Coach Spotlight - Danny Smith
What Does Fitness mean to you?
Everything. I believe that taking care of our health and our fitness allows us to maximise life. Without being fit and healthy, we cannot work, we cannot enjoy our hobbies, we cannot look after our loved ones.
Fitness is also me-time. I can forget about everything else going on in the world, almost like meditation, my mind focuses solely on one thing. Whether that is making sure I stand up during a heavy back squat, or to keep pushing during a 10km time trial. My mind is clear and it’s a chance to use my body that I have been so lucky enough to be blessed with.
When did you start your fitness journey?
I engaged in various sports growing up: football, rugby, boxing, and more. But my REAL fitness journey started at 15, when I got a taste for conscious self-improvement by going to the gym, weight training. I dabbled in and out of the gym until the age of 18 where I started to become consistent and make good progress.
How has fitness helped you in other areas of your life?
Confidence. I was always shy as a kid, lanky as well, my confidence was quite low. Although I always envisioned the man I would be, fit, strong, developed, and set out tirelessly to achieve it.
Along the way, I gained confidence within myself, confidence around others. I learnt the process of delayed gratification; I cemented the habit of discipline and routine. I learnt that to achieve something, you need to have clear goals, you need to break that goal down. This translated into exams, jobs, personal endeavors.
I gained a big mindset switch from “you can’t do this” to “you CAN do this”. I doubted myself less and less through the journey and developed the mental strength to block out those doubts that creep in.
What do you bring to the Physique Academy?
I was a highly successful personal trainer for almost 3 years in one of the UK’s busiest gyms. We’re talking 8,000 members. The experience I gained from that, working with so many diverse people from all over the world, all different backgrounds and all different goals, was immeasurable. I believe the experience I gained there would be equivalent to 10+ years in a private studio. I bring the ability to work with anyone. I am a highly motivated and disciplined individual, I bring a wide variety of knowledge with real world application, and extreme gratitude for the trust that people put into me.
What are your THREE biggest strengths when it comes to being a coach?
Strength #1: Enthusiasm. It brings me SO much pleasure to see people smashing through their goals, achieving PB’s and working on themselves in a positive way.
Strength #2: Understanding. I will never ask you to do something I haven’t or won’t do myself. I know that certain aspects will be hard, but I also know how sweet the pot of gold at the end is. I will ease up on you when needed but I will also push you beyond your limitations when needed.
Strength #3: Experience. Again, I’ve worked with so many people and the one thing I noticed a lot of them had in common was self-doubt. Much like me before my fitness journey. They just needed someone in their corner to tell them they CAN do something and to provide that direction to get there. Things seem impossible until they aren’t.
Why should people join the Physique Academy?
Physique Academy clients will tell you why. The value and service provided is unmatched, we are a big team of around 50 staff now who are all in alignment with the mission. We hold each other accountable to our standards as coaches and therefore bring the client top level service and top-level results. As shown on our website and Instagram through countless transformations and testimonials.
What advice would you give to people starting their fitness journey?
Hard work + Consistency will get you far. There are a lot of people in shape but no doubt they will have different styles of training and different approaches to eating. We provide the most effective route for you. One that considers all the science and data but also one that you enjoy and adhere to.
Secondly, remember that this is for YOU. This is YOUR time. Block out the noise and take pride in working on yourself, embrace the challenges and celebrate the wins!
What is the best thing about being a part of the Physique Academy?
Being in a team that is fully aligned with the vision. All the guys at Physique Academy truly believe in the mission and there truly is strength in numbers.
I also get to speak to so many amazing people around the world and not only that, I get to help them with their health and fitness journeys!
What is your favorite style of training?
Right now, I am using a Hybrid approach to my training and using Hyrox Races as a goal and progress marker. But really, I just love physical fitness, I’ve dabbled in most styles of training and so that’s why I currently utilise a blend of them all. Strength training, bodybuilding, calisthenics, CrossFit, running, I have taken the components from each that I enjoy and train to become an all-rounder!
Why is routine and discipline important to you?
Without routine and discipline then I will not achieve anything. It’s as simple as that. When you’re floating around not really knowing what you’re doing your kind of just existing. That doesn’t make me happy. I’m constantly aware that this may be the only opportunity in life that I get and I’m so grateful to the cards that I was dealt so I implement routine and discipline to make the most of it. To achieve things that make me happy and make myself proud.
Have you ever had a setback in training and how did you overcome this?
My main setback was lockdown. The whole 2 years of the coronavirus effects. It was at a time when I was utilising bodybuilding and I had been making such good progress in the gym with my goals and then a huge brick wall got put in front of me.
But I built a ladder and climbed over that huge brick wall. Using some creativity and my desperate need to train I managed to find love for new styles of training. Relying heavily on rucksack weighted pull ups, rucksack weighted press ups, rucksack weighted uphill lunges, hill sprints, and bodyweight CrossFit workouts!
