an obstacle at the moment in the form of his fitness. He has signed with an agent but doesn’t want to get new headshots and showreel material because he has gained weight. Tom is aware at the moment that his body doesn’t fit his desired “casting type” and is doing something about it.

But it’s not all about losing weight and getting buff (although those are nice side effects). Tom has recently recovered from a horrible spell with Meningitis so his immune system is shot. Getting fitter will improve his general well being and he can start to fully kick meningitis in the butt. He also has had to deal with Depression and I cannot even begin to explain how much exercise can help with this. The endorphins and high he will experience after a workout will be great for his mental health and self esteem (something that I know a lot of actors struggle with)

I will be training Tom for 6 months and in that time he has agreed to fully commit to my plan for training, nutrition and lifestyle in order for him to achieve the transformation he wants. I’m sure there are going to be challenges along the way but what I like to tell all my clients is this: If it is worth doing then it won’t be easy.

Shona