ON TRAINING AND VARIATION...
I do weights training and rugby training, but also boxing, jiu-jitsu, swimming, yoga… I fill my day up with training. I try to add more and more – but the game is too demanding to take on too much during the week. I’m learning now, at 28 years old, what I can and can’t do and what fitness levels I can reach. Four to five hours training a day is right for me.
ON DRINKING...
I don’t drink when I’m training – even one glass of wine and I’ll feel the difference the next morning. But some guys I know have gone in hungover and performed their best. I appreciate nice wine and I like whisky, but I’ll go weeks without a drink. There’s no point taking my diet as seriously as I do and then ruining that by drinking on top of it. When you’re in season and when you’re performing, it’s just not worth it.
ON MAKING SACRIFICES...
One thing I enjoy about my life – and one of the reasons I’ve been as successful as I have – is that I don’t mind sacrifice. I like the thought of turning stuff down because it’s the right decision to make. But as a by-product of that, at any moment you’re ready to snap, go mad and eat a whole box of Krispy Kreme donuts! But when I get to 50, I want to be the guy at the gym with a really nice tan and in unbelievable shape. I’ll have a family, be running a few businesses – and hopefully I’ll never let myself go.
James Haskell features in this month's Square Mile in a Q&A with Matt Roberts, who knows a thing or two about fitness himself. Get the iPad version here.
