The man who helps sports stars to exceed their limits

Trainer Dan Lawrence talks to Alex Pattle about his all-star clientele and how anyone can achieve success with fitness

- Alex Pattle

Professional athletes, we tend to assume, are the fittest people on the planet. But just how fit is the man who keeps the fittest people on the planet fit?

Dan Lawrence, bearing the physique and face of a Thor body double, is that man. At least he is one of a select group of performance coaches who work with professional athletes and high-level CEOs in the business world – in essence, people at the top of their fields who can afford a special breed of trainer.

Lawrence, the founder of Perform365, has worked with more than 30 champions across various sports. His clients have included Premier League players, NFL Super Bowl winner Jay Ajayi, W Series driver Jamie Chadwick, and world-champion boxers like Josh Taylor and George Groves. Much of the Briton's boxing work has come under his role as head of performance at the Matchroom gym, the facility tied to Eddie Hearn's promotion, and Lawrence has even coached the CEOs of Joe & the Juice, Wow Hydrate and more.

Lawrence's job covers everything from weight training to plyometric exercises (short, intense bursts of activity that target fast-twitch muscle fibres in the lower body, off the top of my head), and even creating the "optimal sleep environment, so people aren't looking at their phones for two hours in bed, impacting their melatonin production, blue-light exposure, etc". He works with athletes to improve their general speed, strength and explosiveness, before increasing the specificity of exercises as their target date approaches - "sharpening the knife", as he describes it.

Work can continue up until the very last minute. "In the changing room, you're still working with a boxer," he says.

"You'd be so surprised. Even with a playlist, you need the right tunes, so the BPM isn't too high too early! Knowing when the next fight's gonna end is important, too, so we don't have to rush through things."