[sc:masthead-std]
[sc:salutation-std]

Rob Riches is a bodybuilding champion who has appeared in magazines around the world due to his incredible physique and tireless work ethic. George Spellwin was recently lucky enough to sit down with this bodybuilding star to learn his secrets for making it to the top. Trust me, you definitely don’t want to miss his advice on how to land a supplement contract!

Many people who are familiar with the bodybuilding and fitness modeling industry are well aware of Rob Riches. He has appeared in countless fitness and muscle magazines such as FAME Magazine, Muscle & Fitness, Body, and Ironman in addition to winning numerous bodybuilding contests in his career. Rob’s most recent win came at the World Fitness Model Finals in Toronto where he beat out the rest of the world’s most chiseled fitness models!

Besides competing in bodybuilding competitions and gracing the pages of magazines everywhere, Rob Riches is also a very successful film maker and personal trainer. As a film maker, Riches produces training videos for top bodybuilding and fitness models in addition to the ones he makes for himself. As a personal trainer, Rob has trained lots of clients including some celebrities too! His impressive training credentials have earned him a Bodybuilding.com “Personal Trainer of the Year” award.

With all of the competition, training, modeling, and filming accolades that Rob Riches has to his credit, he is a wealth of information for bodybuilders everywhere. I definitely learned this myself when I had the opportunity to interview Riches for a second time. This time around, Riches explained to me how one can land on the pages of a major fitness magazine, earn a supplement contract, and stay in shape even when on the road. You’ll definitely want to check out this new Rob Riches interview to learn his secrets of success!

Also, if you would like to join Rob Riches’ member site so that you can see more excellent advice then visit //www.robriches.com.

George Spellwin: You recently competed in Toronto at the World Fitness Model Finals which you won! How has life been after this huge win?

Rob Riches: It’s a big relief to be finished with it. I needed some time to get my life back because it was such a big time commitment. Preparing for the contest put a lot of stress on me, my body, and my relationship with my girlfriend. Now that the World Fitness Model Finals is over I’ve been able to start putting more water and sodium back into my body as well as carbohydrates too. My body is just getting back to normal after the contest.

George Spellwin: What are you up to now that the World Fitness Model Finals are over and you are back home?

Rob Riches: Well I’m producing videos for SKY right now which is one of the biggest TV networks in the world and is shown across Europe. I’m currently filming celebrity trainers for this network. It was great to win the World Fitness Model Finals, but I’m not looking at the win as something that’s going to make me a household name. It was more of a personal goal to win and now I’ve got to get back to work and pay the bills.

I’ve got the FAME World’s coming up here in about 14 or 15 months so I want to be in kick-ass shape for that. I’m just going to get back on schedule and get motivated so I can do well at the FAME. I’ve got to make sure I am in great shape for it though because my body soaks up everything. I’m actually dieting right now because I have a photo shoot coming up with Jamie Eason. Another thing I’m doing is working with magazines outside of the US and trying to get more fame in Europe. You know, if I can get in a magazine out of Milan then it’s going to help me get noticed in more parts of the world.

I’d like to get into some motivational speaking too since I like giving people information on how they can improve. There was once a time when I didn’t want to tell people anything because I didn’t want anyone knowing what I was doing. But then I realized this wasn’t right since so many people had helped me when I was starting out and so I changed this.

George Spellwin: I’ve seen some of your training DVD’s and I think that they’re excellent. Is there anything that you’ve been working on lately as far as your DVD’s go?

Rob Riches: I’m working on making my training DVD’s downloadable so that people can just download them right off of the Internet and start using them. This should be done in a week or two and people will also be able to download the videos to their iPhones in the future too. When you have a training video, it helps so much more to have an actual example of how to do exercises through a video rather than just reading about them or looking at pictures.

You’ve appeared in plenty of TV shows, films, and DVD’s over the past few years. Do you have any acting aspirations for the future?

