She Trained Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci and This Is What Actually Works | Ep. 393 with Monique Eastwood Founder of Eastwood Fit App

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1:37I remember when I was younger, I always used to read Men's Health magazine, Men's Fitness. And every time I read that magazine, Monique, it was always a celebrity on the cover and it was always their transformation. And I wondered, though, what was reality? Because obviously they talk about this stuff and I'm like, oh, I could do these pushups and I could do this and that. And I would think like there's no way that they went because their transformation sometimes are insane. I'm like, there's no way that they did like these three exercises every day for 25 minutes and that got them there. So what is the reality?

2:14So I would say the reality is consistency and also the athleticism of a client. So whatever you are arriving to your training sessions at, what you've done previous. So if you've been quite an athletic person, it's going to be a quick transformation. If you understand your body, much quicker transformation, obviously. But, you know, consistency of movement. You can repetitively change over time if you're doing the same strength training and you're doing things that are beneficial for your body. Whereas it's not one thing or three exercises or four exercises like maybe sometimes it shows. It's doing a mixture and a variety of exercises and learning about your body and how to perform.

3:04So when they come to you and they're going to be in a movie, because you are the celebrity trainer, among other things. But when they come to you, what do you normally find is lacking and where they need to get to to really be effective in the movie? So I'm an ex-ballerina. So my mind is always on understanding your body. That's the first thing I want a client to do is know how their body moves in space. so it can be a slow process it can be you know quite frustrating in the beginning because I'm trying to communicate how a dancer moves and how a dancer understands her body so I take it slow I keep pushing I'm not phased by anything really my whole objective is to make them understand themselves and really understand how movement comes from the center of your body and then how you can build and grow once you have a strong core.

4:06We can then start to get a little bit more weight in our arms and grow from that place, coming from your core muscles. So is there ever a time where you were given the job to help somebody and it just wasn't going well and you you didn't see this was going to be something that you could succeed in i'm quite stubborn actually so i think um being an ex-dancer as i said we don't have room for no in a sense we have to pitch up for that show and we have to make it work so i i'm quite determined to get that person to know themselves and i do believe that they will and there will be frustration because is I'm quite bossy.

4:52So I will try and get the best out of them. And I want to get the best out of them. And I really, really do believe they can give it to me. So I'll stick at it and I'll stick at it and stick at it. And I'll keep going. I'll find another way around it. But I think eventually they're always sort of amazed by where they go. After about a year of training them, they have, my goodness, look where I am now. I can't believe it. I began without any knowledge on how my body moves in space. And now I really do feel like I'm understanding how I move. So yeah, I think you can convince people. How much time does it take to get ready for a movie?

5:28I want to look, I've always wanted to act in a movie, even though I'm not good at acting. And I'm not really funny, but I want to be a comedian. But an action star, though? I mean, that's like every kid's dream is to be an action star, I think, for me at least. how much time is typically uh allotted to be able to get to that place so that's a difficult one because we're individuals and i think if you have an athletic shape or you have an athletic background it's going to be a lot easier to to throw yourself into action um i think it's probably harder for people that haven't been uh have haven't had that athletic background so you've got to sort of train them to be have an athlete's mindset and have an athlete's approach to life and really have that endurance in their muscles and build that strength and endurance before you then take them to another level of how they have to perform on that film.

6:25But, you know, I'm lucky in a sense because the actors I've worked with are all so sort of focused and they really want to do the best and do really well at what their role is. So they'll put in 100%. And I think that makes my job so much easier. How has the experience been getting everyone ready for the Devil Wears Prada 2? I think you have Anne Hathaway. I know you've coached Emily Blunt, Stanley Tucci among a few people. How has this process been and how does it feel that you're nearing the end? We never really think of nearing the end because they are just signing in to their sessions on a regular basis.

