The Reach Out: Titus
The Reach Out: Titus
The comedian, actor, and podcast host wants workouts that challenge him. He has the perfect role model for motivation!
Christopher Titus is a comedian, actor, and podcast host who has released seven ninety-minute albums and had six one-hour comedy specials.
For his role as the title character in the dark comedy, Titus (Fox), he earned a Writer’s Guild Nomination. Titus also played the role of Brody on Big Shots (ABC) and has sold ideas to NBC, ABC, FOX and Comedy Central.
His production company, Combustion World Industries, has produced several of his comedy specials, including Voice In My Head and Angry Pursuit of Happiness.
His other specials include Norman Rockwell is Bleeding, The Fifth Annual End of the World Tour, Love Is Evol, Neverlution, Born With a Defect, and Amerigeddon.
On The Christopher Titus Podcast, Titus and his wife, Rachel Bradley, discuss news, politics, societal woes, “every-day idiots,” and “an occasional hero.”
I spoke with Titus about why working out is such a huge part of his life.
Is exercise and fitness a priority to you?
I work out at least five times a week. My wife was in the Excalibur fitness competition twice, placing in the top ten both times, so I’ve seen what it takes to get really fit.
In our home gym, she has a Peloton and I have a specialized ten-speed bike with an attachment that allows me to control the resistance. I’ll warm up with four minutes at normal speed, then go hard for one minute, then three minutes at normal speed, and then two minutes as hard as I can. I do that every 10 minutes for an hour. By the end, I’ve usually burned about 800 calories.
So cardio is really important to me, but so is strength training, and I’ve recently been doing more heavy muscle building. Since I’m eating more protein and cooking a lot of eggs, my wife keeps asking how much longer the house is going to smell like farts.
Are you a morning workout person?
Noooo. Being a comic means I’ve never been a morning person. I'm out doing shows till 1am, so when I get up, I'm like a vampire with a paper route — I’m just grumpy.
Other than cardio and weights, which other workouts do you like to do?
I’m always trying to challenge myself, whether it’s wakeboarding, motocross, or skateboarding. A good friend of mine, Tony Horton — creator of P90X — taught me about creating muscle confusion. So I’m always looking to do something different when I exercise.
On Sundays, I do a Ninja workout at Tony’s house that is just crazy. So instead of typical push-ups, he’ll have me put my feet on a giant workout ball with my hands on a tiny rubber ball. Or we’ll do a “push-up to hand-stand” exercise. Both require balancing the body and holding in the core. These push-ups are tough! Honestly, the day after these workouts, it takes real effort to get me off the couch. I feel like I have to do a checklist of my pain centers.
Tony also has a 20 foot pull-up bar with a giant climbing rope attached to it. We climb the rope, and when we reach the pull-up bar at the top, we do as many pull-ups as possible. I'll tell you what -- your survival skills kick in when you’re hanging there.
What is your exercise routine like while on the road and in hotels?
Traveling all the time can really suck the life out of you. Between the recycled air on the plane, and whatever the thousands of other people who have stayed in your hotel room left behind, it’s a horror show! I've never used one of those UV black lights because I’m so afraid to know too much.
So staying healthy and active while on the road is important to me. I always travel with workout clothes and I’ll go for a run or use the hotel gym. I love the FitBod app because it gives you dozens of exercises that can be done without equipment.
Do you listen to music or a podcast while exercising?
When I’m working out in the gym, I listen to music — Everlast, Springsteen, and a lot of Prince. When I do my hour on the bike, I will put on an episode of something from Netflix.
Does working out help with creativity?
I exercise not just to keep in good physical shape, but also for my mental health. It always helps to clear my mind. When I'm working on new material, or preparing for a show, working out helps a lot. It gets rid of the nerves before shows, and that makes it easier when I’m on stage.
What is your motivation for working out?
We're all going to die and nobody's going to remember us. Why not push as hard as you can right now? Researchers have figured out that every minute of exercise adds seven minutes to your life. If I keep working out, that means I can live to be 300. So I'm always adding minutes, and that motivates me every time.
And I want my wife to like me!
Do you like wearing a fitness monitor?
Yes, I love the calorie count on my Apple watch. Yesterday at Tony's house, we did a two and a half hour workout, and I burned 1100 calories, which is great. The problem is that then I’ll drink a few glasses of red wine and eat a bunch of peanut butter. That’s my downfall.
Is there a sport or a fitness activity that you haven’t yet tried?
I’d love to do more snowboarding, but thanks to climate change, it might not be an option for much longer! Nothing scares me more than reading that Antarctica and the Arctic had a seventy degree change in temperature — I’m just like, “Ok, I guess we're done, people.”
I’ve been skydiving and wakeboarding. Basically, if an activity looks fun, I want to do it. I’d also like to find time to play basketball with my buddies more often.
When you're not biking, climbing, pulling, and pushing, what are you up to now?
On May 7, we are shooting my new comedy special, Zero Side Effects, which is a very blunt assessment of what happened over the last two and a half years in North America and the world. I have a bit called “apologies in advance,” where I apologize to everybody for what I'm about to say. I know it's going to anger some people because we've gotten so stupid about what we can say. We are also going to do a live stream that people can watch.
Both Rachel and I are taking our shows to the Scotland Fringe Fest in August. We love Scotland, so I don’t even care if I get heckled by Scottish people every night.
I'm also directing a comedy/horror movie called Father Reaper.
I watched Titus while in university. Where can people find the show now?
All episodes of the original show are up on my YouTube channel, and there are two finale episodes that we filmed during the pandemic. We got the whole cast back together to wrap up the show.
All of my comedy specials are also available on my YouTube channel.
“Don’t look down" is what I’d be thinking after climbing that rope! I agree with Titus that it’s important to mix things up and not get stuck in a workout rut.
Thank you, @TitusNation
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