Zack Werner
On the road with Canadian Idol's bad boy

Gary Butler

When it comes to personal health, it’s easy to catch Zack Werner on a good day—or at least a decent one. The outspoken Canadian Idol judge (or as he insists, “judge, jury and executioner”) cites daily exercise as a must, particularly during the show’s gruelling 14-week cross-country auditions. So if you thought “fulfilling the role that Simon Cowell pretends to accomplish on American Idol” was all there is to this former lawyer, singer and marathon runner, then clearly you don’t know Zack! Is it harder to maintain your regimen travelling cross-country? Absolutely. Every year you tell yourself, “I’ll get up early in the morning and run,” but it’s easier said than done. Next thing you know it’s 11 p.m. and your plane just landed in another city and you’re wired, but not exercise-wired. Plus, you spend 14 weeks eating exclusively in restaurants —trust me, healthy choices aren’t always available. I make a point of never eating high-carb food on the road, sugar in particular. I try to get vegetables when they are presented in an appetizing manner—which is not all that often. It’s my personal version of The South Beach Diet, and I must say I’ve done pretty well by it for the past couple of years.

You call yourself a “recovering” marathoner, right?

I ran five marathons before getting micro tears in my abductor muscle a couple of years ago when I forced a finish in the New York City Marathon that I probably should have let slide. At my peak, I weighed 155 pounds and ran 120 kilometres a week. These days, I’m a comfortable 170 and I run four days a week for at least one hour at a time. Before I took up running, I used to do between 200 and 400 push-ups a day—they’re great for abs, arms, shoulders, triceps and chest, and they give you definition, not bulk. It’s always been important to me to be reasonably fit, even more so for television. Being fit and muscular makes me feel more confident, on-camera and off.

Does personal health play into being a pop singer?

It’s tremendously significant, albeit not in any obvious way. Fatigue is a very big factor in Canadian Idol—during the Top 200 period, sleep deprivation is rampant. And there are throat issues throughout, in terms of both strain and overuse. Day to day, singers should always warm up their voices and warm them down, too, as well as watch their posture. Physical stamina is vital for the long term. Doing things as simple as standing straight and working on the abdominal and lower-back muscles can help a lot with stamina and sheer vocal power.