👋 Hi! Tell us about yourself and your training
Hello everyone! My name is Dominique Robinson and I’m dirty South born and Bay Area, California raised from a family of Haitian Creole’s.
My lifestyle is wild as I am always traveling for work and generally have a home base, usually in California set up, while doing business both nationally and internationally, however, I just recently returned to the U.S from a four-year stint away.
For work, I am a five-sport professional athlete signed with Floyd Mayweather’s ‘Money Team,’ 3x world champion, international on & offline trainer, as well as a sports host and aspiring musician.
I have always had an interest in martial arts, combat sports, and fitness since I was a child due to always watching old school Kung Fu flicks and WWF with my older cousin who I idolized, so it was a natural progression.
Contrary to what many think looking at my social media, I’m an introvert and spend the majority of my time indoors, except when training, watching movies and anime, reading, writing, and learning any and everything new I can to improve both my mind and body.
Before leaving the country, I had tons of sponsors from the commons of supplement and fight gear companies all the way to porn companies believe it or not, because everyone acknowledged my consistent efforts to myself, as I made it to top 50 ranked in the world fighting almost a decade with a cracked spine and one working arm that doctors said most would have been paralyzed from, as well as giving over $250,000 of my own money to something I made called #ProjectOneForAll in where I help in need and at risk families and animals worldwide.
⏱ Describe a typical day of training
When things are “normal,” I have an “eat anything I want” day on Saturday but I do not give myself a free day when a competition is upcoming, during “training camps” as they call them.
I generally like to train twice a day, five days a week and six days if I have an event coming up.
When things are “normal,” I have an “eat anything I want” day on Saturday but I do not give myself a free day when a competition is upcoming, during “training camps” as they call them.
My first session of the day is whichever art I choose I need to work on, followed by a different art and a S&C session at night. twice per week I technical spar to keep sharp.
My S&C sessions are generally alone as I like to go at my pace, while my art sessions are split, one with a group, such as jiu jitsu or wrestling, while my boxing or Muay Thai I generally have private sessions with my trainer besides for sparring.
For diet, many calories count, which I am not a fan of having studied the body for years, both in college and as an athlete. I find what works best for me is, when I’m hungry, eat, when I’m not hungry, don’t eat, and when I’m satisfied, stop.
The body is a beautiful thing in that it will tell you what you need, how much, and when if you listen to it.
My only no, no’s on diet are flour, sugar, fried foods, and processed foods except for cheat days.
For supplements, I am extremely basic as, in most things one will come to learn that the basics work best.
I am huge on fish oil, as well as a mineral blend pill. I also drink a huge cup of coffee in the mornings and green tea at night, every night.
For lifting, basics! Basics! Basics! If it’s not a dumbbells, barbell, or my own body, I usually don’t touch it.
👊 How do you keep going and push harder?
When it comes to motivation, I have been blessed by a couple of things.
- Growing up watching a Grandmother and mom that were endless workers.
- I am naturally self motivated.
That being said, I still know how it can be hard to motivate oneself at times and often found it hardest for myself when I was outworking everyone, better than athletes I was watching compete, but they were places I wanted to be due to politics as I sat home waiting for a match.
I’ve learned that anytime you start to lose motivation you need to go grab your favorite dish, give yourself that one “out” comfort, remind yourself of the “why” you do what you do, and let that singular “out” food take all the negative out with you and get back on the horse the next day or, even better, that evening.
Sometimes over these two decades I’ve thought about stopping competition but my main motivators to not stop are always the same, I haven’t reached all the goals I set for myself, as I feel many get caught up in the goals others have for them and forget their own, and also, I can’t stand being told I can’t do something…not only will I do it, but I’ll do it 200x better than the person who thought I couldn’t thought lol.
I have to say the biggest “hack” for training or anything in life that I have discovered and never had a problem with is simply asking questions!
If you don’t know…ask!
If you’re curious…ask!
Asking will open up new paths for improvement you would never find on your own no matter how much you study, especially when you ask someone who has already done or is currently doing what you are attempting to do.
🏆 How are you doing today and what does the future look like?
Today, I’m good, as I accomplished a ton of business this week, even during these dark times the world is going through, and my manager and I are awaiting a contract to come this weekend from a country I have a very high interest in visiting.
During quarantine it has been VERY hard to maintain both training and diet, so I allowed myself to find a balance that won’t make me miserable and is realistic.
- Give myself 50% diet leeway
- Do a small home workout daily
Making a realistic assessment of the lack of materials my body needs to be in optimum shape has helped me tremendously, as, at first I was getting depressed I didn’t have the body I wanted or wasn’t in the shape I wanted, ignoring the obvious facts of the current state of the world.