7:10I mean, I see them four to five times a week. We train the same way every year consistently. We are quite strict with our routines. So their strength is there. It's not just for a film. It's for like press, for any campaigns. It's for their lives. It's having a strong body that can endure their lifestyle. So I don't think it's like, I mean, for the film, obviously you are pushing it a little harder because you've got the time to do that and then with press it's always all over the place because they're traveling the world and promoting so it changes slightly when when you're going through time zones so we just adapt we adapt but we're very consistent with the training it just stays we don't we don't lose sight of of building strength and endurance by the way i know you're in your 50s which it really makes me feel super out of shape because I'm like, how is it?

8:06I'm in my early forties. And I feel like, I feel it's harder and harder to stay in the shape. You're even training someone right now who's an action star, who's going to be 56 or in their fifties right now. Currently, how have you seen the differences when you are training people twenties, thirties, forties, and now fifties, and even thinking about what you've had to change for yourself? I haven't changed really anything, to be honest. I think being just keep doing it I mean I'm lucky in a sense with my job I'm doing it all day I haven't got a seated job I'm not sitting at a desk you know I'm not static I'm moving so I think in a sense I'm lucky because I have kept that movement in my life I think if you have got a desk job or you you're pretty static in your days it it does require a lot more effort to get your body going at the end or beginning of a day and get it moving.

9:04So yeah, it's different careers. I mean, I'm doing exactly the same things I was doing when I was younger. Maybe I get a little more tired now because of the schedule and less time for myself to train, whereas I'm moving all day with my clients. That's the only thing I'd say has really changed, making the time to actually do things that I really want to do myself and train my body. When I walk downstairs, I can hear like Rice Krispies in my knees. I don't know what it is, but I feel like my body's like 80 and I'm 40s. So if I'm looking at doing something, I feel like I really looked at, I want to do something shorter workouts, different types of movements.

9:48I know you have your own movement style. What do you see as effective with this with the style that you've created do you know dan i created this without the celebrity i mean i teach normal people and people every day and not just celebrity clients and i started uh very locally with a lot of young mothers and i used to watch how they used to come back from this dropping the kids at school and they're all very tired and rushed and I used to try and calm them all down. And I bought my dance training and all the education I'd been taught over the years as a dancer, and I tried to give that to all my clients.

10:30And I think rather than lying them on the floor doing sort of like Pilates and, you know, making them concentrate, I tried to distract their brain to keep them engaged with me the whole session. And I think that's how my movement method developed. I went back to my dance training and taught them to be more graceful, more body aware, multidirectional with their movements because we do move in multidirectional ways in our lives. We're not just up, down, sideways. So I started to bring more multidirectional movements, which creates more awareness in your core and your pelvis. And then I developed my app where I put short little bursts of my classes on there.

11:14It's very raw. It's very me just teaching, you know, in my studio, nothing fancy. I mean, I'm sweating with you. I'm there live with you. And you really see me being punished with you. And I think that's really what people want. They want to feel like it's a doable routine. And if I'm 59 and able to still do it and push my clients in their 50s, their 40s, their 60s, if they all can still stay with me doing it for 30, 40 minutes at maximum effort. I mean, that's all really I can impart and give you during that short burst. So getting those 40 minutes done, everyone can do a 30 or 40 minute session.

12:01So that's why I kept the app pretty, pretty raw. I have to say I'm inspired. I'm very inspired to make the change. I'm not going to say I'm going to start tomorrow. I'm going to start tonight because I'm going to get the app. That's okay. I need it. I need it because I'm really feeling like almost upset with myself of how I've gotten to a place where I've been like the most out of shape. But I don't know. It's like life becomes hard. But when you think about business and when you think about marketing, I think a lot of people would say, if I could attach myself to celebrity names, it could really propel my business.

12:39I was literally talking to someone this morning about this with their company that they're working on. How did that transform your business? And how did you even get started working with celebrities? So that's interesting because I never thought of, obviously, a business when I make my celebrity clients. Because you're just a trainer and you meet your clients and you train them and then you go home. and you know the only thing I'd say that really changed that was COVID because then it sort of everybody went online I mean nobody was online really as with their training before COVID it was just going to a studio training the client coming home and doing it all over again and doing your local clients so that was my life and then suddenly COVID we were stuck at home and our businesses would have gone because we weren't allowed to travel and Stanley Tucci posted biceps by Monique on his Instagram and suddenly everybody was interested in who's Monique and so I think it was just you know purely from Stan mentioning me that in we're all stuck at home so everyone was looking and being interested and then yeah I became more interested because I I trained Stanley.

