The Room to Improve star has lost nearly seven kilos in weight and shared his simple fitness approach of daily walks and gym classes
11:52, 15 Feb 2026Updated 16:19, 15 Feb 2026
Dermot Bannon(Image: Evan Doherty)
Dermot Bannon has revealed the workout routine that’s transformed his fitness levels.
The renowned architect disclosed that improving his fitness has been a major priority in recent years, and achieving it required just some simple, healthy adjustments to his daily routine.
“I got fit this year for the first time,” Dermot told RSVP Live. “I used to say to myself, I need to do 8,000 steps or 10,000 steps today and I’d try to but it takes ages! What I do now is a 15-minute walk in the morning, another 15-minute walk at lunchtime and then I’ll do half an hour in the evening. Then it’s done, it doesn’t take anything out of me and it’s made a massive difference.
“I’ve lost nearly seven kilos in weight and I’m fitter and healthier. It was all through tiny things, no big diets. It was just 8-10k steps a day and I go to the gym two nights of the week to a class. I go to the class because it’s good craic and we have a bit of banter. Lads Lifting it’s called, at the Edge in Clontarf.”
The key breakthrough that enabled him to stick with his regime was reframing exercise as an enjoyable social activity rather than a chore. “It has changed my life, because I now go to the gym to meet up with people and do something social and we have a bit of craic.
“It’s just consistency. That’s the one thing I’ve learned in the last year; if you put in the tiniest little bit of effort and just do it, get up off your backside and do 10 minutes of it, it’s far better off than thinking about all the big walks you need to go on tomorrow, that you won’t do.
Dermot Bannon
“Do something right now, no matter how tiny. If you can keep doing that and do something consistently, things do change. There’s nothing like the feeling of being down a new belt notch, or the clothes that I bought five years ago fit me again. It might take a couple of months, but it will happen.”
Despite the start of a new year, Dermot has given up on New Year’s resolutions.
“No, I used to do all that because that’s the kind of person I am, and I wouldn’t do any of them or I’d have failed by the third week of January and then I’d actually get really angry with myself,” he remembered. “Now, when I want to do something I start it right now.
“For the last few years, I’ve had a philosophy; instead of saying, in the new year I’ll get fit, I start something small right away. If I want to do something now, I just do a tiny bit of it. That’s how I design, and I brought the design work ethic into the rest of my life. If you want to make changes, make tiny changes all the time.”
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