👋 Hi! Tell us about yourself and your training
Well, my name is Kevin Toy and I’m 23 years old. I’m originally from Kerala, India. I moved to Dallas, Texas when I was in 4th grade and have been living here ever since. I graduated from the University of North Texas in 2019 with a B.S in Kinesiology but my interest was somewhere else.
I’m pursuing an acting career currently. I’ve been in a couple of commercials, short films and slowly making my breakthrough into Hollywood.
Anyways, let’s talk about my fitness journey. Throughout my years in school, I’ve played soccer (elementary Team), took karate in middle school, Jujitsu in high school and I’ve played football recreationally. Also, I’ve done ice skating, rollerblading and had a good amount of taste in volleyball.
Growing up, I was decently active. I first started working out in 7th grade. Because of no gym membership, bodyweight workouts were my go-to at the time. I got into fitness and working out because of one man. John Cena, watching him in the WWE lit the spark in me. I wanted to be strong and big like him.
I used to watch a lot of WWE and it kept me motivated to workout as soon as I got back home from school. However, my fitness routine and the journey weren’t consistent until my sophomore year of college.
Recreational sports like football, jujitsu, and volleyball kept me in shape throughout high school. It’s been a total of five years since I’ve been consistent with my fitness journey.
What I like most about fitness is that it keeps me focused. I love every aspect of it. The PRs you crush, DOMS you feel a few days later, the way you look, etc.
Most importantly, it’s the focus and sanity that I get from fitness. Fitness helps me have a positive outlook in life and keeps the drive going. It’s one of the few things that I’m addicted to in a positive way of course.
⏱ Describe a typical day of training
Super-sets and Tri-Sets are incorporated in most of my workout sessions.
A typical day of training depends on what I have going on that day. Usually, if I have a busy day, I will wake up at 5 a.m. and get an early morning workout. However, if I don’t have a busy day, I’ll hit the gym in the afternoon. Most of the days, I work out with my gym partner but sometimes, I’ll hit the gym solo.
My training splits are different every week. One week, it’ll be push, pull, legs, and functional training. Another week, it’ll be legs day 1, chest with back on day 2, shoulders and arms on day 3, finally, full-body functional workout at the end of the week.
I train four days a week and for two hours most of the time. As of now, I’m focused on building lean mass, strength, and staying functional. Pre Quarantine, I would go to the fitness connection and train there.
Heavyweight training would be done at the beginning of the workout and afterward, moving on to hypertrophy training. For example, I will do heavy bench press (4 sets of 5-7 reps) and then move onto inclined dumbbell presses, etc. of course, lighten the weight just a bit and hit that 10-12 rep range.
Super-sets and Tri-Sets are incorporated in most of my workout sessions. I also use supplements but only 2 things. Ghost lifestyle pre-workout and Vivo life plant-based protein powder are incorporated in my diet.
Supplements help especially the pre-workout to start the session. However, a quality diet is a true foundation. Nowadays, I’ve been focusing on more bodyweight exercises because of the worldwide pandemic we have.
👊 How do you keep going and push harder?
Passion. It’s as simple as that. I’m extremely passionate and ambitious about certain aspects of my life. Fitness is one of them. Not going to lie, starting was the hardest part.
At first, it was hard to get in the gym every week 3-4 times, but once I felt and saw the results, it became a necessity. I started looking good, feeling amazing and it helped me to be focused. I saw what fitness did to my other aspects in life and it made a huge impact on me.
Of course, there are days where I don’t feel like heading out to the gym but the trick is to just stop thinking and just do. Focus on getting on the now. I just stop thinking about how tired I feel and just get myself to the gym.
I remind myself of how much good came out of fitness and that helps me on the days that I don’t feel it.
🏆 How are you doing today and what does the future look like?
I’m just trying to get the most out of my home workouts nowadays. Since the ongoing quarantine, finding heavyweights to train with has been a challenge.
I’ve been focusing most of the bodyweight workouts such as pushups, pulls, etc. I’ve been continuously trying to make the workouts harder every time I get a session in. I’ can’t wait till the gym opens so I can come back stronger than ever and in all aspects of my life.
I would like to incorporate more functional exercises in the future and focus more on the longevity of my fitness journey. Increasing my benchpress and weighted pull-ups are also some of my goals in the future.
The way I see it, I have a lot to accomplish and enjoy in this world. To do that, I must be healthy on the inside and out. I want to keep going with my fitness journey till the day I die. So longevity is very important to me.
🤕 How do you recover, rest and handle injuries?
I recover by listening to my body.
I recover by listening to my body. Some weeks, I start my week with leg day and I feel it out the day after, whether to go get a workout in or rest up.
