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  • Darren Placid / Q&A

    10th August 2020

    10th August 2020

    By Caitlin Bell

    Darren Placid is a man of many talents. A personal trainer, a fitness instructor at Digme, an online coach, a firefighter, a husband and a father, Darren is all about living life at its fullest and maximising his physical and mental performance in whatever he does. We recently caught up with the Innermost Insider to talk about what he's been up to lately, what motivates him, and how he's handled the past few months.

    "It’s tempting to procrastinate in the hope of finding 'the perfect time' to start your fitness journey. However, this frame of mind tends to mean that you’ll never get started. In order to truly succeed, you have to find a unique way of making it enjoyable for yourself. This enjoyment is what will make it a permanent part of your lifestyle. This path is different for everyone, so remember to find what works for you and then stick to it." - Darren

    What’s your hustle?

    I’m a personal trainer, group fitness instructor, online coach and a firefighter. Not to mention a family man too. And breathe.

    What does #liveinnermost mean to you?

    For me, when meeting the Innermost team, it was all about what's good for you and how to improve your performance. Which in my case is great as I’m all about improving my performance both physically and mentally. 

    Favourite Innermost products and why?

    For me it has to be the proteins. I train at a high intensity and recovery is vital, so the protein definitely helps with this and allows my muscles to get ready again for the next day. I love The Lean Protein in Vanilla. Staying lean is my thing.


    Why is staying fit and healthy important to you? How do you incorporate it into your daily life?

    For me fitness is a way of life, and staying fit and healthy isn’t just good for you, it's good for the people around you too. I regularly go to the gym either on my own or with my wife as she's from a sporting background. But my son is also very active and I really feel that being fit and active for him is important, especially as he looks at his parents as role models. 

    How did you find lockdown? Was it a challenging time for you, and if so how did you adapt?

    At first I thought lockdown would be a challenge. But being a firefighter I still had to go to work. My fitness instructing took a bit of a hit but Digme moved very quickly to do online classes which played a part to keep me motivated. I also had to think outside of the box by doing a lot more stuff online, hence why I launched my online coaching and nutrition plans. Overall, the best part was that I got to spend more time with my family and recharge, so I was ready to get back to normal life. 

    How have you tried to stay fit and healthy (mentally and physically) during this time?

    For me it was never a case of trying. Before lockdown, I normally went for road runs, did exercises in the park and in my house so it didn’t feel that much of a difference. I always say that training the mind is as important as training the body so I read a lot of books on positive thinking and maintaining positivity in regards to training and lifestyle.


    What have you missed most over the past few months? 

    Not being able to see close friends and family was hard. But since I had to go to work at the fire station I was able to see friends there, so it wasn’t too bad! Having to cancel my son's birthday was hard, but for a 4-year-old he seemed to handle it really well.

    Any books, films or TV shows you’re currently obsessed with?

    Ok, so this is the child in me. I love Marvel films and I used to be a massive collector of the comics and I’ve got my son into watching all the films too. But on a serious note, I like to read biographies and books about the mind and body. I’m currently reading my friend Cherno Samba’s book, Still In The Game, about how he became an international footballer and the challenges he'd faced.

    What’s the most challenging thing you’ve done in your life and how did you overcome it?

    The most challenging thing in fitness terms has definitely been just maintaining my level of fitness. I think reaching my fitness goals was fairly easy as I had a specific target to reach, but maintaining it is the hardest part. Feeling that you can always improve is something you have to be realistic with as you’ll never be happy. But now I’ve got myself into a place where if I miss a day of training it’s absolutely fine. There’s always tomorrow. 


    Who or what motivates you?

    My family definitely motivate me. If you look at my social media and my quotes, most them come from my wife. She always motivates me to do more and remain professional, and even when there are times I feel like she’s being hard on me, I always know it’s for the best. 

    My son also motivates me - he's always active and loves to play sports. He starts school in September and I know I have around eight or nine months to get ready for the parents' race at his school sports day, so there’s a little motivation for me there too!

    Where’s your happy place?

    At home with the family. Seeing them is definitely a happy place for me and the best way to relax too. 

    Best advice you’ve ever received? 

    Again from my wife, that as I get older I have to work smarter and not harder.

    Any current goals, fitness or otherwise?

    Right now, my overall goal is to remain as healthy as possible and to impart knowledge to others about a healthy lifestyle, not just physically but mentally too. And we all have to remember when we are on a journey that Rome wasn’t built in a day.

