News4 and FOX 29’s Adam King is not only a multimedia journalist who writes, edits, and shoots important stories in the San Antonio area, he is also a man who is passionate about health and fitness. In fact, we’re inspired by his dedication to make fitness a priority outside of his work schedule. Keep reading our exclusive interview to see how he overcame his struggle with weight and uses his story to influence the lives of others.
HFR: What is your daily exercise and nutrition routine?
Adam: My routine can vary depending on the shift I work that day, so I can usually find myself in the gym at different times depending on what is going in life. Once I get inside the building though, it becomes pretty set. I take a decent time to warm up; usually, 5 minutes spent on an air bike and 10 minutes focused on stretching. I then spend about 30-40 minutes lifting weights (focusing on Olympic lifting) and usually end my workout with high-intensity interval training.
I try to limit my time to no more than 1 1/2 hours so it keeps me on task and keeps the intensity of my workouts high. It’s really all about preparing for competition, especially during this specific time of the year; so staying focused and firing at 100% for every single workout is the most important thing I can do.
When it comes to nutrition I meal prep for the entire week on Sundays, so everything is prepacked and ready to go. So you can usually see me with a go-bag of some sort around my shoulder to have my meals ready to go. I’ll eat three “meals” per day; 5 oz of protein, 2 cups of vegetables, a tablespoon of fat and a cup of fruit. I’ll usually have a protein shake and some drinkable carbohydrates during my workout time. Before bed, I make a Casein cup brownie that I mix some peanut butter and a few berries into to stay well-rounded and fed throughout the night.
HFR: What keeps you motivated to stay healthy?
Adam: I think the biggest motivator for me is my family. We have a history of health issues in my bloodline, so I definitely want to stay in front of that. The majority of my direct family has battled obesity in some form or another. In fact, there was a time when my twin brother and I were both over 280 pounds. He worked his way to a healthy weight and motivated me to do the same. He’s still the person I confide in the most when it comes to things like that. He’s the guy I know I can lean on even if things aren’t going right. I’m also lucky to have a great team of coaches behind me, here in San Antonio at Alamo City Crossfit and the KiloTrained group in Iowa. They do a great job of teaching and improving my technique every day, which makes it easy to stay hungry when you’re always learning something new.
HFR: Do you believe that being fit and healthy has contributed to your successful career?
Adam: ABSOLUTELY! Especially early on as an MMJ or one-man-band, there are times when you just have to grab your gear and run. If you aren’t able to do that, it can seriously hurt your product. I will always remember when the King and Queen of Spain came to San Antonio, we were basically chasing them around town all day. I covered it for my station alone, and every other station had a crew there. I was EXHAUSTED at the end of the day and without some sort of exercise, there’s no way I would have been able to do that.
HFR: What inspires you, in general?
Adam: It’s gotta be the people I get to work with daily. As a coach and trainer myself, I work with young athletes who want to compete on a high level, current Crossfit and Strongman athletes who are competing in their prime right now, and even 60-70-year-olds who just want to be able to play with their kids or be able to live independently. Among all of those, it’s the latter that always gets me the most fired up. To see a lady deadlift a specific weight, and almost have a breakdown because now she wont need help moving her wheelbarrow to garden at home…. That’s life changing, that’s inspiring. She had a goal, she worked incredibly hard to get to a point, at an advanced age by the way, and then to see it come into fruition absolutely gets me every time. Seeing “firsts” in general. First pull-ups, first time lifting x or doing y, those moments make everything, and they make me want to find some of those moments in myself. Although I’ve never been enlisted, I also find a lot of inspiration from the military when it comes to life. Messages like “discipline equals freedom” or the Jocko Willink explanation of saying the word “good” every time something that seems bad happens. I think there’s alot of mental training and lessons that can be learned from military mentors, especially regarding self-motivating and leadership.
HFR: What tips would you give your fans and our readers to staying healthy?
Adam: Oh wow! Where to begin? I think the most important reasons you have for staying healthy need to come from within. It has to be a true motivation and realization of something you want, and not something that’s done out of envy or someone else. You have to look yourself in the mirror and ask “What’s your why?” and if there’s a true answer for yourself in there, you should be good to go. The other thing that I’ve learned the hard way is More is not Better, Better is Better. You can spend 3 hours in a gym slaving away and grinding yourself to the bone, but with all of the other sacrifices you give up in life, you end up physically fit, but not at all healthy. Give yourself a timeframe, put your blinders on, leave your phone in the car, and for that hour, half-hour, heck even if its only ten minutes: WORK, AND WORK HARD. Even if it’s a bad day, even if the miles on the treadmill are hard to come by, or the weights aren’t moving as fast or as heavy as you want to, give it your best shot. Aim for 100% for a shorter time, not 50% for double the time.
HFR: Share something that most people don’t know about you!
Adam: I probably have the same musical taste as a 14-year-old girl. My Spotify playlists are littered with Boybands, Taylor Swift, and lots of 90’s pop. San Antonio and a few folks here have also opened my eyes to what salsa inspired music can do for my workouts and mood.