I believe there is a fine line between pushing yourself mentally and listening to what your body is telling you. It’s tricky sometimes but, through experience, trial and error you eventually get the hang out it.
Usually, I’ll rest every other day of the days I workout. This helps me push more weight and have more intensity during a session. Especially if I’m lifting heavy weights, resting the day after helps your CNS help from the gruesome workout you had the day before.
Of course, there are weeks where I will workout three to four days in a row and rest on the last days of the week.
Also, sleep is very important as well. It’s crucial to your recovery and I try to get about at least six hours of sleep. They say you need at least eight hours of sleep but I believe the quality of the sleep is much more important than the quantity. The more deep sleep you get, the better in my opinion.
Finally, injures are bound to happen when you’re doing any type of physical activity. I had an injury while playing soccer once. It was a slight tear of my lateral meniscus on my right knee. Even, though it was a slight tear, the pain was awful.
My ability to run, bend my knee and walk properly was hindered. I was in high school during that time and I stopped going to the gym because of the injury. I was out of the gym for almost 4 months. It took a toll on me physically and mentally.
During those four months, I’ve felt so lazier and depressed than ever. By the end of the 4th month, I was able to bend my knees more and also squat halfway down. As soon as that happened, I started back on getting into the gym.
I think injuries, you have to be very patient and use certain tools to help you with recovery. I used a knee brace throughout my leg sessions to assist with my squats, leg extensions, lunges, etc. patience, perseverance, and a positive outlook will get you through an injury.
Even if you’ve completely healed from the injury, it might happen again. Therefore, you have to be smart with your workouts and techniques. Leave your ego outside the gym because that will get you even more hurt.
🍎 How is your diet and what supplements do you use?
My diet used to consist of classic bro meals like rice, chicken breast, broccoli, etc. it used to be very plain and flavorless.
Through experience, trial and error, I’ve found ways to add more flavor into the meals that I’m consuming. I used to eat a lot of red meat throughout college but now, I’ve switched up my diet.
Currently, my diet has been consisting of more plant-based foods like tofu, paneer, sweet potatoes, rich vegetables, and fruits. I felt more energized instead of too full and groggy because of this switch in my diet.
Usually, on the weekdays, I’ll use intermittent fasting and consume plant-based foods. That said, I’m not completely on a plant-based diet. On the weekends, I’ll have a bit of chicken and steak especially, for my cheat days.
On my cheat days, I’ll fast most of the day and I’ll have a huge cheat meal for dinner. My cheat meal consists of foods like chicken wings, burgers, pizzas, sushi and of course a pint of ice cream at the end.
Also, I only use two supplements. Ghost lifestyle pre-workout and Vivo Life plant-based protein powder. I believe it’s important to learn how your body reacts to certain foods, discipline yourself enough to be progressing through your fitness goals and enjoy some delicious fried foods sometimes.
👍 What has inspired and motivated you?
In the beginning, it was watching WWE especially John Cena, I was a huge fan of him and still am. Then, a lot of people came into that motivation list. People like Dwayne Johnson, Hugh Jackman, Chris Hemsworth, Ranveer Singh, etc. They are mostly actors in both Hollywood and Bollywood but there were a couple of Fitness YouTubers that inspired me as well.
My top three YouTubers would have to be Steve Cook, Christian Guzman, and Tavi Castro. I would add some of their routines, and techniques into my workouts.
Music helps me as well and definitely through a workout. Strangely, I don’t like putting headphones in my ears while I workout but if the music is playing from an outside speaker, I’ll listen to it.
Headphones get in the way of my workouts. The only time I’ll have headphones in my ears is when I’m on a treadmill.
As time passes, I think eventually your life becomes your motivation. Finding inspiration in yourself is what really keeps you going in life.
✏️ Advice for other people who want to improve themselves?
Be consistent, do the work, and be patient.
First of all, believe in yourself. If you don’t, you’ve already lost. Secondly, set a goal and figure out the “how”. Know where you’re going or at least have a clue. Lastly, the most important part of it all is execute! Ideas and plans are useless if you do put in the work.
Be consistent, do the work, and be patient. If you mess up, don’t dwell on it. Instead, learn from it and move on. Belief, optimism, patience, and execution. That’s it, it’s simple.
🤝 Are you taking on clients right now?
No, I’m not taking on any clients as of now. Also, I think there are individuals out there who are more fit to do this than I am. I’m still learning more and more about exercising and diet.
As of now, I’m just focusing on my acting career. That’s my top priority. But who knows? Maybe I might change my decision and take on clients one day.
📝 Where can we learn more about you?
You can learn more about me on my Instagram and another interview that I did for Voyage Dallas.
Please follow me on Instagram @kevintoy20 and TikTOK @iamkevintoy.