Once I looked at things realistically and in an “It is what it is” sense, I’ve felt A LOT better…but don’t get me wrong, the second the gyms re-open I am 1000% back on point and will bring a blanket and snuggle with the weights and my coaches as homage to my newfound appreciation of them.
If I could go back in time and change one thing only about my career it would be that I would have never left AKA and King’s Boxing to follow Frank Shamrock’s dark path, as he was 1 of my 2 idols at the time and I thought he could do no wrong, and was wrong in thinking so.
🤕 How do you recover, rest and handle injuries?
I work in moderation, don’t train when I’m actually tired, stop when I’m exhausted, do lighter routines when I don’t have the energy for my normal ones.
Here’s a little secret about myself…I only sleep 2-4hrs a day!
Yes, you read that right and DO NOT try this at home!
Yes, sleep IS important but a lot of what people read isn’t as simple or accurate as they say; Different individuals need different amounts of sleep, also, the healthier you are, the less sleep you need.
When I was younger, I believed balls to the walls, eight hrs a day, six days a week was the way to train. As I became a vet, learned from others, school, and self-studied, I learned that moderation and body familiarity are key.
I work in moderation, don’t train when I’m actually tired, stop when I’m exhausted, do lighter routines when I don’t have the energy for my normal ones, etc.
Since doing this I have felt A LOT better, less sore, and been injury free!
For rehab, I am a believer in deep tissue massage, Graston technique, and chiropractic as all have helped me after I had my spine cracked from being run over by a car.
Also…fish oil! I can’t tell you enough times!
🍎 How is your diet and what supplements do you use?
My diet is simple, yet effective.
Any meat.
Any veggie.
Any fruit.
Any nut or seed (peanuts are NOT a nut!)
Water.
Black coffee.
Green tea.
Diet soda.
Saturday cheat days.
Cheese.
I do not calorie count.
I eat whenever I’m hungry until satisfied.
I eat however late I’m awake until bed.
When I have a competition coming up, I cut out my cheat day but will occasionally have a few cheat gummy bears because I am a HUGE lover of sweets and find if I have nothing at all the whole training camp I generally have a higher chance of falling off and eating sweets like a warthog.
👍 What has inspired and motivated you?
The best advice I ever received is to always ask questions because you don’t know it all and it’s much better than looking an a**
My first inspiration in life was my Grandma. She took care of her kids, her grandkids, worked until 4-5am DAILY, seven days a week, grew up in the South during times of racism and put herself through college with multiple degrees, and helped build numerous programs in the community to help homeless and at risk people. She is almost 90 and STILL keeps this schedule to this day!
My second inspiration was my mother, as she was a lesser version of my Grandma (there’s only one Superman, right?) and where my Grandma built community programs, my mother fostered many kids that didn’t have homes.
I am HUGE on the “Big 4” of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and Alexander The Great, as well as Fredrich Nietzsche. To grow the mind it’s best to learn from masters of the mind. To gain insight one must look into the insightful, or those “woke” as they call it.
I cannot focus in the gym without music, and yes, science has shown that music improves training, and I have specific songs I put on for the hardest parts of my training sessions.
The one and only Podcast I’m into is the Joe Rogan podcast, as he has an endless thirst for data like myself and his intellectual diversity yet need for more data and humbleness to learn from others intrigues me.
The best advice I ever received is to always ask questions because you don’t know it all and it’s much better than looking an a**
✏️ Advice for other people who want to improve themselves?
I would have to say the best and fastest way to improve your mind and body, in this order, is to find those who have what it is you want, and ask them everything you are curious about. If you have a good memory, memorize it, if not, take notes.
The next best thing you can do for your mind and body is self-study and experiment. Trial and error is a HUGE learning tool!
Another piece of sound advice is to never do too much. Every individual knows what is too much for THEM! Stick within the realm of what you can do and slowly work up to what you want to do over time.
🤝 Are you taking on clients right now?
I am always taking on clients both on and offline for Western Boxing, Metabolic Fitness, Nutrition, MMA, Muay Thai, and K1 style kickboxing.
My clients tend to hire and stay with me because my athletic career is decades worth of proof that my system works as I am the living evidence as well as my accomplishments in various fields.
Clients often want quick results, but this is simply a desire that can become a possibility depending on them. I am a no nonsense, no BS type of trainer and will ALWAYS give honest assessments and possibilities when it comes to ones goals, reaching them, and how.
The most common question is, “How much do you cost?” I’ll tell you right now, I understand people have different circumstances and I am also good with economics. That said, I can always be negotiated with if I understand a person’s situation, just don’t take my kindness for a weakness.
📝 Where can we learn more about you?
If someone wants to find me ANYWHERE you only have to check out a single link and it is the holy grail of everywhere I can be found online so please, check it out, follow me everywhere, and help support my various endeavors.