14:02And then obviously people realized that I trained Emily and Annie. And yeah, it just rolled from there, really. It was very organic. Everything that's happened has been very organic. How did the connection between you and Stanley happen? And that is interesting around, like you're saying, the virality of something and how that something could lead into potentially almost changing someone's life. Yes. Well, Stan, I met through Emily. because I met Felicity, Emily's sister, who I've trained for many years. So meeting Emily when she was doing Age of Tomorrow, and then she introduced me to Stan and Felicity because they're married.

14:45And I've trained them now 15 years. I've trained Emily 15 years, probably 10 years, Stan and Felicity. So, yeah, it's been a long journey. I mean, you know, we've seen each other three times a week, maybe when we can for many, many years. Fascinating. So when you look at having the celebrity angle, having the community of people that you've built, you now have the app you've created. How has this all connected to allow you to now be successful with basically anything that you do? because I imagine once you build up, it's like you build up your brand online and then whatever things that you do, people will attach themselves.

15:35They want to check it out. They want to follow you. How are you seeing that now play into the success of the app? That's a tricky one, Dan, because I wouldn't say I'm natural on social media. I don't chat away and give loads of exercises to do. I'm not a natural sort of in front of the camera. I'm definitely a better behind the scenes kind of person I like to help put that other person in front of the camera and make them better I think I've got to be quite consistent with my press and staying relevant and being out there with what I'm doing which as anyone knows in social media is exhausting but I'm most of my day I'm teaching so it's like a kind of an add-on the social media side for me because you know I'm busy from morning till night with clients so when do you have the time to do footage and and you know talk on the camera and do all the extra stuff that social media has has demanded of you so it is a bit of a juggling act which is why I did the app because the app is so real it's exactly what I'm doing with my clients every day so I thought well I've got to give you something rather than giving on Instagram, spending all that time on Instagram.

16:56I now do a live session on a Friday morning, and I've got loads of local people and people all over the UK that join it, and then some Americans and Europeans that do it later catch up on it. So I think the app really was built on people asking me, can you show us what to do? Can you tell me what you do on Instagram? And I was like, I better put this all into a package, and then they can just do the classes and see exactly what I do as a trainer with my everyday clients. From the outside, it might look that everything is so glamorous. Like, oh my gosh, you get to hang out with these people and you get to change lives and transform.

17:35That sounds amazing. However, I imagine there's ups and downs. Was there a moment though, where you're like, I don't want to do this anymore. I'm just going to go get a job in finance or do something else. No, I don't think I can do anything else, to be honest. I've been doing this for so long. I'm very passionate about how I approach it all. I really do believe in what I teach. I believe it can make a difference. I believe it because I know how strong it's made me and the people that have stayed consistent with me. So I have that belief in what I'm teaching. And if it does bring, I don't know, fame or glory, that's just the bonus.

18:24But I've been doing it for like 35 years. I didn't start doing it because I wanted to be known about it. I just started doing it because I wanted people to change and understand their bodies and get stronger. So it came from a place of pure passion, really. So what would you say then is the long-term mission and vision? Like, where do you... Hi, this is Dave Musial, owner of Four Seasons Heating, Air Conditioning, Plumbing, and Electric. And I want to guarantee you a breakdown-free winner. Did you know that a dirty furnace costs more to operate and can lead to higher utility bills and untimely breakdowns?

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19:41Register to bid and buy spectator tickets now at Mecham.com. I see all this going because obviously the tough part about being a trainer is you're one human being who can only train X amount of people, which obviously is why you made the app so you could really broaden the impact that you can have. What do you see as the long-term vision? That I would love for the app to just be everywhere where people can just wake up in the morning and go, right, how do I work my whole entire body and get the most out of it and feel really strong and have good endurance? Okay, I'll put Monique's strength and technique session on for 30 minutes.

