Tamzin Outhwaite makes fitness a priority even though she has to balance acting, dancing, presenting, and being a parent.
Workout Routine with Richie Swan
The Eastenders star worked out with Richie Swan, an award-winning class instructor and celebrity personal trainer, in an online group setting through his Sort Your Fit Out in-app program from 2019 to 2023. “We talked online and I answered questions as we went along. Tamsin said it felt like being in a real class and not just watching a video,” Swan tells me.
Her Regular Schedule
Tamzin’s schedule was pretty regular. After getting up and taking her kids to school, she would go to the 10 a.m. weighted or bodyweight class two to three times a week.
Focus on Fitness and Peace of Mind
The 55-year-old was disciplined, but she didn’t take her sessions too seriously. Swan stresses that “she was clear about never putting pressure on herself.” This was her time to focus on herself. She just wanted to work out, feel good, and clear her head. It was also about peace of mind.
Strength Workouts During Menopause
Tamzin Outhwaite’s strength workouts that don’t hurt your body. “Swan says she focused on low-impact strength to build stability and muscle because she was going through menopause.” That meant that sometimes we would do things like pulses or isometric holds (where you’re in a fixed position with your muscles contracted but your joints don’t move) instead of doing squats.
Variety in Training
At first, she mostly came to my classes, but then she started doing a session with another teacher named Duncan called “Duncan’s Dumbbells.” In this session, she worked on slow, controlled movements that helped her muscles grow, Swan says.
Workout Structure and Approach
There would be a five-minute warm-up, a 30-minute weight session, and a five-minute cool down in each class. Swan goes on to say that the main workout structure changed. It could include anything from three rounds of a few supersets (two exercises done back to back) during timed intervals of 45 seconds on and 15 seconds off, or ladders, which started with lower reps and got higher each round.
Compound Movements
They would do all the basic compound, functional movements that build full-body strength, like squats, lunges, single-arm rows, lateral raises, press ups, and shoulder presses. ‘Tamsin, like the other trainees, would try to do 10 to 15 reps with a weight that was hard for her but still allowed her to keep good form for 10 reps, he says. ‘We’d suggest adding 1–2 kg once that started to feel easy.
Practical Approach to Fitness
Tamzin doesn’t lose sleep over missing a workout. Swan says, “She’s very good at drawing a line under it and saying, ‘I’ll get back on it tomorrow.'” “She’s a realist and level-headed.”
Dealing with Work-Life Balance
An actor with a lot of work to do needs to be able to stay calm. Swan goes on to say, “She works, she’s an actress, and she’s a mom. She has a very healthy way of dealing with all of that.”
Her Daily Exercise Routine
Swan says that Tamzin’s other main goal was to walk 10,000 steps a day through power walking, in addition to her strength training. He adds that she would also meditate for about 40 minutes in her sauna blanket, which is like a sleeping bag with an infrared sauna in it. She has also gone on a few solo retreats.
Starting Her Own Retreat
Tamzin was so interested in health and wellness that she started her own free retreat called We Free Women, which is fully funded and offers therapies like yoga, mindfulness, and good nutrition. Swan says, “She and her team go to different cities in the country and hold restorative retreats for women there.”
Fitness Without Pressure
Tamzin didn’t feel like she had to stay in shape, Swan says. “She said she never felt the pressure to stay in shape.” She and her friends had a joke that “You’re either hungry or you’re Tamzin hungry.” Even so, she found the Sort Your Fit Out course on calories helpful for learning about the energy content of foods and how to stay on track if she needed to.
