"His expertise is unrivalled and the results speak for themselves."Film Personal TrainingI am very fortunate to do what I do for a living. My job as a personal trainer has taken me all over the world and I have had some extraordinary experiences with my work. Whilst some aspects of my career have been unusual, from red carpet premiers and working on film sets to traveling the world. I am still the same person I was starting out in the fitness industry over a decade ago as a fresh faced 17 year old.I take my own physical fitness very seriously. I have done my whole life, through a number of sports and activities for as long as I can remember. Being physically fit now helps to keep me focussed on my business and the high energy required for supporting my clients. I also believe strongly in being a positive representation of what I promote in every way.I am a husband, father and business owner. I know the demands of everyday life and how hard it can be to fit healthy eating and exercise into the chaos of everyday.
I focus my energy on providing a lifestyle solution, one that can easily fit into every day and sustainably deliver results.I am best known for my work on the silver screen, working on films like The Wolverine, X-Men Days of Future Past and Assassins Creed to name a few. Whilst I am very proud of my achievements within the film industry, I am honoured and humbled by my work with my #teamkingsbury online clients. No big Hollywood budgets in site, that paired with busy family/work schedules and yet still some of the most amazing results I have ever seen.I pride myself on trying to help as many people as possible achieve their goals. For me it isn't about celebrity and high profile clients, it's much more about determination and dedication to achieve results, no matter who you are.He’s worked on some of the biggest blockbusters of the 21st century, but you could fall over David Kingsbury in the street and never recognise him…as I almost just did, head down, nearly sideswiping him as he greeted one of his celebrity clients.
It’s 9:45am and I’ve arranged to meet Kingsbury for coffee next door to the west London gym where he’s training this morning. He’s just finished an hour-long session with one of the actors he’s working with on an upcoming and very hush-hush Hollywood film, and I’ve just discovered he’s running late. Another actor from another equally top-secret movie has booked a session with him straight after the first star, throwing his morning into disarray. Everyday is an opportunity to improve yourself. Never miss an opportunity. #/rU14GWOrE3— David Kingsbury (@DavidKingsbury) May 12, 2016 As last week's viral photograph of actor JK Simmons showed, the fitness secrets behind actors' transformations can become big news. And Kingsbury, 28, who is famous as the man behind Hugh Jackman’s iconic ‘Wolverine’ body, is as in-demand as the A-listers he trains. And it’s not surprising. Kingsbury has worked on everything from Les Misérables and Eddie The Eagle to the X Men and Snow White And The Huntsman franchises – while the list of actors he’s trained or helped prepare for roles reads like a good night on The Graham Norton Show.
For someone with such a star-studded CV, though, he is surprisingly reluctant to namedrop. “I’ve done some training sessions with Chris Hemsworth,” he says, following some fairly rigorous probing, “but I’m not his trainer.” Every time we train together I forget he's 61 years old. So much respect for this guy. #JKSimmons #OldManCranking A photo posted by Aaron Williamson (@aaronvwilliamson) on Jun 2, 2016 at 8:52pm PDT Kingsbury, it seems, is extremely cautious about being linked to anyone other than Hugh Jackman and the other stars he trained for extended periods of time, such as Jennifer Lawrence, Jessica Chastain and Michael Fassbender, who he worked with on the hotly anticipated sci-fi fantasy Assassin’s Creed. “I’ve probably trained about 50 actors over the years”, he continues: “but if I just do a handful of sessions with someone, like I did with Chris Hemsworth, I would never say I’m their trainer. Chris will have a trainer at home so I wouldn’t want to step on someone else’s toes.
“There are also people that I’ve worked with that I’ll never be able to tell anyone about,” he continues, explaining how in many instances he has to sign non-disclosure agreements before taking on a contract. On paper, life as a Hollywood trainer may sound like it’s all red-carpet premieres, private jets and parties with the stars, but the day-to-day reality is anything but. We’re in Kingsbury's car, sat bumper to bumper en route to Pinewood Film Studios, where he set up an on-site gym six years ago. (Initially he trained its army of makeup artists and sound technicians, before landing his first major film contract, Snow White And The Huntsman, in 2011.) In fact it’s the second time he’s been at Pinewood today. He’d already made the commute to the Buckinghamshire studio first thing for a 6am session for one of the films he’s working on, before battling his way into London to meet me (and the other two actors). And his day is by no means anywhere near over.
After a quick meeting in Pinewood with his team – Kingsbury works with a handful of trainers, who he subcontracts out to films he’s not able to work on personally – he tells me he’ll have to dart to Shepperton Studios, in Surrey, where he’s got an afternoon session booked with another actor he’s helping prepare for stunt work. It’s a manic life for the married father of one, who usually works with more than one actor on each film. “I have to work my day around their filming schedules,” he says, furiously forking down a salmon salad in his Pinewood office. “I took a group session once where all the actors were in full 19th-century clothing, and I trained another actor who was in head-to-toe body paint. That sort of thing happens quite a lot.” My post workout protein game is on point. /tHpvk8EQXG— David Kingsbury (@DavidKingsbury) June 2, 2016 Luckily for the family man, however, he doesn’t need to be on set all the time. “There may be a day or two where an actor is filming shirtless,” he explains, “so on those days I’ll be there all day, working with him between takes to make sure he looks pumped.
But for the most part, we just train before they go into hair and makeup, so that could be 5am or 7am – or in the afternoon if they’re shooting at night.” The hours may sound unsociable, but it’s a vast improvement on a few years ago. “In previous years, I was abroad 11 months out of 12 filming,” Kingsbury says, somewhat forlornly. “You spend between three and five months away each time, living in hotels. Sometimes you get close to the actors and go with them to dinner or drinks or to the cinema, like I would with Hugh when we were filming in Australia, Canada and Atlanta, but others you never hang out with, the same as any job.” No longer single, and with a daughter in nursery (who, incidentally, he has to pick up after the session at Sheppeton), Kingsbury is more picky about what projects he takes on. “I try to stay UK based now I’m married. Assassin’s Creed was filmed abroad – in Malta for seven weeks and Spain for two – but that was an exception.”
Instead, Kingsbury has shifted attention away from doing endless films towards online training, writing diet and fitness plans for a mostly American client base keen to emulate their idols’ silver screen transformations. It’s a win-win situation for the reluctant traveler, who charges £169.95 per 12-week block of coaching. “I can’t take on traditional personal training clients,” he says, while fishing around in his tracksuit pocket for his car keys. “Sometimes I get a film contract and it’ll be like ‘you have to start next week’ so I have to drop everything else I’m doing, but with online, I can do the work on an evening after filming and after I’ve put my daughter to bed.” Kingsbury is marching, keys in hand, to his car. It’s the Shepperton gig next for him but, alas, not me: it’s a closed set, so my day is over. His, on the other hand, has barely begun. He’ll be writing plans until midnight. Then it’s up at 5am tomorrow for the sequel.