👋 Hi! Tell us about yourself and your training
Hey! I’m Jaron Frand. I’m an actor turned online fitness coach for other actors! And I’m the founder of the Get A-List Fit Method.
I’m 30 years old, and I am based in Pittsburgh, PA.
I’m super passionate about helping actors and performers get results in their lives.
I’ve personally been training for the past 10 years. The effects of strength training have spread into all areas of my life.
I was always the skinny kid growing up. I never played sports. I was the theater nerd who spent his spare time in the dance studio! When I was about 15, a talent agent told me to “quit my dance classes and join a gym.”
It was tough to hear that but that’s really when my fitness journey began. I realized that my health and wellness was not a reflection of the roles I wanted to play, or of the person I wanted to be in life.
It took me a long time to figure out HOW to work out. But through trial and error, I started seeing results.
I completely reshaped my body and grew my confidence.
Currently, I’m working with actors all of the world: Broadway actors, actors on tour, actors in LA. I have clients in Hamilton, Mean Girls, Aladdin, Anastasia, Book of Mormon.
Now I teach other actors how to do exactly what I’ve done like how to build muscle, lose fat and feel confident AF so they can crush in their careers and in their lives.
⏱ Describe a typical day of training
I focus on hypertrophy, endurance, and HIIT training.
I am all about efficiency when it comes to training in the gym.
I hope my clients get the most bang for their buck. I like to get in, get my workout done, and get on with the rest of my life.
You don’t need to spend all day in the gym. In fact, I believe that’s counterproductive. You can get a solid workout in, and under 60 minutes.
Because of my clients busy schedule, I really like to emphasize that quick efficient workouts are so much better than long boring workouts.
I train five days a week, Monday through Friday, and I usually take the weekends off. I follow a pretty traditional bodybuilding style split: Push day, pull day, leg day. I focus on hypertrophy, endurance, and HIIT training.
I write my own programs, and I usually coach myself, just like I teach my clients to do for themselves.
For actors, we don’t have time to bulk up in the winter and shred down in the summer. No, we have to look good all year round.
You never know when you need to be shirtless on stage or in a scene.
So I help my clients build muscle, but also stay lean.
And the method that I teach is all about getting results, and sustaining those results.
👊 How do you keep going and push harder?
The goal of Get A-List Fit, my online fitness and nutrition program for actors, is to teach my clients to become their own coach.
You absolutely have to learn how to push yourself every single day.
I try to tap into the reasons of why I started training in the first place. That’s true motivation. Even on your best day is, it’s easy to get distracted, and come up with excuses.
The real secret is, I never rely on motivation. Motivation is never really there when you need it.
Instead I focus on action. I always strive to jump into action. I stay disciplined and focused.
And on those rough days, when I don’t feel like leaving the house, I get up and go anyway.
You can’t let yourself off the hook. You have to strive to keep going and push harder, always.
Also, the longer you stay away from the gym, the harder it is to go back.
So I believe that in order to stay motivated every day, you actually need to rewire your brain.
You have to get in the habit of jumping into action always.
Action will lead to accountability in your life.
Accountability will lead to consistency in your life.
And its consistency, always showing up and doing the work, that will ultimately get you the results that you want.
🏆 How are you doing today and what does the future look like?
The future looks great.
As much as I’m passionate about fitness and theater, I’m also really passionate about business.
Over the last few months, I completely changed my life.
I became so driven and passionate about helping other people change their lives through fitness and wellness, but I was able to become a full-time online coach.
Right now, I’m focused on growing my business even more, connecting with incredible artists out there in the world, and inspiring a movement that helps actors put their health first.
In the theater industry, so much emphasis is placed on how you look. However, I truly believe that getting acting jobs should have nothing to do with how you look. I want to change that.
I know this might sound crazy coming from a fitness coach, but your health and wellness is so much more than just a work out plan or diet plan.
Your health directly relates to everything else you do in life.
🤕 How do you recover, rest and handle injuries?
Rest and recovery is really when all the magic happens.
Sustainability is everything.
Yes, you need to push yourself every day, but you also have to be realistic with your goals.
Be safe and be smart first and foremost. Going extra hard in the gym is never worth risking an injury. You have to listen to your body. There will be days when you just need to take it easy.
For example, during a busy season in your life, when you’re not getting great sleep, it’s best to bring down the intensity of your workout by lifting lighter weight.
Because I work with a lot of performers and dancers, mobility and flexibility is very important to me.
I begin my workouts with a quick full body warm up…
Usually 20 push-ups, 20 bodyweight squats, and 60 seconds of jump rope.
