Gym advice from the guy behind ‘leedsunifitness’

Second year Del Fadipe has over 1,000 Instagram followers on his “unifitnessleeds” account, and he’s just started a new society for people interested in physical fitness.

So how do you get the people of Leeds to tune in daily for fitness tips? He spoke to us about how he manages to balance his degree, his social life and his insane training schedule.

What got you into fitness?

“Throughout high school and my first year of college, I was pretty much known as the short skinny kid. I’ve grown a little height-wise but nevertheless, the combination of those two things are like the worst things ever! This led me to start watching workout videos online – my favourite at the time was Mike Chang’s six pack shortcuts.

“So day one came and I started off by doing some pushups, sit-ups and literally anything I could do without any weights. A couple of months down the line I joined a gym and soon started to see progress. I started to get a little bigger, more muscular, more confident and, ever since, working out has just always been a part of me.”

How long have you been doing it?

“I’ve been training for just over four years now (including the odd week or two off).”

What advice would you give to someone who wanted to get fit?

“The most helpful advice I would give to someone who’s looking to get into physical fitness is to find the right reasons and to work out what is motivating you to do so. Anyone is capable but if you’re not doing it for the right reason it could all go downhill due to a lack of personal interest.”

Does it affect your ability to stay on top of uni work?

“Going to the gym once a day does not necessarily have to affect your commitment to uni. If you manage your time wisely and plan your sessions then there will be more than enough time for both. One very important quote I came across during my four years of training is ‘If you fail to plan, you plan to fail’.”

What kind of response have you got?

“Over my years of training I’ve got all sorts of responses, ranging from ‘Oh you’re muscular’ to ‘You’re too big’. There’s no such thing as being too big. In the long run I have received mostly positive comments. It feels really good when someone comes up to me on a night out and asks If I’m unifitnessleeds.”

Do you want to do it professionally?

“I’ve thought about pursuing fitness professionally but honestly at the moment I’m still enjoying the student life of night outs and McDonald’s straight after. However I will be competing professionally next year, so nearer to the time I will have to cut down massively on the alcohol and fast food.”

Is there a society for people who are interested in fitness?

“At Leeds University, myself and a few other ‘gym heads’ like @simaxfitness, @gains4girls and a few others run a society called MASS which stands for Muscle Athletics Strength Society.

“This society is open to both male and female students of any fitness standards. If you’re looking to start training or you’ve already been training for a while now our door is open to you.”

You can look at Del’s Facebook here, or his Instagram here.