1) Who is Roman Berkhan? (where are you from, what do you do, a bit about yourself (hobbies, etc)
I am a full-time CrossFit and Functional Fitness athlete and a performance coach. I grew up participating in all kinds of competitive sports and slowly found myself in sport of fitness. I own a coaching business out of Atlanta, GA and my team of coaches have both on-site and remote clients in a wide variety of sports and even some general population clients. I am finishing my degree in Clinical Exercise Science. I hate formal school but love to learn. Most of my time is spent training, coaching, recovering, and spending time with family and friends. I love the outdoors and water especially. Every chance I get i will challenge myself in whatever I am doing.
2) How many years have you been training?
I have been training for sport in one way or another since around the age of 3. I first started with golf lessons/camps, swimming, baseball, and football. It wasn't until around age 12 that I started consistently participating in resistance training and more fitness related training. I started working with some football weightlifting and my own resistance training programs at 13 and continued through our high school program. I began training at a CrossFit gym at age 15 and consistently trained at the gym doing some pretty old school affiliate workouts. Around age 16 I began to train full-time for competitive CrossFit. Over the past 6 years I have trained with and been mentored by elite coaches in the sports weightlifting, gymnastics, powerlifting, endurance, and CrossFit specifically.
3) Whats been the most challenging/hardest part of your journey so far? and how have you overcome them (set backs, rejections, injuries, basically anything difficult that you have had to overcome)
Two main obstacle come to mind. The first was deciding to not continue play football for a program that i had dedicated my life to since grade school. I was approaching my 11th grade year and my coach had taken a job at another school, I had the opportunity to take college classes at a local college full-time, and had really wanted to give everything to this new sport I though i had a future in. I left behind a family that I had spent more hours with then most of my direct family over the years and it was really difficult to make that choice. The second obstacle was my shoulder injury that left me out of competition for about two years. I had chronic pain and inflammation in my shoulder from a jaw/neck issue that led to inactivity of some muscles around my scapula. It took almost a year to become pain free in most movements and almost another year to get back into a competitive state. This took an insane amount of patience and trust but my goal to get back to the floor drive me every single day. Doubt would creep into my mind sometimes but never did I go to sleep with the thought that I wouldn't return.
4) What does your typical workout/diet routine look like?
On a typical day I train 2x, once in the morning and again in the afternoon but this will change due to time of year and when the next comp is. My AM sessions usually are between 1-2 hours and include some aerobic training with some movement work or lighter structural training for hips, shoulders, core. My PM sessions will usually include strength training, sport specific strength speed/endurance training, gymnastics training, functional bodybuilding along with some aerobic work or lactic work.
5) What new knowledge have you learned over this past year regarding training, lifestyle and nutrition?
This past year my team of coaches and I have focused on mental preparation, recovery, strength protocols, and muscle endurance protocols. The mental preparation and recovery have involved a lot of breath work and cold/heat therapies that we are always experimenting with. The training protocols are very old and very new ideas that we are using and adding to with our athletes.
6) Whats your favorite cheat/Treat meal?
That's a tough one because I truly love all food and tend to like healthier foods more than less healthy options. If I had to choose a few that weren't the best options they would be a quesarito from chipotle, a dozen hot Krispy Kreme donuts, and a birthday cake remix from coldstone.
7) Whats one supplement that you could not live without?
Besides food, my Revive Rx recover.
8) If you had to start your Journey from scratch with your health & physique what would you do differently and why?
I wouldn't want to change a whole lot but I would have worked more with multi-modality endurance, started basic strength protocols earlier like functional BB, and approach nutrition closer to the way I do now.
9) Who do you look up to in the fitness industry and why?
The main people I look up to in the industry are the two coaches I work with at my company Tribe and my own coach Marcus Filly. My team inspires me everyday to build the business and our dream of where we want to take it. They both teach me, challenge me , and are constantly improving as coaches, My coach, Marcus, has been the best decision I have made regarding fitness. I could write a novel on what we have been through and what he has taught me. Marcus has mentored me as an athlete and a coach over the years of our relationship. He challenged me as an athlete/coach/person, he pushes me to be an individual as an athlete and to think on my own as a coach, and he has shown me through his own training and business leadership that there is so much room for growth within our industry.
10) If you had to give one bit of advice to people starting out what would that be?
No matter what your goal is, it will take time. Especially if your goal and journey is to be competitive. Find a coach, find a goos support system, and be ready to make some of the hardest decisions of your life on a daily basis.
11) What new goals do you have on the horizon?
My goals still and will continue to revolve around sustaining a career as an athlete and competing for the title of fittest on earth. My business will move towards the goal of building our education system and having a top of the line private training estate.
12) Where can people find you? (website, social media accounts)
Our website is under construction but currently the best place is on IG @romanberkhan
@tribeperformance
