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Celebrity and Athlete Training Insights – Natisha Duffy on Training Tate McRae and Sheldon Kennedy

October 3, 2025

Training an athlete and a celebrity has similarities and differences. Natisha Duffy, online strength coach for perimenopausal and midlife women, has trained Tate McRae, a Canadian singer-songwriter and dancer, and Sheldon Kennedy, a Canadian ice hockey player. She speaks about the similarities in their training programs and the key differences that give them different goals to achieve in their workout regimen. Duffy’s fitness program methods and styles focus on proper mobility, recovery, and nutrition, and she uses them effectively to train Tate McRae and Sheldon Kennedy.

On Training a Celebrity and An Athlete

Being a singer does not suffice in modern times; they sing, dance, make music videos, and perform on stage. Tate McRae, a Canadian singer-songwriter and dancer, shot to fame when she became the first Canadian finalist on the American reality television series. It did not take her long to become one of the prominent figures in the field of music. Her debut studio album, I Used to Think I Could Fly, reached the third position on the Canadian charts. Tate McRae is busy with world tours that require good strength and fitness, both mentally and physically. That requires rehearsals for seven/eight hours a day in preparation for the stage performances.

Sheldon Kennedy trained under Natisha Duffy and went on to win on Battle of the Blades. He lost 20 lbs. before that and outperformed the young competitors. Though both have trained with Natisha Duffy, there are striking similarities and key differences when training an athlete and a celebrity. This fitness regime they follow applies to all women when it comes to staying fit and feeling mentally and physically active, and healthy.

The similarities in training an athlete and a celebrity are:

Mental Toughness

Athletes and celebrities are under constant pressure as they are in the limelight, and what will benefit them both in their training program is to give them emotional and mental strength by teaching them meditation, mindset coaching, and resilience training.

Nutrition & Recovery

They will both need good nutrition and a recovery plan to avoid burnout. A balanced and healthy diet is required for both to maintain their energy level.

Prevention of Injury

Be it an athlete or a celebrity, they are both prone to injuries. Flexibility training, mobility training, and recovery techniques are required for both so that they can be prevented from getting injured easily.

Performance Enhancement

Be it sports or a stage performance, they should be agile and physically fit.

Strength Training

Athletes and celebrities are always playing or performing, and to be fit, they often are part of endurance, mobility, and strength training programs so that they perform well.

Now that we know the similarities in the training programs of athletes and celebrities, let us have a look at the differences. Goals are different for an athlete and a celebrity, hence, the approach to training will also have a bit of difference. It will be customized and designed to suit the requirements of each one of them.

Some of the noticeable differences in their training programs are:

Intensity in Training

The intensity with which an athlete trains will be more than that of a celebrity because they might train multiple times and for longer hours than celebrities.

Lifestyle

The lifestyle of an athlete revolves around training programs, while that of a celebrity can be more on aesthetics and stamina to endure stage performances.

Workout Goals

While athletes concentrate on agility, celebrities look for body sculpting, muscle toning, and performance endurance.

A few of these fitness programs and health regimes can be incorporated into training perimenopausal and midlife women so that they can manage their struggles with Arthralgia and musculoskeletal issues and thrive. Duffy’s training methods of nutrition, proper mobility, and recovery are beneficial to these women as much as they are to athletes and celebrities.