For A-list actors who are cast in action movies, their first call is often to super-trainer Luke Worthington who is a biomechanics expert and takes a holistic approach with his clients. Luke has spent 20 years in fitness and began his career as a personal coach here in the capital.
Luke played many different sports as a child and was always interested in the mechanics of the body. He says, “I remember as a 12-year-old, making little diagrams of stick people, showing how limbs moved. I wondered why my peers who were good at football weren’t the best at tennis – it intrigued me, and working in fitness was the only thing I ever wanted to do.”
At 17, Luke left his home in the north of England and moved to London to fulfil his dream. He worked in leisure centres and gyms while studying for a degree in sport and exercise science at University of London. He says, “I graduated in 2000 but I consider myself a life-long learner. I’ve completed postgraduate studies in biomechanics, neuromechanics, psychology and nutrition. Despite this, I believe the best learning comes from doing, I have delivered over 25,000 hours of personal training.”
Skill set
Using the skills he acquired, Luke began to coach elite sports people. His first was none other than World Cup winner Mesut Özil, one of the biggest football stars on the planet. Luke has worked with world champions in five sporting arenas – athletics, track cycling, boxing, rugby and football. He says, “I was less interested in whether someone played tennis or was a boxer. My approach was always how the body works rather than obsessing over how to play a particular sport. It was unique in that sense.”
He went on to take a consulting role with Nike and, over the years, honed what became his five-pillar philosophy. He explains, “The pillars are muscular strength, aerobic fitness, mobility motor control, body composition and emotional wellbeing. My view is that every person should be addressing all five although you might have a bias towards one or another at a particular time. For example, if I’m training a Marvel movie hero, then body composition and muscular strength might be a priority, but not to the point that their emotional wellbeing or aerobic capacity suffers. I am always unwilling to compromise on somebody’s health.”
Workout wonders
In 2017, Luke’s focus began to switch from sport to entertainment. He says, “Through mutual friends I met a client who had been cast in Aladdin the Musical. He was a fantastic singer, but he needed to look a certain way and had to somersault and do lots of fighting.”
Soon Luke was preparing others for demanding roles both in the West End and on the big screen; training people to play superheros, spies and Jedi Knights. Discretion is a priority so Luke will not disclose his current roster of clients, but is happy to share his process. Typically, he will have 8 to 10 weeks to transform a star for a film but, in many cases, he will have already done some preparation.
He explains, “A female Hollywood actor I work with is going straight from an action adventure into something very different. She has been training to run and jump and do sword fights on horseback, and now she’s having to switch to a biopic where she is playing a character who is very famous for their body.”
Home and away
Luke’s working days in the UK are often spent at Pinewood Studios, and two or three times a year he flies to the movie lots of Los Angeles. Home is West Kensington where he lives with his King Charles spaniel called Obi after the Star Wars character, and cat Khalessi, whose name is inspired by Game of Thrones.
“I moved here three years ago to have more space. I was living centrally but wanted more greenery, and here I’ve a garden, I can walk along the river and to Holland Park. I used to live in Kennington and Dexters now manages that property for me. It couldn’t have been easier: Dexters put it on the market on Saturday morning and it was let by lunchtime.”
Although Luke usually works behind the scenes, he is not averse to appearing in front of the camera. In 2020, he appeared in Harry’s Heroes on ITV with Harry Redknapp and a clutch of famous footballers including Paul Merson and David Seaman. He explains, “The premise was to take retired players from the nineties and train them for a match like current era footballers. It was supposed to be funny, a bit of nostalgia, but it became much more. These people are superstars earning lots of money but, the day after they retire, someone else has their shirt number and that’s it. Some were still household names, but others had problems with addiction and had attempted suicide. In the end it became a powerful BAFTA-nominated show about mental health.”
Core message
Currently, Luke is in talks with a US production company about the coaching equivalent of Jamie’s Kitchen, the television series which saw celebrity chef Jamie Oliver teach unemployed young people to work in his London restaurant. Luke’s idea builds on an education programme he established for Nike, in which he taught youngsters to become personal trainers. “I want to give forgotten-about-kids a shot at my industry. I think everybody deserves a chance and, a lot of the time, that’s not how the world works.”
This coach may spend his working life turning movie stars into superheroes, but he still wants to give a helping hand to the less fortunate. Perhaps that is Luke’s very own superpower.
Luke's London
What is your favourite London memory?
Travelling across Waterloo Bridge and seeing the lights of the city skyline when I first moved here in 1997.
Where do you like to eat in the capital?
Bocca di Lupo in Soho, a small Italian restaurant in Archer Street where the food is amazing. Not far from where I live, is Sam’s Riverside in Hammersmith, which is fantastic for oysters. If you get the timing right, you see the sunset behind Hammersmith Bridge.
Where do you go to unwind?
I go to the cinema and get lost in a film. I love the Star Wars genre, and I’m lucky enough to have worked on the more recent ones with some of the main cast. It’s very cool to see something that I’ve played a little part in.
What do you miss most about London when you are away?
The diversity of food. From my home I can walk 10 minutes and see Turkish, Ethiopian, Italian and Nigerian restaurants all on the same road.
London's best kept secret is...
In Comeragh Road, W14 there is a pub called The Curtains Up which has a theatre. There is a drama school nearby and you get fantastic actors trying stuff out in this tiny theatre below a pub.
