At age 31, Sam Thompson – presenter, podcaster and reality TV regular – wants to train for life, not just for looks. And it’s been as good for his mind as his muscle
It’s late afternoon on a Tuesday at Farm Fitness gym in the Essex countryside, and Sam Thompson has a brief window between his Men’s Health video shoot and his four-nights-aweek presenting job on Hits Radio. As he sits down to talk in a corner of the gym, a barbell clatters to the floor in the distance, briefly disrupting our conversation.
He’s unphased. ‘I absolutely love that,’ he says earnestly, of the very un-soundproof interview location. ‘This has been great… just training next to people who’ve taken time out of their day to come and lift heavy stuff.’
Between his various presenting roles, the former reality TV star (he won last year’s I’m ACelebrity…) doesn’t have as much time to lift heavy stuff as he’d like. Which means he’s had to prioritise.
‘I want to tailor my training now for things that are actually gonna help me in life,’ he says. ‘I don’t want to be 80 years old and not be able to touch my toes. I don’t want to get out of breath walking up stairs.’
Askinny kid, Thompson spent most of his twenties – which included a run on Made In Chelsea –trying to put on muscle. This invariably meant bench-pressing as much weight as he could, with little attention paid to form or fitness.
HOW I BUILT MY BODY
03 TRAIN FOR LIFE
04 TUNE IN
‘I never focused on my legs, I never focused on my cardio,’ he says.
Since turning 30, however, his ambitions are more holistic. He runs, he squats, he makes time for mobility. ‘I want to stretch now,’ he says. ‘I want to do, like, Pilates… Five years ago, I just wanted to look good. And now I want to