Then, after my workout I love to use the foam roller and finish off with some light stretching.
Plus, sleep is crucial!
I try to sleep at least seven hours each night. I’m a big fan of using a Trader Joe’s melatonin supplement, just to make sure I’m a get a deep sleep. Trader Joe’s has a great line of natural supplements.
Rest and recovery is really when all the magic happens. You’re in the gym to work out, but the results show up on your body recovers.
🍎 How is your diet and what supplements do you use?
I love a good matcha latte from Starbucks!
I follow a few principles around flexible dieting.
With my clients I’ve developed a three-phase nutrition protocol.
First, we focus on cleaning up our diets. Avoiding the overly processed junk foods, sticking to a whole foods diet.
When it comes to supplements, I stress that they’re not necessary, but they are convenient.
The one supplement I usually recommend, and that I personally use every day, is a Vega Sport Premium Protein Powder. I order Vega Sport from Amazon each month.
For the longest time, whey protein was not working for me. It would upset my stomach and it would cost me to have a really slow moving work out. So I adjusted. I committed to trying a plant-based protein.
I know there’s so much debate about what type of protein is best for results, but I’ve seen no adverse effects by switching to a vegan protein. In fact, it works so much better for my body and my lifestyle.
The next phase of my nutritional protocol is tracking macros. Protein, carbohydrates, fats. It’s a really great way to simplify the way we see food.
Plus, because the life of an actor is so unpredictable — staying up super late, wanting to eat after a late night show, traveling around the world to perform — the rules of flexible dieting works so well. As long as the food fits in your macros, technically it’s okay to eat. So if you want to go out to a restaurant, you can still find a way to make it work.
Finally, the third phase of my nutrition protocol for my clients is to focus in on intuitive eating. You need some training wheels to start; that’s why we track macros. Eventually however, you should be able to get away from the tracking, and learn to trust your body.
It’s so important to heal our relationship with food. We need to start viewing food as a choice. There is no right or wrong. Food should not make you feel good or feel bad. You shouldn’t feel guilty for eating a piece of pizza.
Ultimately, you should get really good at tracking your macros so that you only have to track 10% of the year. This is exactly how I operate. Then, 90% of the year, I focus on eating intuitively.
I like to check in with myself every once in a while, for example right after a big vacation. I get myself back on track and check in with my diet after a big week away from my routine.
Instead, we need to understand that there are only choices. Yes, you can go out and have a drink every once in a while. Yes, you can treat yourself to higher calorie latte once a week.
Personally, I love a good matcha latte from starbucks! I would never want to deprive myself from that. So make strong choices most of the time. For example, eating grilled chicken on a salad is a stronger choice than eating Oreos.
This is the key to creating sustainable changes in your life. Balance.
Yes, you can go out and have a drink every once in a while.
👍 What has inspired and motivated you?
“There’s not enough time in this world. So tell people what you want.”
One of my great acting teachers told me this right before I moved to NYC.
I try to bring directness and honesty into every part of my life.
As a coach, you need to be able to call people out so that they can step into the higher versions of themselves.
Personally, I realize the only way, and the only reason that I have advanced in my life is because I started really going after what I want it. I stopped trying to be polite. I stopped trying to be a people pleaser.
I gave myself permission to put myself first. And that all started when I started working out. The discipline and focus I learned from working out, helped me become a stronger person today.
✏️ Advice for other people who want to improve themselves?
Stop holding yourself back.
Step up.
Stop holding yourself back. If you want to get on stock in life, the best way to do that is to put your health and wellness first.
Investing in a coach is the fastest way to get results. When you hire a coach to push you, you will literally speed up the process of getting results in your body, and in your life.
And I know how scary this can be because I’ve been in that place. I was used to live in a place where I was afraid to ask for help. Where I was struggling silently. It doesn’t have to be that way.
Your first step, should be reaching out and asking for help.
🤝 Are you taking on clients right now?
Get A-List Fit is a little different.
Many of my clients tell me that this experience is a life coaching program, in disguise.
Yes, I want to help you get the results you want physically, but I also wanna help you advance in your life.
My coaching program is involved and very in-depth. I only work with a few people at a time.
If you think that you can benefit from this type of work, then reach out to me.
I would love to help you achieve all of your goals.
📝 Where can we learn more about you?
Come say hi to me on Instagram! @JaronFrand
If you want some extra value, workout tips, and simple diet hacks that’s the best place to come find me. Plus, if you DM me, and tell me that you’ve read this article, I’ll help you out with some free one-on-one coaching.
