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Darrin Robinson

Darrin Robinson is a professional trainer of numerous IFBB Pro competitors from Canada USA.

Originally, Darrin worked in the corporate world, and struggled for years to build the body of his dreams. But one day, something sparked inside of him to take control of his life once and for all.

After some ups and downs, and being made redundant from his corporate job, Darrin set about becoming a personal trainer. Ever since that moment, he’s never looked back.

Darrin has gone on to train numerous individuals, many of which went on to win their IFBB Pro cards. It’s clear to see Darrin not only has a passion for training others, but also excelling in all areas of his life.

This is Darin’s Story:

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Athlete Statistics

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Accomplishments

• Fitness personality
• Professional trainer of many IFBB pro competitors
• Business owner

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Biography

Moving From Canada to Ireland

Darrin was originally born in Toronto Canada on May the 18th 1969 to Irish immigrant parents.

At only a few weeks of age, Darrin and his family moved back to Dublin, Ireland, for the first 6 years of his life.

After the 6 years of growing up in Ireland, Darrin moved back to Canada where he’s been living in and around Toronto and Calgary

First Steps Into Fitness

Darrin first got into fitness as a way to improve his body, which was skinny, and as Darrin said; “an embarrassment to me my entire life.”

He was 18 years old when he joined a gym for the first time, where he’d train everyday with no direction.

After 6 months, and with very little to no results, Darrin gave up. Blaming his lack of development on his genetics.

Darrin then started doing Kung Fu, as he thought it was a great way to build his desired physique. However, the only thing Darrin experienced was an increased fitness level, not a ripped muscular body.

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Finding Inspiration To Weight Train

One day Darrin was watching a TV show where a young boy was interviewed by his father, who was in great shape.

The father looked like a superhero, and his son admired this about him – in Darrin’s words;

“I had a new born son at the time and wanted him to look at me the same way one day.  At that point I decided to try the gym again, but this time, I read as much as I could to learn about the body and how it’s effected by different  types of exercise as well as nutrition before wasting my time again.”

Bullying & Confidence Issues

As Darrin was an ectomorph throughout his childhood and teenage years, it made it difficult for him to pack on muscle.

This, as Darrin said; “effected my confidence to the point where I would be the guy who never took his shirt off in public.”

Darrin continued to say; “As I entered my 20s I went from skinny to skinny fat. Years had been wasted trying workouts or physical activity that didn’t work, which along with insecurities made the gym a confusing and scary place for me to go.”

Pushing Past The Negative Comments

Darrin was alone on his journey into fitness, people all around him mocked him, and made fun of the way he looked.

People would say; “Darrin works out every day cant you tell? Hahaha!”

This was a very difficult time for Darrin, but he was determined to make a difference in his life.

He approached fitness with a ‘no stone left un-turned‘ attitude and set about learning as much as possible.

“I left no stone un-turned to find out what I was doing wrong so I could make everyone eat their words one day.”

Becoming A Personal Trainer

After researching as far as he could on his own, Darrin went a step further where he decided to take a personal training course.

Originally, he didn’t want to become a personal trainer, he only wanted to know how to sculpt the best physique possible with the right advice.

After the course, Darrin walked away with a Fitness Trainer and Specialist in Performance Nutrition, through the ISSA certification program.

Soon after, other people around him started to notice his rapid progress. They, then asked him for training advice. As Darrin said; “All of a sudden I wasn’t a joke anymore
but I was an ‘expert’ in demand.” 

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Darrin Robinson before and after many years of working out.

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Leaving The Corporate World Behind

Darrin worked in the corporate world before his venture into fitness full-time. But Darrin had progressed so much with his physique, he started training people in the evenings, on the weekends, along with giving out nutrition advice for people wanting to be healthy like him.

Darrin used this time to try out different training routines, and methods on the people he trained, documenting every response and the results they’d get along the way.

As it happened, the company that Darrin worked for was bought out by another larger company.

