Health

James Haskell's personal training wife Chloe Madeley helped his lockdown fitness


Rugby hunk James Haskell has managed to stay looking lean and mean in lockdown by following a strict fitness and diet routine.

The former Wasps and England player, who is married to TV star Chloe Madeley, says: “Lockdown didn’t affect my body in terms of putting on loads of weight.

“I actually got a bit leaner. I trained quite hard, used it as a foundation and made sure that I stuck to a really good routine.”

James, 35, famously lost a lot of weight when he ­appeared on I’m A Celebrity last year.

“After the jungle, I went from 122 to 110kg because of no food, but then came up to about 120kg,” he says.

Since retiring from rugby, James has thrown himself into training for his mixed martial arts debut.

James with his wife Chloe Madeley

He says: “I was in a really intense preparation regime for a fight. I was training six days a week for a couple of hours at a time.

“I’d already done wrestling and jiu jitsu, but the training was the hardest stuff I’ve ever done. It really pushed me to the limits, emotionally and physically.”

But when the pandemic hit, James’ MMA career was put on hold, so he switched to a new routine to stay in shape.

He explains: “When I was fighting, I was sitting around 118kg and then in lockdown I went up to about 128kg, but ­really lean. I built a load of ­muscle.

“I’m doing weight training three to four times a week just as a bit of body building to maintain some size. I also do some HIIT conditioning on the versa climber, watt bike or rower, then the next day do more of a steady state intensity.

James, pictured playing for England, retired in 2019

“Mentally, I really like to push myself fitness-wise to really get any frustration out. Fitness and training became a real anchor to my daily routine during lockdown, and so while other things around me were falling apart, as long as I was training it made a big difference.”

James was also careful about what he ate and drank during lockdown. He says: “I find ­eating intuitively and looking after my body quite easy.

“When it came to having a drink, I tried to confine it to the weekends with almost an ‘earn your drinks’ approach and even then, I tried to stick to lower-calorie drinks rather than beer.”

Chloe, who is now a personal trainer and nutritionist, also helps James stay on track.

“My approach to diet is that when I need to be optimal, I track everything using MyFitnessPal and weigh out my food,” he says.

But when the pandemic hit, James’ MMA career was put on hold

Chloe, who is now a personal trainer and nutritionist, also helps James stay on track.

“My approach to diet is that when I need to be optimal, I track everything using MyFitnessPal and weigh out my food,” he says.

“Chloe really helps me understand my calories, and everything is based around protein.”

James’ 17-year rugby career has taken its toll on his body.

He admits: “I have issues with arthritis in my ankle, problems with my back… bits of me are falling off!”

As a result, the star – who has just ­released his memoir, called What A Flanker – admits that
he and fellow fitness fanatic Chloe both have very different ­workout routines.

“We go to the gym together, but we very rarely train together unless we’re on holiday,” he says.

“Training is about getting it done and then outside of that, being active – so always taking the stairs, walking where I can. It’s important to keep moving!”

  • James is a Grenade ambassador, for more visit their website grenade.com





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