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As CEO and co-director of the Toronto International Film Festival, Piers Handling works 18-hour days to greet guests, introduce directors, schmooze with stars and make sure the lights, cameras and action are all in order.

My goal

"Just getting fit for the ski season. As soon as the film festival is over, that's my objective. And general physical well-being is really important to me. I have a vague, general love of mountains - when I was younger we'd go hiking in Germany and the Alps. My mother was a serious mountain climber. I'd love to get back into the mountains, but it's a big commitment of time and training."

My workout

"I have always done a lot of sports. In the summer, it's tennis and swimming; in the winter, it's skiing. I used to be a serious mountain climber - from 1996 to 1999 I went to Nepal every year, first to trek, then to climb. To me, training means being outdoors. If I'm in the gym it's a means to get fit for the season, whether that's skiing or trekking or climbing.

"I'm a serious cross-country skier. In the winter, I do 22 kilometres every Saturday and every Sunday. The first ski of the year I'll do 10 to 12 [kilometres], then 15, then 18. I try to build up to at least one 40-kilometre ski. ...

"I'm at the gym a minimum of two days a week. I do a half-hour on the cross-trainer and then aerobics, mostly for the lower body. I do leg presses, adduction, hamstrings, hip flexors. ... [Before] ski season, I work my upper body on the machines. ...

"And every morning, I do a half-hour of stretching."

My lifestyle

"I try to work out on opening day of the film festival. I go to the gym on the Monday: Even if it's just for three-quarters of an hour, your body just glows afterward. During the festival, I don't get to bed much before 2 a.m., and I'm so wired I'm up at 7 a.m. So that's five hours of sleep, and usually I'm an eight-hour-a-night kind of person.

"I have a serious breakfast ... religiously through the festival. Lunch I grab in between meetings and introductions. Dinner is a nightmare because my evening starts at 5 p.m. with cocktails and introductions. There's a 6:30 gala, and then I'm running to a bunch of director's dinners, which is the only way for me to see a lot of the directors and actors. I might get a course there, but not always.

"I host two very large director's dinners that start at 10 at night, so I actually do get to sit down and eat there. I know many of the managers of the restaurants, and when they see me they know I need a course whipped up in five minutes and they're wonderful - they do it.

"It's really hard on your body. I feel that the more physically fit I am, the more punishment I can take. It's physically difficult - there's a lot of standing. You feel beat-up at the end of the 10 days. You can actually feel the adrenalin leaving your body and it's just fatigue. ...

"I don't drink at all during the festival. I almost entirely stopped drinking 18 months ago and it's amazing what it does to your body. In the old days, I'd be partying until 4 in the morning and working the next day on three or four hours' sleep. I was jazzed, I was pumped, I was young and silly.

"People often get sick at the end of the 10 days, but I know how to manage it so that I don't get sick any more. I get two vitamin [B12] shots. Before the festival, my doctor comes to the office and gives them to people. ... We have a masseuse onsite, too."

My motivation

"It's in my DNA. My father was an athlete and my mother was a serious mountain climber. I was always into sports, I was on every team at school. I just love it. My body totally misses it if I don't do it. It reacts, it screams. I've always loved the physical part of my life."

My workout anthem

"I'm a music freak, but I don't [listen to] it when I'm exercising. I like the calm of the outdoors. When I'm in the gym, I want to hear my body and my breathing. I'd rather nothing, no distractions."

My challenges

"I tore my Achilles tendon playing squash 18 years ago. ... Then I re-tore it in rehab, so afterward it was shredded and they had to do surgery. I tore my ACL [a knee ligament] skiing eight years ago in Whistler. They were both in the left leg. I had six months of serious rehab, but because I'm so used to being in the gym anyway, I got into the discipline of that. I worked my leg and my knee like you wouldn't believe. ...

"I do a lot of travelling. I go to film festivals all over: Berlin, Cannes, [where] it's virtually impossible to exercise other than my stretching."

The critique Up the intensity

Mr. Handling's excellent fitness routine could benefit from interval training, says Steve Ramsbottom, owner of Vancouver's Performance Institute. This means a rapid cycle of cardio on an elliptical trainer or stationary bike. Either way, Mr. Handling should aim for 20 minutes of aerobic exercise, three times a week. After pushing 90- to 95-per-cent intensity for 30 seconds, he should take 60 seconds of easy recovery, then repeat the cycle six times.

Travel companion

"I generally don't promote fitness products," Mr. Ramsbottom says, "but something I've found beneficial is a tool called The Stick." A plastic rod surrounded by spindles that roll over muscles, The Stick helps improve circulation and flexibility. Mr. Ramsbottom says using the tool will free up tightened tissues. "Massage and self-massage are musts for people training hard," he says.

Fuel up

Mr. Ramsbottom commends Mr. Handling's efforts at maintaining a healthy lifestyle. "For good energy throughout the day, remember to drink lots of water," the trainer says. "Even if you can't get in a full meal, there are many great nutrition bars on the market that can help maintain energy and prevent afternoon crashes."