    If you want to see more from Darren, don't forget to follow him @darrenplacid. And if you want to read more exclusive Q&As with Innermost Insiders, be sure to check them out here.

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It's about not letting fear or doubt hold me back, but instead trusting in my own strength and abilities to overcome any obstacle even when it feels like it’s too difficult, or unfair. To be resolute requires a strong sense of self-discipline and self-control, as well as a clear vision of what you want to achieve. It requires a sense of resilience and adaptability, and the understanding that things sometimes get worse when they get better. Resolution has showed up for me in my journey with eating disorder recovery and weight restoration, with difficult conversations with therapists, even with holding boundaries with friends when sometimes it feels easier to let things slide. It’s not just about the big things! Ultimately, resolution is about living a life that is authentic, meaningful, and fulfilling. It's about having the conviction to pursue my passions and make a positive impact on the world around me. How do you go about setting goals in your life? So this is an interesting one. I suck at New Years resolutions. Or so I thought. With a background in disordered eating and a late diagnosis of ADHD I can retrospectively look back at some of my new years resolutions and understand why they felt so insurmountable.  To keep it brief, they were generally unrealistic, overly restrictive or prescriptive, and boring. And to be honest, sometimes goals aren’t going to be exciting.  I’ve read quite extensively around habit forming and achievement and currently quite like the 12 week year format (it’s a book, decent read but for a short version there’s a video on my TikTok!) The 12 week year has really resonated with me - it's all about focusing on what's most important and taking consistent, small steps towards achieving your goals over the course of three months, and then re-evaluating. So a year long goal gets broken into 4 three-month goals, then 12 one-month goals, and so on, until the minutiae of daily habits. It helps you focus on what matters most It keeps you accountable It allows for flexibility It helps you make progress faster Do you ever struggling with sticking to your goals and resolutions? How do you overcome setbacks? Overcoming setbacks in pursuit of your goals can be tough, but it's also an essential part of the journey towards success. Every challenge and obstacle presents an opportunity to learn, grow, and become stronger. I am a very emotionally driven person, when I get sad or anxious or I’m face with a negative life event, my goals are quite easily derailed. So for me it’s important to allow myself time to recuperate after a major setback, as it can be emotionally and physically draining to deal with challenges and obstacles. Taking a break to rest and recharge helps refocus and regain energy and motivation.I practice self-compassion and am not afraid to reach out for support when things feel overwhelming. I’m also a strong believer in setting boundaries for myself to protect my time and energy. Naturally some setbacks are less personal, things like the pandemic or tube strikes. In those cases I try to keep things in perspective: an old manager at lululemon used to say, at the end of the day, it’s just black stretchy pants and I apply that thinking to most areas of my life. Don't let setbacks define who you are or what you're capable of. Instead, use them as an opportunity to learn and grow. Are there certain times where you feel more motivated to set goals or resolutions? Naturally times like birthdays and new years have loads of messaging around goals and time passing, but in my experience I find birthday goals and new years goals are just that. They exist until I feel less festive and then things get difficult. I find the goals that come to me in the other 75% of the year are actually more in line with what makes me feel happy and healthy. The 12 week year method really helps facilitate this for me. Furthermore according to a study published in the journal Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, people are more likely to succeed in their goals when they start working towards them immediately, rather than waiting for a specific time (like the new year) to begin. When we set a goal, we often have a burst of motivation and energy that can drive us to take initial steps towards achieving it. By waiting to start working on our goals, we risk losing that initial motivation and energy, which can make it harder to get started. So why wait for the new year to make changes that will make you happy? What advice would you give to others about setting goals and resolutions for the future? Check in with yourself to make sure your goals are your own and not what you think people expect from you. And don’t be afraid to set goals that people aren’t going to see happen, there have been points in my life where my goal has been to get out of bed every day for a week and they were probably more difficult and transformative than any weight loss or fitness goal I’ve set for myself.  Do you have any important personal resolutions for the next year? I have some goals from my previous 12 week cycle, including the turf games in summer 2023 hopefully, which naturally lends itself to some commitments around training style and frequency.  I think saying no more often is a big one for me. Not to everything by any means but I do a lot of things that I think I ‘should’ do and I usually go in eyes wide open knowing it’ll leave me not feeling great. So hopefully this year I’ll have the resolve to just say no straight off the bat!  That's a wrap! To keep up with Anj, check out her Instagram and TikTok. Read more