An Exclusive Interview with Darren Placid
Darren Placid is a personal trainer, group fitness instructor and an online fitness coach, who has traveled around the globe in order to teach fitness classes in countries such as the UK, Spain and the Canary Islands. He has also completed the London runner’s marathon 3 times and played in the English FA cup for Heybridge Swifts in 2003. Darren talks to us about his career, future projects and fun facts.
What inspired you to get into fitness?
“Fitness I believe is a way of life and incorporating it into your lifestyle is very important. I think people around me that like to challenge themselves when it comes to reaching their fitness goals really inspired me to get into fitness. Watching fitness challenges and competitions on television is really inspiring too. Fitness is never-ending and you can always set yourself new goals to better yourself each time.”
What else do you stand for apart from fitness?
“I stand for equality in all professions. We live in a diverse world and I believe that should be reflected in every workforce. No child is born prejudiced or racist, so it is our duty as adults to educate the children of the future about fairness. Education is key.”
What’s the best thing about fitness?
“I relish the challenge that I put up for myself and always want to thrive to achieve the best that I can. Fitness not only creates body positivity but when working out you get that ‘feel good’ feeling because the physical activity helps release endorphins.”
What’s your experience like as a firefighter?
“I am still working as a firefighter and have served 15 years in the service and still continue to serve. Firefighters in general have to be very fit physically and mentally, as there can be incidents for hours on end and see things that can be disturbing to the average person. In my time I have had to deal with many disturbing situations, but through fitness, it has been able to help me train my mind and body to stand strong at incidents. Fitness and firefighting walk hand in hand so being able to impart my knowledge in both careers is a massive bonus.”
How are you finding your teaching experience to students globally?
“Just like all sports, I feel that fitness has one language. At first, I thought the language barrier would be a massive problem, but if you can demonstrate well and have great music in the background then it comes very easy to all nations.”
What’s your favorite country that you’ve traveled to?
“Generally speaking, UAE has been my favorite country since I love the city Dubai. My second favorite city around the world is New York.”
Which sporting people do you admire?
“The sporting legends that I admire are Muhammed Ali, Anthony Joshua, Pele, Dewayne Johnson, and Michael Jordan.”
Can you tell us a cool fact about yourself?
“I was placed 6th in the world fittest firefighter games in 2007. I can speak English and French. My favorite brand is Nike and I am a Nike ambassador.”
What would you advise someone who would want to get into fitness?
“I guess I can go by what made me want to get into fitness. I wanted to set realistic goals and targets that I can get to and achieve in a good time. So my advice would be “Rome wasn’t built in a day & and a baby could walk when it was first born” meaning that it is a process and do not expect results in a few weeks. Take a nice long journey and make it a way of life, and that will be the biggest achievement.”
Do you have any future projects that we should keep our eyes peeled for?
“In May 2021, I will be teaching spin classes in Fuerteventura for 1 week only. Eventually, in the near future, I will be looking into creating fitness DVDs, so that everyone can follow my workout routines from home.”
What do you do in your own time when you’re not teaching people and firefighting?
“In my own time, I play football, spend time with my wife and child, basketball, golf, and loads of fitness challenges. I love listening to all genres of music but especially old school garage.”