Elvis impersonator stays fit by running

He can light up an audience like the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, shaking his legs, thrusting his hips and belting out Elvis Presley’s famous songs. When Leo Days takes the stage at “Burn’n Love Waikiki,” a 90-minute show featuring Days as an Elvis tribute artist, the singer turns showmanship into fitness.

Days works hard at being Elvis. If he catches himself getting winded during a show, Days knows the he needs to go for a long run.

“In order to make the show as realistic as possible, I really have to watch what I eat and do a lot of cardio,” Days said. “If I’m getting a little fluffy then I’ll go for a run.”

At 5 feet 9 inches, Days stands just a little shorter than the King, who was about 6 feet tall. But Days is more muscular than Elvis and prefers distance running to other types of exercise in order to keep his slim build.

The 34-year-old Days lives in Waikiki and will often lace up his shoes and run along Ala Wai Boulevard to the Honolulu Zoo, up to the top of Diamond Head, down to the other side and back in the direction he came — about 7 miles. He used to run 2 to 4 miles almost every day but doesn’t anymore so that he can be well-rested for a performance.

“I find that running anything more than 4 miles on a night I have a show can be painful on the knees and makes me dial back a little bit,” Days said. “I don’t want to sacrifice what I do in the show just because I went for a run.”

Unlike the typical steady pace of distance running, Days prefers interval training, which forces him to vary his intensity and speed when he runs. Sometimes he’ll jog for one minute and then sprint as fast as he can during the next minute.

For a while, he ran while listening to the same songs he performed during “Burn’n Love Waikiki.” He would run faster during upbeat songs and then transition to walking when a slow song started playing.

“I was doing that workout for a little while until I realized three minutes of sprinting doesn’t usually work out,” Days said.

When he isn’t running, he can be found at the nearest outdoor basketball court. He always loved the game and would play basketball for hours every day with his older brother when they were children. He doesn’t play as much anymore now that he’s older because his knees can’t handle the stress. But, he still plays basketball about once a month.

Days was born in Honolulu when his father, a Marine, was stationed at Kaneohe. He grew up in Michigan and started singing Elvis songs when he was a toddler. Soon after that, his parents bought him a karaoke machine. At 15, Days started performing as Elvis and in 2009, he placed in the top five at the Elvis Presley Enterprises Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist contest in Memphis, Tenn.

For Days, staying physically fit is more than a job requirement. He sees it as its own reward. A lot of people older than Days have advised him not to go on long runs because they will wear down his body. But Days said he never wants to feel out of shape or too tired to do something.

“If, God forbid, the apocalypse happens, I’d like to think that I’m in shape enough to run and save my life,” Days said. “Not a lot of people can say that.”

However, his 4-month-old daughter, Danica, inspires him more than his career or any potential world-ending calamity.

“I have a daughter and I have to get up and down on the floor all the time to play with her,” Days said.

Besides producing intense cardio, Days says that distance running drapes him with a sense of serenity. Once Days plugs his headphones into his music player and dashes off, he can reflect about where he is and where he wants to go in terms of his career and his life.

“I do a lot of thinking when running just because I’m so focused and locked into my own world,” Days said.

Hawaii’s natural beauty is a bonus.

“There are so many times when I’m going up Diamond Head and all of a sudden there’s an opening in the trees where I can see down the whole mountain,” Days said. “It kind of charges my batteries as I’m running. Why anybody would have a gym membership here is completely beyond me.”

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