Manuel Robim

Thursday, October 05, 2017


Q. Who are you and what you do for a living?
My name is Manuel, but you can call me Robim. I'm a guy who is always looking for new things to do, new ways to do them and new people to do them with. Right now I'm studying to become Personal Trainer, which is something I recently found out to be a big, huge passion of mine. But I've been doing lots of different stuff over the past 10 years, from Design to DJing, and I still manage a small music label and do live electronic music concerts once in a while. I also love Football, and my role model is Cristiano Ronaldo.



Q. How do you balance your exercise regime and your professional life?
Well, right now my exercise regime IS becoming my professional life, but I still have to separate things, so I have to be very strict, and plan things very carefully. Once I start actually working as a PT, I will have to balance my work load and my free training load, so I don't run out of energy, or worse, get injured. It's definitely a challenge, one I'm most certainly up to.

Q. When and why did you start running?
I can't exactly remember, but I know I have been running since I was very young, probably, 12-13 years old. I used to do cross country running along with my school team, and after that I just kept running for pleasure. And that's how I do it now, you know? I rarely do long distances, no more than 10K, since I have lots of other activities I enjoy doing. Still, running is up there among my favourite ones.

Q. What motivates you to go out there, when you do not feel like it?
My inner motivation, which luckily I've always had very present and liquid in me, is always firing some sparks for me to move, to never stop. If I'm physically fit, then I will do it. I have a very strong focusing capability, specially when it comes to exercise, so it's only natural for me that I get up and start doing whatever I had set out to do that day.

Q. What is the longest distance you have ran?
I ran 15K once, some years ago. As I said before, I don't enjoy running long distances. I used to be a sprinter, and frankly nowadays I will rather run around 5K and try to do my best time within that distance than go about running for longer. That's also due to my training regime, which is mainly anaerobic (maximum and sub-maximum efforts within shorter periods of time, using more energy substracts from muscles and less oxygen). As I keep saying, it's all about balance.

Q. What gives you the confidence to run in the streets?
That freedom one feels when running outside, that feeling of being capable of going wherever one wants, using only one's body and nothing more. The sensation of wanting to go faster, or slower, it's unique. Can't really describe it with words, but if feels like poetry to me. Any physical activity feels like poetry to me, raw movement is such a pure form of expression.

Q. What do you think about the lack of exercise?
I honestly think it's tragic, and what really scares me is that most people are not really aware of what it causes. And that same amount of people also have a very strict negative opinion about exercise, and it's not particularly correct, quite the contrary. Exercise is mainly about health, it's not about getting yourself to the very limit every single time your doing something. Leave that for the professional athletes. For the common people, it's mainly about maintenance, of the body and of the mind. And the mind needs the body to be in motion, otherwise it will also lose some of its abilities. Balance your daily healthy dosage of exercise with some nice and clean nutritional habits and you will extend your quality of life for many years. Get on moving, now!

Q. What was your best running experience?

Every summer I spend my holidays in the south of Portugal, Algarve. And every summer I have wonderful running experiences, with a mix between running on the beach and by the seaside in small towns, always with amazing weather. This year, though, last month, I probably had my best running experience. It felt better than ever before, I ran more consistently, I was able to command my body more accurately, and I enjoyed every second of it, even in effort as you might guess, cause I was pushing myself to test my resistance capabilities. I did my best KM splits ever, as a result of the training routines that I've been patiently following for the last 6 months. It's paying off - best physical form of my life!

Q. What was your worst running experience?
Not really sure, but I think it was 3 or 4 years ago, also in Algarve. I felt out of shape, out of rhythm, out of sync. Exactly how I hate to feel, incapable of testing myself to the limits I set out to reach. It felt awful, I ran 2K and had to stop. Never had happened to me before, never happened to me again ever since.

Q. How do you push through the pain?
I focus and think about my goals. I visualize the best version of myself that I'm yet to achieve. And I KNOW I have to keep going, no excuses are valid at that point. It is when you feel the pain that you must keep going, that is when you're reaching new levels. That's exactly when you are improving, and I always think about it, and keep on going. Many times I think that it's going to be hard, but doable, so it's cool! I know that I'm gonna do it, so I just do it, and I will rest later. It's all about focus and discipline. About wanting it more. Playing hard, working harder.

Q. What advice can you give somebody who wants to start running?
Prepare yourself for that task. Running ain't easy, and it certainly can be bad for you if your body isn't ready. Before running long distances on a medium intensity, run short distances on a medium/high intensity. Do some extra physical work. Train your muscles, arms and legs, and specially work HARD! on your core. The core is the central part of your body, every muscle surrounding your vital organs, and back muscles. Without them you'd be a messy blob. Have your core well tuned before you start running, because it's the one thing that will help you avoid injuries, particularly in the knees and spine. Think about it, running is repeating one movement thousands of times, with impact and pressure, and not a lot of amplitude in it. The more work you put into your core, the better protected you'll be for this kind of task. And if you LOVE RUNNING, LIKE I DO, you're gonna wanna do it for as long as you possibly can! So do it responsibly, and in a healthy way. That way, you'll be running for years and years, feeling like a feather in the wind.

Q. Which Social media sites are you on and how can one follow you?

The one that I use most of the times is Instagram, feel free to follow me: @manuelderobim

I also have Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/m.robim), and a SoundCloud page with some of my own musical pieces (https://soundcloud.com/oldmanual) - prepare yourself, it's not your ordinary summer hit!

You can also follow my electronic music label through Bandcamp (https://avnlrecords.bandcamp.com/), with lots of fresh young artists from Portugal and other parts of the world!

#RunRevolution

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