So, with a years paycheck in hand from his redundancy payout, Darrin decided this was the perfect opportunity to live his life’s dream and become a personal trainer full-time.

“With my cheque in hand for one years salary I decided I had the means to make a career change and I decided to follow my new passion.”

Training IFBB Pro Competitors

Even though Darrin hasn’t taken part in any competition himself, he’s trained many clients. All of which came to him with little to no experience in the gym, then went on to win their IFBB Pro card.

Here’s Darrin talking about his passion for training others;

“I haven’t personally taken part in any competitions, however, I have trained many people for bodybuilding, figure and bikini competitions.  I had never had a desire to step on stage but, I have a great eye for helping people who want to look their best.”

Highly Sought After Personal Trainer

Darrin continued to say; “I have taken many women from never stepping on stage to winning IFBB Pro Cards (back when they only gave out a handful a year) in both figure and bikini.  Four years in a row I had clients that were the only women to win IFBB pro cards in their categories in Canada.”

Darrin’s Life Now

Darrin continues to train people in and around the area of Toronto Canada, where his business is constantly booming with new clients who all walk away satisfied with their results.

This is what has set Darrin apart from the rest – his results.

As there’s no slowing down for Darrin, he continues to grow, both in knowledge, and within the fitness world.

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Training

Three Days Per Week

Darrin’s personal training philosophy has changed over the years. Initially, Darrin would train 6 days a week in his 20s and 30s.

Now that Darrin is in his 50s, he only lifts 3 times per week for 45 minutes per session.

Darrin says; “Sure I have lost some muscle over the years but that is more a product of accrued injuries from lifting too heavy on my small frame, and I cant lift the same weight that I used to.”

He continued,

“I follow a simple 3 day split routine these days and to be honest I get great results with clients following a very similar approach.  I find as long as the intensity is high and your body is challenged the muscle will come.”

Darrin’s Advice On Muscle Growth

“You have to give your body something to adapt to in order to change. If you can easily perform 12 reps of a certain weight don’t expect to increase muscle, but if you need a spotter to lift those last few reps, you are forced to adapt by getting stronger and building more muscle.”

No Abdominal Training

Darrin says that he very rarely uses abdominal training to bring out the abs.

Instead, he says that if the body is trained properly there is no need to train the abs. With the right diet in place, and engagement in the core during weight training, that’s enough to bring out the mid section says Darrin.

Darrin’s Philosophy On Ab Training

“You may notice no abdominal movements, I don’t train abs, or get my cleints to train them. I feel they develop enough working as a stabilizer. 

If I need to bring out someones abs or obliques more, I will throw in movements for them, but if they look good when the fat comes off I don’t bother.”

Darrin’s Workout Routine

Day 1, chest and back

• Flat bench (3 sets 8-12 reps)
• Wide grip lat pull-downs (3 sets 8-12 reps)
• Incline bench (3 sets 8-12 reps)
• Close grip seated row (3 sets 8-12 reps)
• Pec Deck (3 sets 8-12 reps)
• Stiff arm push-downs (3 sets 8-12 reps)

Day 2, legs

• Smith Machine squats (3 sets 8-12 reps)
• Stiff legged dead lifts (3 sets 8-12 reps)
• Leg extensions (3 sets 8-12 reps)
• Single leg press (3 sets 8-12 reps)
• Seated hamstring curls (3 sets 8-12 reps)
• Standing calf raises (3 sets 15-20 reps)

Day 3, shoulders, bis and tris

• Db Shoulder press (3 sets 8-12 reps)
• Reverse pec deck (3 sets 8-12 reps)
• Seated lateral raises (3 sets 8-12 reps)
• Incline bicep curl (3 sets 8-12 reps)
• Tricep push-down (3 sets 8-12 reps)
• DB Hammer curls (3 sets 8-12 reps)
• Overhead tricep extension (3 sets 8-12 reps)

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“I always choose lean protein sources, chicken breast, eye of round beef, basa fish, whey protein as well as others. My main carbohydrate sources would be brown rice, yams, oatmeal, sprouted grain breads and fibrous vegetables (except post workout when I add high GI simple carbs to my meal).”

