Tamzin Outhwaite is a busy actress, dancer, presenter, and parent, but she still makes fitness a top priority.
The Eastenders star worked out with Richie Swan, a celebrity personal trainer and award-winning class instructor, in an online group setting through his Sort Your Fit Out app from 2019 to 2023. “We talked online, and I answered questions as we went. Tamsin said it felt like being in a real class, not just watching a video,” Swan tells me.
Tamzin’s schedule was pretty regular. She would get up, take her kids to school, and then go to the 10 a.m. weighted or bodyweight class two to three times a week.
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.” She just wanted to work out feel good, and clear her head. This was her time to focus on herself. It was just as much about peace of mind.
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Swan says that Tamzin Outhwaite focused on low-impact strength workouts to build stability and muscle because she was going through menopause. That meant that some sessions included taking the jump out of some moves, like squats, and doing pulses or isometric holds instead. In isometric holds you stay in one position with your muscles contracted but don’t move your joints.
“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 that session, she focused on slow controlled movements that helped her muscles grow,” Swan says.
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Each class would last 40 minutes and include a five-minute warm-up, a 30-minute weight session, and a five-minute cool down. ‘The main workout structure changed, though. For example, there were 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 increased the number each round.
They would do all the basic compound and functional movements that help build strength in the whole body, like squats, lunges, single-arm rows, lateral raises, press-ups, and shoulder presses. He goes on to say, “Like the other trainees, Tamsin would aim for 10 to 15 reps with a weight that was hard for her but still allowed her to keep good form for 10 reps.” ‘We’d suggest adding 1–2 kg once that started to feel easy.
Tamzin’s practical approach to fitness: she doesn’t worry about missing a workout. Swan says, “She does a good job of drawing a line under it and saying, ‘I’ll get back on it tomorrow.'” “She is realistic and calm.”
For an actor with a lot going on, it’s important to stay calm and balanced. She works, is an actress, and is a mom. Swan goes on to say that 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 get 10,000 steps in a day by power walking, in addition to her strength workouts. He goes on to say that she would also meditate for about 40 minutes in her sauna blanket, which is like a sleeping bag with an infrared sauna inside. She has also gone on a few solo retreats for relaxation.
Tamzin was so interested in health that she started her own fully funded free retreat called We Free Women. It offers therapies like yoga, mindfulness, and good nutrition guidance. Swan says, “She and her team go to different cities in the country and hold restorative retreats for women there.”
Tamzin didn’t feel like she had to stay in shape, Swan says. She and her friends had a joke that said, “You’re either hungry or you’re Tamzin hungry.” But she did find 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 stay consistent.
