Robert Hemingway Personal Trainer
Robert began his fitness journey with martial arts but decided to pursue the path of bodybuilding to improve his physique. He tells Sundried how he stays motivated and how he applies his knowledge to training his clients.
Tell us about your journey to fitness? Where did it all start?
I took my first step into fitness by studying Shotokan Karate. I always looked up to martial artists and admired their strength and perseverance. Being the energetic little kid that I was, I decided I wanted to be like my heroes. It was a long, difficult road full of various different life lessons that I am now able to implement into mine and my clients' lifestyles. After doing karate for 10 years I decided to alter my path slightly; I decided that I wanted to improve my physique. I knew that martial arts could only take my body so far, and I wanted to become stronger. I now run an established online personal training business.
What are your training goals now?
I’m currently focusing on tweaking my diet until I’m lean enough to see where my body needs improvements. Near the end of the year, I will be focusing on upping my calorie intake to a point where I will be building muscle and keeping my body fat percentage low.
Tell us one unusual fact we wouldn’t know about you:
I’m oddly double jointed, to the point where my hips are extremely flexible & my limbs move in a way that no human should move. I also have extremely stretchy skin.
What would future you, tell yourself when you were starting out?
My experiences, good and bad, have made me who I am and have lead me to the life I am currently living.
Do you follow a specific nutrition plan? If so, what/when do you eat?
I track my macros, so I basically eat what I want to maintain my physique. My breakfast and lunch do not seem to differ often if I am honest; I usually stick with the same food and then consume my leftover calories for my dinner.
What do you do to keep your clients motivated? Do you have any top tips to keep motivated?
I run online competitions for my online clients. It’s a 60-day transformation challenge, where my clients send in a time-stamped photo at the beginning of the challenge and another photo 60 days after. I personally judge each transformation and narrow it down to the final 3 – l then decide who takes each place and provide each 3 clients with a cash prize based on their position. I keep myself motivated by constantly taking photos/videos of my overall physique to compare in a few months’ time.
Talk us through your training regime.
I train when I can, as quickly and efficiently as possible! If a part of me isn’t aching, I like to train it! Other than that, I usually mix things up.
How do you keep your fitness knowledge up to date?
I take a big interest in the human anatomy so I like to refresh my knowledge on a regular basis to maximise not only my results but also my clients'. I usually read scientifically verified evidence/journals – and take a workshop here and there if it seems informative to myself.
What are your top 3 trainer tips?
- Work out your macros and hit them each day
- Steer clear of attempting 1 rep maxes with isolation movements i.e. bicep curl
- Be imaginative, be unique, and improvise different training techniques!
If you could only do one workout for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Maybe a full body hypertrophy workout so I don’t start losing muscular proportion!
What are your training goals?
Other than pushing my physique to its natural limits, I also have one particular part I would like to develop: my calves. At a young age I was gifted with a pair of fairly small calves and to this day I continually work them into the ground in the hopes that they’ll grow!
Why work with Sundried?
After reading over their website, I took a large interest in the ethical approach they had taken towards their clothing line and ideology and I couldn’t resist partnering up with like-minded people.
Favourite fitness quote:
Paulo Coelho
“The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times”
