Fit lord Mark Wright shares his workout secrets with us
The king of Essex tells us how lockdown has led him to launch a career in fitness
If you’re feeling a bit rubbish about your achievements in lockdown, you might want to look away now. While we were perfecting our Tiktok routines and nailing a loaf of banana bread, Mark Wright took on a career change, which has pushed him to the limit. With work and travel plans on hold, he not only qualified as a PT and set up his own fitness brand – Train Wright – with younger brother Josh, which has recently launched a sparkly new app, he also returned to his PRETOWIE life as a pro footballer, signing to Crawley Town. Oh, and he’s still juggling his radio presenting gig, too.
It’s been a mad journey for Mark, who started doing live workouts last March to help get his own bum off the sofa, and has now inspired thousands of his followers to get fit. He’s also responsible for honing wife Michelle Keegan’s awesome abs! Now, he says he’s in the best shape of his life and is raring to help others get there, too. Well, there are worse views to have while working out – we’ll take Mark’s sweaty torso any day. Thankfully, he managed to squeeze in a chat with heat, so we could ask him all about how he’s become such a lockdown overachiever…
You’ve always been into fitness, but now it’s your new job! The fitness industry is an amazing place to be at the moment. Basically, you can’t go wrong if you love what you do, and I’ve always trained ever since playing football, so going to the gym and staying fit to some capacity has always been my life. To be able to do it as a job and earn money from doing so is a dream come true. What can we expect from the Train Wright app? The app will give you yoga, recipes, HIIT training, weight training and ab workouts – it gives you everything. You can take this app wherever you go, and it can be your gym in your hand. Josh [also a footballer at Crawley] and I wanted to put everything we do to train and stay fit on the app, so you can have access to it as well.
How has working out helped your mental health in the last year? Exercise has been everything. It allows me to clear my head every morning and get on with my day. The way I feel after I’ve done a workout is sensational, and that’s why Train Wright is also about training your mind. Of course, it’s about getting fit, but it’s mainly about getting healthy and being happy.
‘It’s been the most draining few months’
Going back to being a pro footballer is a dream for you – how are you finding it? I’m just about squeezing it in! There are only a few months left until the end of the season, and I’m probably never going to get to do this again, so I need to make the most of it. There have been times where I wonder if I can keep pushing myself like this, but I know that I’ll regret it if I don’t. Has it been difficult getting everything done? Definitely. I’m not going to say I’ve got the hardest job in the world, as there are millions of people who have a much harder job than me. But this has been the toughest period so far in terms of time and effort on my body, filming gruelling workouts, training to become a pro footballer, and keeping my broadcast career alive. So, mentally and physically, it’s been the most draining few months of my life. But I’m focusing on the summer, when we’ll have a successful app, so we can continue to help change people’s lives, and I’ve completed this football season. I’ll be able to sit back and feel very proud of myself. Who do you look up to in the fitness world? I love Chris Hemsworth – he’s a hard trainer, he looks great, and he manages to have a humongous career outside of fitness, too. He’s got a great app, but it ain’t gonna be quite like this one. Hemsworth, our app is coming for you, son! Is there any sport or exercise that you’re rubbish at? Dancing – and singing, too, if that counts. But you did Strictly? I know, and somehow I got to the final! But I’m horrendous at dancing and I’m a horrendous singer. Unless I’m behind the decks and mixing music, I’m not very good. Trust me, one day when we’re at a Christmas party for heat magazine, I’ll get on the karaoke and I’ll prove it! ■
The Train Wright App is available to download on the App Store and Google Play. For more info, go to Thisistrainwright.com