People are surprised when I tell them this, but I don\u2019t programme days off into my routine any more \u2013 I just keep going until my body tells me it needs a rest. I know now what my body can tolerate and I\u2019ve done a 60-day training streak before without any breaks. If you have the energy for it, then why not? I hate feeling like I\u2019m wasting my time \u2013 I\u2019ll do five supersets of press-ups<\/a> and sit-ups<\/a> to failure while I grill my meat for dinner, just to utilise that time.<\/p>\n Julian Benjamin<\/p>\n That mentality comes from knowing that I have to work hard to balance my time. I work on the railways and manage my own property portfolio, juggling 12-hour shifts across days, nights and weekends, usually clocking up about 70 hours a week. A lot of that is overtime, but it\u2019s my choice. I\u2019ve never taken my foot off the gas and tend to always say yes. But the one thing I always prioritise is my training. I\u2019ll get up at 3am and be in the gym by 4am, which gives me a good 90 minutes before I start my shift at 6am. It sounds tiring, but last night, for example, I was in bed by 7pm, having had my last meal at 4pm.<\/p>\n While I have a social life, I only really manage to go out with my friends every other month. I\u2019d rather have a night in with my girls when they are home from university. I don\u2019t feel like I\u2019m missing out as I don\u2019t drink regularly. Because of my job I\u2019m also very conscious of what I\u2019m putting in my body. In fact, I only supplement my diet with protein shakes, vitamins and cod liver oil.<\/p>\n I tend to eat the same thing on repeat to help me stay lean and energised. I eat a lot of cottage cheese and boiled eggs, serving them with a salad, including things like spinach, tuna and sweetcorn. My main meal of the day will always be steamed veg, such as broccoli or kale, with either grilled chicken, turkey or some pork tenderloin. I don\u2019t eat processed foods, saturated fats or sugar, and I drink five litres of water a day. However, if I\u2019m invited out for a meal, I\u2019ll consciously eat what I\u2019m served and enjoy it because I know I\u2019m disciplined enough the rest of the time.<\/p>\n Training is as automatic as brushing my teeth \u2013 it\u2019s something I just do without question. There was a time when I thought I was going to lose everything and fitness was one of the things that got me through. I don\u2019t take it for granted.<\/p>\n SQUAD Talk<\/p>\n Dharmesh answers our quick-fire questions…<\/p>\n The Food I Can\u2019t Live Without<\/p>\n Eggs. I eat four large hard-boiled ones daily without fail.<\/p>\n In my Gym Bag<\/p>\n A pair of \u00a32 black gardening gloves. They provide a far better grip than any branded gear.<\/p>\n What Keeps Me Motivated<\/p>\n The refusal to give up on anything I set my mind to.<\/p>\n The Health Habit I Swear By<\/p>\n Clean mind, clean body and clean company.<\/p>\n Dream Celebrity Workout Partner<\/p>\n Sylvester Stallone, benching at Venice Beach.<\/p>\n My Role Model<\/p>\n My father, who is still highly active at 72 and gifted me my tireless work ethic.<\/p>\n Favourite Gym Move<\/p>\n Traditional compound and isolation movements are all you need.<\/p>\n Favourite Workout Song<\/p>\n High-tempo, fast versions of the Hanuman Chalisa.<\/p>\n Best Advice I\u2019ve Ever Received<\/p>\n Always show up, never stop learning and respect time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"My life\u2019s biggest challenge began in 2013. Over the course of two years, I went through a particularly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":675521,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[238715,131990,4959,286113,1107,499,103,61,60,184510,1135,286111,223989,286112],"class_list":["post-675520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-238715","tag-collection-fit-for-life","tag-content-type-feature","tag-contentid-1bdee277-d20f-4075-b586-bee48a1f6701","tag-displaytype-standard-article","tag-fitness","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-issyndicated-false","tag-locale-gb","tag-shorttitle-how-this-single-dad","tag-sponsored-false","tag-stays-shredded"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/675520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=675520"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/675520\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/675521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=675520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=675520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=675520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"man](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/47526a26-2d58-4677-83fd-436acc717aa5.jpg\" "\\"man")
<\/p>\n