Don’t let his baby face and killer smile fool you. Actor Derek Luke has spent much of his career as the breakout star of ensemble casts, including “Biker Boyz” and “Antwone Fisher”, “Sparkle” and countless others. Playing a variety of characters that are full of charm and charisma, Derek Luke transforms that persona when he walks into a gym to workout.
Training with C.P.T. David Alexander, who works with UFC fighters, Derek does circuits of compound movements with low-rest periods two days a week. On two other days he gets outside, often before the sun comes up, for one of three different lung-busting track workouts.
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“I like nature,” he says, “and old-school training.” Those workouts incorporate explosive movements like sprinting and speed drills that are actually more difficult for Luke than his work in the gym. “Mentally, the track challenges him more,” says Alexander.
But he loves it. “Some guys show up drinking their coffee and need to be motivated,” says Alexander. “But he shows up to work out. If we’re starting at 8 a.m., he’s there at 7:50 a.m., ready to go.”
And goes hard. So hard that his…
…workouts sound like something straight out of the film “Friday Night Lights”, where he played star running back Boobie Miles.
The actor’s drive is reflected in one of his most active roles, the television series Trauma. In Trauma, Luke plays an EMT. “They’re first responders, the first people on the scene in any type of tragedy,” he says. Luke knows his early-morning fitness regimen is intense and unusual. But he’s found peace in pushing his “flesh” (he used the word often) harder than others.
“I’m used to hearing my body quit,” Derek says, “but I can always hear my spirit telling me to go further.”
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