Hi! Tell us about yourself and your training
So my name is Richard Collins, I am 32 years old, currently residing in sunny Perth, Australia. I am the co-director of a company called the Physique Code, which helps people get the physique they want.
I also do education workshops for trainers and bodybuilders to help upskill and improve the standard of competitors and personal trainers.
I have trained myself on and off since about age 15 through various sports such as basketball, weightlifting, etc. outside of work and the gym I have a love for sneakers, Netflix and relaxing (exciting, I know right?).
Describe a typical day of training
My run timetable will usually consist of early in the week a short distance time trial (1 to 5k) and a longer distance run at the end of the week.
A typical day of training for me is pretty straight forward. I am currently strength training and working on my aerobic fitness. So I will work in the morning, try to get down to the river paths and get my run duration in. Have a bit of an early lunch, back to work and back in the gym training.
Inside the gym, it is made up mostly of improving compound movements such as squats, deadlifts, trap bar deadlifts, rows and a form of overhead press.
My run timetable will usually consist of early in the week a short distance time trial (1 to 5k) and a longer distance run at the end of the week.
As for weights, it’s nice and simple. Four days a week, Squat day, Deadlift day, overhead and row day along with a day for core and some arm work.
My goals usually don’t resonate with the majority of the people I spend time with in the gym as I deal mostly with bodybuilders and physique athletes, so I train by myself at my gym, which I actually prefer. Just myself, the target weights, and the music I like.
How do you keep going and push harder?
Staying motivated for me has always been quite easy, it’s just kind of what I do and love. Of course, there are days where I enjoy it more than others, but hey, that’s life in general, right?
I prefer to train based off data than emotion. As long as I am pushing my progressions in the direction they need to go, and macros are being met I just keep on trucking. I find that the data I record does make training more fun, however. Knowing each week I have specific numbers to beat to get myself closer to where I want to be.
As for challenges, I find the only issue I ever really have is juggling time in the gym as a coach/business owner and time for training myself sometimes got a little tricky.
After long days the last place I would want to be was in the gym, however with time management for work I find ways to make training for myself much more manageable.
How are you doing today and what does the future look like?
Right now, my training is going fantastic, the business (The Physique Code) is also going really well. Balance is great, enjoying both as much as each other.
I will be moving into the education side more over the next few years trying to take my experiences from the last decade and a half of coaching and helping trainers and coaches get the best out of their clients. By mixing science and the art of coaching and running a successful business together.
Something that I wish I had learned earlier in my career is to continually upskill and become a master of my craft. I could have fast tracked to where I am now education wise as the first five years I was on cruise control. But I can’t really complain too much because everything I did up to this point has gotten me to where I am now.
How do you recover, rest and handle injuries?
In my younger days, I was never too big on recovery and injury management. I think because I was just never injured. As I get older, a few niggles start popping up, which I am much more wary of.
I tend to spend more time at the physio getting dry needling and massage also focusing on sleeping eight to nine hours a night, so I suppose being pre active rather than reactive. Making sure I am primed for what is needed.
How is your diet and what supplements do you use?
I am not really a heavy person so my calorie intake is not crazy high.
As for dieting, I have followed for the majority of my training career a flexible approach. I find I need variety or else I have a tendency to binge (I always want what I can’t have HA HA) so I make up the majority of my duet of nutritious foods, lean meats, rice, potatoes, vegetables etc. but I always leave room for some treats that I love!.
I am not really a heavy person so my calorie intake is not crazy high. I usually stick around 24-2700 calories a day, 2g protein per kilo of bodyweight, 1g of fat per kilo of bodyweight, and the rest I make up with carbohydrates.
Similar splits for being in a surplus or deficit I usually just adjust the carbohydrate intakes and that has worked well for me and clients over the years.
I will manage my calories and input via MyFitnessPal and my output I manage via a Fitbit. I track sleep, steps, resting heart rate and caloric output (Just the trends more so than the actual number)
What has inspired and motivated you?
Motivation and inspiration for me have always come from different avenues. While I predominantly work with body composition clients, I also love the athletic side of training, which I guess comes from my basketball background.
So I love learning from industry leaders in different fields such as Alan Aragon for nutrition information, Dr Mike Israetel for hypertrophy programming, Dean Mckillop who is the co-owner of Flex Success for who is based in Queensland for contest preparation as I see him as a leader in Australia in the field.
Advice for other people who want to improve themselves?
The more you learn and can experiment with the more chances you give yourself to become the best version of what you are doing.
If you are a trainer, coach, nutritionist, athlete, general gym goer, my advice for others in the industry is to never quit learning and always try to upskill
The more you learn and can experiment with the more chances you give yourself to become the best version of what you are doing. I find many people have a tendency to stick to what they are comfortable with and continue to do. I always try to approach my career and training career with the idea that if you are not progressing, you are going backwards.
For me, I started taking clients one-on-one in the gym and mastered movement patterns, anatomy, testing and measuring, as well as understanding clients needs and what motivates them. I think if you don’t have the ability to do that you haven’t truly done all you can to get the best results for your clients.
Are you taking on clients right now?
As my career has progressed, I have gradually moved from the position of coaching 50-70 clients to coaching much fewer and focusing on educating trainers and coaches both at my company and in the industry through workshops to help them have the ability to become better.
So I still do take on clients just not nearly as many as previous years, I tend to work more with competitive athletes than general populations these days. (Bodybuilding, Physique, Various Sports). However, I do still spend stints of time working with general populations when workload is not super high.
Where can we learn more about you?
You can visit and learn more about my company and workshops via our website or Instagram pages.
@Richard_physiquecode
@Physiquecode
physiquecode.com.au