20:25I'm going to be lifting weights. I'm going to feel amazing after 30 minutes, shower, go to work. And if I can get loads of people on that mission, either 40-minute session, 30-minute session, a hit class, a ballet-inspired class, three times a week, I'm making fitter, stronger, healthier people. And that would be such an incredible thing. Okay, let's do like a men's health, women's health breakdown because they always break down like this is Monique and this is exactly her routine because I'm very curious at 59 years old. Can you walk me through a day of what you do at 59 because if you're doing at 59, even though you do have a lot more years of experience than I do, I feel like if you can do it at 59.

21:16I think I should be able to do at least 25 % of it at 42. The human body is very incredible. Just remember that. We underestimate our abilities. We really do. I see an old man that lives down the road from me who's 90 years old who goes running three times a week. And whenever I feel... And now I feel really bad then. Now I feel really good. So he goes running and I often stop and go, Mike, how many times a week do you do this? He goes, I go all the way around. He goes and all the way back three times a week. So he's got knee braces on, but he is determined. So I think a lot of it starts in our heads.

21:53If we can get our heads to believe, we can do it. I mean, my routine is not always easy. I don't always wake up perky thinking, yay, can't wait for the day. I mean, I wake up sort of early and then I'll do a session, go into another session sometimes, have a break for some breakfast, go into another session. And you're on. You know, you're giving energy the whole morning and then you try and build in your breaks because I think in the early days I didn't build in enough breaks and I was exhausted. So now as you get older, you learn you need those breaks. And then you go into your afternoon sessions and also try and make time to do maybe a yoga class at night or a sauna or a lovely walk in fresh air in nature to get away from the screen.

22:41I do, I'm quite good and disciplined at doing that. But Dan, I'm also quite boring in the week. I eat super healthy, no alcohol. I'm very Mediterranean. I don't snack. One of those annoying people that unless I've got a huge schedule, I'll grab some dried apricots or nuts or something. I'm not sort of like somebody that craves sugar, luckily. I think that's my dance background. I don't know. Maybe. But, yeah, I have lots of protein. I have complex carbohydrates, loads of vegetables. I have eggs for breakfast or goat's cheese on toast or smoked salmon with sauerkraut. I'm quite sort of consistent.

23:29I'm not fatty. I don't do any weird sort of strange bowls of food or anything too different. I'm just pretty Mediterranean, actually, with the way I eat. I want to be Mediterranean. I enjoy the Mediterranean, by the way. Yeah, it's just so. It's a wonderful place. Croatia. It's one of my favorite places, by the way. Oh, I have to be. I know. I go to Ibiza too. No, I'm not. I always go to Ibiza. What about Greece? Do you like Greece and do you like Italy? I love Italy. I would be absolutely dreadful if I lived in Italy because I do love pasta. I'd just be eating all day. But Greece. I feel like Croatia is like a mixture of Greece and Italy for me.

24:12Is it? Like if they had a baby, that's like Croatia. You got to go. I will go. I will definitely go. I'm going to Greece at the end of the year. I'm doing a retreat in Greece. So in Santorini. So that'll be lovely. I love Santorini. Have you been before? No, never been. Never been. So I'm looking forward to it. Amazing. Gorgeous. Yeah. Gorgeous. Gorgeous. Incredible. Some of the best pasta I ever had. rivaled italy interestingly they think they say that their olive oil is better than italy's olive oil that's what they say all right i shall try it out and i'll let you know you can you can be the judge what do you think about supplements because i feel like there's there's been this really big push around supplementation peptides i know a lot of people that are doing like trt or hrt i don't know even which acronym it is, but I feel like the supplement industry is booming more now than ever.

25:14I could be making that up. It just feels that way. Look, I mean, I'm not a scientist and I do listen to a lot of the stuff out there. God, it's so much noise out there. I don't know how anybody knows what they should be taking, eating, doing, training. I mean, it's exhausting. I wouldn't want to be a young person on social media. It's just a minefield. I think you've got to know what's right for your body. We all deplete in certain ways. So if you're not good at absorbing certain vitamins, your bloods will tell you this. You might need to supplement with vitamin Bs. I know I have to supplement with vitamin Bs because my nervous system's always on high alert.

