Tom Russell, a director in the hospitality industry, has a grueling schedule. When he spoke to Business Insider from New York City, he was about to head back to London before setting off to Tokyo the week after.
He’s also in the best shape of his life.
Russell used to work out but his sessions weren’t structured or efficient. After teaming up two years ago with personal trainer Harry Cox, who runs London’s private gym Club Q, Russell dropped 17 pounds over 18 months.
He built strength and maintained his busy social life and career — including lots of networking drinks.
“I look after teams in Asia as well as right through to the west coast of America. So my day can start relatively early and then it can run pretty late,” Russell said.
He and Cox told BI how focusing on strength training, planning ahead, mindset, and a high-protein diet helped Russell change his approach to health and fitness — and his physique.
Planning ahead
In an average month, Russell spends two to three weeks abroad, he said. This can make sticking to a regular workout schedule challenging.
However, Cox showed Russell how he could still get results.
Every Sunday, Cox checks in with Russell and asks about his plans for the week ahead. Cox then Googles the gyms Russell will be able to access and plans workouts accordingly.
“It’s hard enough for him to find the hour a day to get it done, but he doesn’t want to have another hour on top of that figuring out how to do it,” Cox said.
Russell has essentially outsourced one element of his life.
“He likes the mental freedom of just having to wake up, check his phone, know exactly what he needs to do, and doing it. Then he can get back to all the other things inside his head,” Cox said.
Focusing on strength training and steps
For the past two years, Russell has done at least four strength training workouts a week, ideally including one with Cox.
Russell’s main motivation was dropping fat and building muscle so he mainly does bodybuilding-style training, but Cox keeps longevity in mind too.
“My responsibility as a trainer is to make sure he doesn’t get injured and his body’s still healthy,” Cox said. So, when Russell is feeling particularly tired or has a more taxing week, Cox doesn’t program exercises like deadlifts which fatigue the body.
“Having a high-performing job, one can’t dedicate one’s whole life to the gym,” Cox said. “So it was important to me that he was also able to maintain good energy levels throughout the day. He was not going into the gym and absolutely battering himself.”
With little free time, Russell didn’t do cardio workouts, as strength training was a more efficient way to achieve his physique goals. But he tracked his steps and made sure he was walking plenty for his overall health (and calorie burn).
Controlling the controllable
Entertaining is a big part of Russell’s life so it’s impossible for him to control or track everything he eats and drinks.
With that in mind, Cox encouraged him to “control the controllable” and make smart choices the rest of the time.
In practice, that meant lower-calorie, high-protein meals for breakfast (Weetabix, a banana, and a protein shake), lunch (chicken salad), and healthy home-cooked dinners including plenty of protein and vegetables when he was eating in.
At events, Russell didn’t worry too much about what he ate and drank, but tried to choose lean meats such as chicken breast and fillet steak, as well as white fish.
Cutting down on, not quitting, alcohol
Russell feels working in hospitality comes with certain expectations, including drinking at his company’s events.
“We need people to drink alcohol, it’s a huge part of our business,” he said.
Russell also enjoys alcohol, so didn’t cut it out.
Cox encouraged him to reduce from drinking five or six evenings a week, to two or three. When he was drinking, he stopped after a couple and also prioritized lighter options like wine over beer. While beer typically contains around 200 calories per serving, a small glass of white wine contains around half that.
Understanding the calorie content of alcohol helped Russell realize that he wanted to hit his goals more than he wanted to drink a whole bottle of wine.
“If I’m going to eat X amount of calories through food, then I’m going to go and lob on another 500 calories through alcohol, then I’m never going to start losing weight,” he said. “And it just kind of put it all into perspective.”
Having the right mindset and being disciplined
When Russell first approached Cox, he felt ready to make a change. He’d been shocked by his body in vacation photos and decided that instead of feeling sorry for himself, he was going to take action.
But Russell knew he didn’t want to do anything drastic or punishing that he could only stick to short-term.
“I’m still doing this job and I’m still being social, I’m still having people over and we’re still going out,” he said.
That said, he has put the work in.
“You have to go into it with the right mindset, with discipline,” Russell said. “You say the word ‘discipline’ and everyone sort of shivers and runs away, but discipline doesn’t have to be bad.”
He added: “It’s not a negative thing. If anything, it actually just gives you some structure so that you know when you want to enjoy yourself and have a good time, you can do it.”
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