Pegg & Frost's World of Fitness

ShortList’s Ben Isaacs listens in – and hides the can of Ralgex

Far from the sofa-dwelling, lager-swilling, Cornetto lovers of Shaun Of The Dead and The World’s End, Brit comedy duo Nick Frost and Simon Pegg are, in fact, fitness and health fanatics. Just don’t let them play competitive sports together. Ever.

Frost: The rugby I played when I was young was different to modern rugby, it’s a lot faster and more physical now. I was a prop and I was badly injured so I didn’t play in the scrum again. Then I was blindside flanker and then I like to think I was the first of the very big centres, which are now de rigueur in rugby. I think I was the first 18-stone centre, so a pretty terrifying prospect to tackle. Training for rugby in my day involved a lot of drinking and spraying Ralgex on someone’s knob. So my tip for anyone starting to play rugby is to spray Ralgex on someone’s knob.

Pegg: Since I quit drinking I’ve got myself in shape and it’s become part of my routine. I’m a bit of a keep-fit enthusiast now. I was a marathon runner in Run Fatboy, Run but I’ve never actually run a marathon. But I try to run a couple of times a week. I can’t do it unless I listen to music and if you’re going to make a playlist make sure the music is conducive to running. If you accidently slip a slow song in there… I once had Moonlight Sonata come on and I was gone for a couple of days. Pick high-energy songs you love and then stick it on shuffle. My favourite song for running is The Prodigy’s Diesel Power from Fat Of The Land. I also like using the cross trainer. If you’ve had a problem with your knees use that or an exercise bike.

NF: And the rowing machine’s good for that. I also like golf but don’t get to play much. My golf tip? Don’t f*cking bother. Most annoying game ever, but it has me now. I’ve got a handicap of 26, which is terrible but I enjoy it. The draw of golf is the fact that I could get round in like a hundred strokes – absolutely awful – but sometimes there’s four strokes in that 100 where you think, “If Tiger Woods played that people would be really clapping him”, y’know? I could walk up the fairway and take my cap off and wave it to a fake gallery – that’s what I yearn for. Quite addictive really.

SP: I live next to a golf course now so I’m absolutely determined to play.

NF: You’ll be tearing your hair out.

SP: But I want to get into the zone of it and not be angered by it. Just be like “Yeah, whatevs”, even if I miss.

NF: It’s a nice thing to feel. We stopped playing sport together after bowling one day and we really fell out. A terrible argument. We didn’t speak for quite a while, did we? A few hours. A very chilly drive home in the car.

SP: We even stopped playing video games. We always played together against the computer so we never fought each other. Actually I’ve had to do a lot of physical training recently for work so I’ve been with coaches and using a TRX suspension system, which are these straps where you use your bodyweight. They’re great because you can stick them in your bag and take them anywhere. And I also bought this thing that’s like a nunchuk, a big metal pole with elastic on. I was ripped off. No, it’s called a Rip Trainer and it’s really good. There are some good apps out there for fitness as well. Workout Of The Day…

NF: Is that another app you did a voiceover for?

SP: No, no! There’s also one called iMuscle which is really good and demonstrates all the muscular changes in exercise. It’s cool.

NF: Isn’t it one for opticians? Eye Muscle?

SP: Keep fit, everyone. Don’t do drugs.

(Images: Rex/Kobal)