25:54So I'm definitely needing the B1s and B12s. Vitamin D, we don't get a lot of sunshine in this country. So, you know, I'm from South Africa, so I need to maybe supplement with vitamin D. Creatine, I started only taking recently. And I really do feel that it has helped build my muscle. So I don't talk about anything until I've tried it because I don't want to just be one of those people that just sort of talk about stuff unless it has made a difference to me. So yeah, I think supplements are very unique to you and what your body needs. And I think we can't just say one thing is going to suit everybody.

26:37You know, there's proof on Amiga's being good for you. There's proof on vitamin B12 being good for your nervous system. So yeah, those sort of supplements I'm quite happy to take. I'm fascinated by creatine because I remember taking creatine. And I started working out like in the 90s, got really heavy in the early 2000s. And that was definitely the time of like huge, like gay, get really, really big, like Arnold. Right. I think that was like what everyone wanted to be. So creatine was like the thing that everyone was like based. You've got to take creatine. But it wasn't mass. It was very niche among like I feel like men who really wanted to get really muscular.

27:20and then over the last few years i don't know what's changed but over the last few years it feels like all these people are talking about how creatine is like good for everyone and all these different things and it's not what we used to think it was where like women might be afraid to get like they i would always say like i don't want to get too big like i don't want to gain too much muscle but now it's like i don't know so maybe i maybe i should go back to trying it um I think they've done so much research on it, and it's like one of the most researched sort of supplements. I think that's important.

27:53So do your research. I also think it depends on the dosage. You've got to know your – I mean, look, I'm small. So, I mean, we can't all take the same dosage, and we won't all absorb it the same way. We won't all process it the same way. So I don't take the full dose, but I do feel that my muscles are a little bit more pumped up than they were. because don't forget my age, you lose muscle. So you're not there yet. But at my age, you lose a lot of muscle mass and bone density. So you become almost not neurotic about it, but you become aware that you have to keep your muscle mass and your bone density as you go through the aging process.

28:34So it's become quite an attractive thing for people our age to just help us maintain muscle mass. But it shouldn't be the only thing. Obviously, you've got to do your weights. You've got to do, you know, you've got to do your exercises. I'm not from the body building gym sort of background. I'm from a dance background. So we didn't ever want to be bulked up. We always wanted to be lean and strong and performance ready. And that's how I think my method has developed. It's not from the gym side of things. It's really from that movement and dance and fluidity and mobility and strength. that's that's the my eastward movement method really from that side of things so i i never want to look like you know one of those big bodybuilders what seems like the the talk now around preserving muscle mass not only because of aging but because of the large mass use of glp1s people obviously not eating barely eating any food at all and i've heard a lot of things around large depletion of muscle mass, which I've heard, you know, like one of the biggest, we had someone on before who's a professor and they've studied how people will live longer is a lot determined by their leg strength and also by like the strength of them being able to like pick themselves up, like upper body strength.

30:02And if we lose all our muscle mass, then I imagine Our life is going to be very complicated as we get older. But at the same time, with health now, AI solving a lot of health-related problems, we potentially have read a lot around we could be living to 150 plus years old. However, if we have no muscle mass and we're solving other problems, I imagine our lifestyle is going to be pretty miserable. And that's kind of where I think our heads go as you get old. I don't know if your head was, my head never was there in my 40s. It was more aesthetics in your 40s. I think when you cross over that menopausal line as a woman and you get to that sort of 50s stage and as you're aging, you definitely are really focused on strength and feeling strong and healthy.

30:57And I mean, you just have to do one of my sessions, Dan. I'm a leg girl, leg and butt. I'm a next dancer. So it's all, you know, everything comes from strong, strong pelvis, strong legs, strong core. The arms obviously are, we also want to build muscle because I want you to feel your arms are really an extension of your back. So when you lift your weights, it's not just like pumping it up. It's coming from your back. So everything has a grace when you move. And like you say, if you fall over, if you haven't got leg strength or agility or any mobility, you can't get yourself off the floor. So a lot of old people use their arms to try and pull themselves up.