LOGAN SPECIAL!
The Man Who Built Wolverine’s Body
David Kingsbury is a tough man to pin down. Hardly surprising for someone who has earned a reputation as one of the hardest-working names in fitness. If he’s not training clients at his gym, nestled among the iconic film sets of London’s Pinewood Studios, you’ll find him writing online training programmes and diet plans, building workout apps, or on location fine-tuning the physiques of the likes of Ryan Reynolds, Jennifer Lawrence and the cast of The Wolverine.
Just listening to him describe his schedule is exhausting. “I’ve always been competitive,” says Kingsbury. “Not necessarily competitive with others, but with myself, to be as good as I can be at something.” And when he puts his mind to a task, he generally succeeds. At 18, he made his mark as a muay thai boxer in Thailand, training for five hours a day to prepare for fights. More recently, having already established himself as one of the most sought-after PTS in film, he dropped 30kg in weight by cycling 200 miles per week. He placed 20th in the national time trial championships, clocking a sub-20 minute 10-miler. These days, he’s back to strength training. “It’s about challenging myself,” he says. “And when I feel like something isn’t challenging me anymore, I take on a new challenge.” Little wonder, then, that his squat PB sits at 240kg.
There are few greater tests as a PT than sculpting the physique of an A-list actor. “They might only have their shirt off for one scene in the entire movie – one day’s filming – but you feel the pressure for three or four months.” No one, after all, wants to see a member of the X-men sporting a dadbod. The reward when it all comes together is a huge sense of pride, and it goes without saying which cast he’s most proud to have chiselled. “I’ve done six or seven films, but for The Wolverine my work was the poster.” Not that Kingsbury has time to bathe in glory. He’s got places to go, clients to see, new challenges to obliterate. It’s enough to sharpen even the dullest willpower.