Nutrition

Darrin’s Dieting Philosophy

Darrin’s way of eating, and dieting is very simple – he follows a basic macro split of 40% protein, 30% carbohydrates and 30% fats.

As Darrin says; “My current diet philosophy revolves around eating lean protein sources, low glycemic index complex and fibrous carbohydrates and mainly essential fatty acids.”

Darrin’s Food Choices

Darrin always chooses lean proteins, complex carbohydrates, healthy fats, and fibrous vegetables for most of his meals.

The only time he’ll eat simple carbs such as fruit is after his workouts to avoid excess weight gain. This fast supply of sugar also helps Darrin recover after weight training.

Eating Every 2/3 Hours

Darrin has some solid advice when it comes to eating, and that’s how often someone should eat to stay in shape.

Here’s Darrin talking about his eating habits;

“I eat every 2.5 to 3 hours from the time I open my eyes until the time I go to bed.  Each meal is based on my upcoming level of activity until my next meal.

I eat more carbohydrates earlier in the day than later in the day, my protein stays fairly constant throughout the day (except for post workout where it is much higher than my average meal) and my fats are constant except for my pre-workout and final meal of the day.”

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“The biggest part for me was to become the best version of myself I could, regardless of what the end product would be.  My ultimate motivator was myself and to be an artist creating the best sculpture he could, but instead of clay I had my body to sculpt.”

Idols and Influences

Darrin says that apart form wanting to be a superhero for his son, his other influences were the Phillips brothers who were popular bodybuilders, and business owners from the 1990’s.

After many years, Darrin met one of the brothers where he received a positive comment. Here’s Darrin explaining what happened;

“I ended up meeting Shawn years into my journey and told him he was a fitness idol of mine and hoped to one day look as good as him.  His words to me at the time were ‘You already do!’  Mission accomplished.” – Darrin Robinson

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What we can learn from Darrin Robinson

Seek Advice From Your Idols

In Darrin’s words; “My tips to anyone trying to get into shape would be to look at the the people that have the type of body you want and try to do what they do, don’t listen to media or follow BS fads. Common sense goes so far in this world yet so few people use it.”

“If you walk into a gym and look at the cardio section, then the free weight section, and like the bodies of the people in the free weight section more, that tells you that you are going to have to spend more time in that part of the gym.”

“If you ask people that have the body you want how many meals do you eat in a day and they say 6+ and ask someone who is in the opposite shape you want to be and they
say 2-3 then you obviously need to eat many meals in a day.”

Goal Specific Training

“There is sport specific training, meaning a marathon runner does not train the same way as a sprinter or a football player.”

“I believe in goal specific training, don’t train to look like a marathon runner if you want to look like a sprinter, its not going to work.”

“If you are trying to change the shape of your body into a lean muscular one, look at the what the leanest most muscular people do for inspiration, the body builder. You don’t see bodybuilders doing burpies or boot-camps because that’s not how you build a lean muscular physique.”

“Don’t flip tires and push sleds unless you are trying to be more ‘athletic’ in your performance, that’s not the way you sculpt your body.”

Educate Yourself

“Educate yourself on both how to train and the proper way to eat for your goals.  If you choose to use the expertise of a trainer, make sure you have consultations with several trainers to find the right fit.”

“That trainer should find out more about you, than you do of him or her, in order to know if they can help you achieve your goals.”

“If they can provide you with references even better, sadly, most trainers aren’t worth the money you pay so buyer beware.”

Conclusion

As we can see, Darrin has passed on some incredibly useful advice for us to follow on our goals for a better body, and possibly a better life.

If you want to achieve your goals, it may pay off reading his profile more than once to help you get there.

With time and dedication, you too can make your goals into a reality just like Darrin did.