I’m probably the only person in LA right now who doesn’t want to be an actor. There are all of these people out here who are trying to get into acting in some way or another but not me. I’m already a video producer and a bodybuilder, and that’s 2 out of 3 things that I could be right now so that’s good enough. If I was going to be on TV then I would want to be on as myself or just a TV personality. If I could get in the movies then yes I would do some acting. Possibly TV….I mean look what acting has done for Jason Lewis (big-time fitness model)…he’s on that TV show Sex and the City, and it has really helped his career.

George Spellwin: You are also a very skilled personal trainer who has won the Bodybuilding.com Personal Trainer of the Year award and have worked with stars in both London and LA. What is a typical training session with you like?

Rob Riches: When I train people I use a diluted form of bodybuilding. And the training I use for them all depends on the person and how close they are to pre-contest form. You know maybe someone’s goal only is to burn as much body fat as possible without losing muscle. Some trainers will only have people do their specific exercises that they say are guaranteed to work, but I just like to have people use normal bodybuilding exercises.

Weights, half squats, crunches…just train like a bodybuilder. I always like to train my abs a lot so that’s definitely something I have clients do and I’m constantly applying ab routines to different workouts. Basically, I have people do a diluted form of what I do and their body will respond in some way.

George Spellwin: Do you have any advice for any of our members who might one day be interested in trying to appear in a supplement ad or fitness magazine one day?

Rob Riches: Yes, the first thing is you’ve got to ask yourself if you are right for the magazine. If you are 5’11”, 150 pounds dripping wet then you probably can’t be in Muscle and Fitness. The key is that you have to find the magazine that is right for yourself and then contact it if you seem like a good fit.

One thing that you definitely need to do is look at the inside cover of a magazine and at the photographers. When you find the photographer, for instance it might say Alex Ardenti, then you want to contact them directly because just contacting the magazine itself or editors isn’t going to do you much good. When contacting the photographer, look for an address so you can mail a letter. Obviously most people like to e-mail, but e-mail is so common these days whereas a hand-written letter will be a lot more unique.

When you e-mail a photographer, you should include a body shot of yourself along with a cover letter that differentiates you from the rest of the fitness models out there. Ask them to do a test shoot with you if they ever need a model. Some models will flake out of shoots and then the photographer will need to find someone else so they’ll call you. The key is to go straight to the photographer instead of contacting the magazine. And even if the photographer says no that doesn’t mean you should stop contacting them because, maybe in the future, you’ll fit a specific need.

You really need to be bold and get out there. You are going to be your best promoter; not some agent. An agent might work with you if they think they can make some money off of the deal, but in the end the best promoter will end up being yourself. No one gets rich off of appearing in magazines though unless you’re appearing in all of the major magazines of course. So you’ve got to take your published photos to the supplement companies too. Make sure to contact supplement companies right after you appear in a magazine, and make yourself stand out in some way because they get hundreds of e-mails a day from models. From those e-mails, they have to find a way to pick those models who are good from those who are…oh, not so good.

George Spellwin: You are a skilled video producer and I was wondering what you’re working on at the moment.

Rob Riches: Well early next year I’m going to release a DVD of my workouts. I get a lot of different questions on things such as how do I train my arms so this DVD will answer a lot of those questions. And this won’t just be a single DVD, but rather a series of DVD’s which will cover different training areas. For instance, one series might be on the biceps…how to sculpt them, lift for growth, and maintain what you already have while cutting.

Now Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding is a great book, but it’s pretty hard to follow exercise examples through a book. This is where training DVD’s have a huge advantage because you can see the exercises being performed. Many people think that there are only a couple of ways to work your calves with the 2 ways being standing calf raises and seated calf raises. I actually have 7 different exercises to work the calves and that could be in a DVD along with other small muscle group workouts like rear delts and the lower back.

I will also do other DVD’s such as how to get tight abs without being skinny. It’s basically going to be a do this, do that, and get this type of DVD series. But it’s a slow process because I’m not just walking into the gym by myself and recording my workouts. I need to have time where the gym is mine and I also have to have a camera crew there to film what I’m doing.

George Spellwin: I know you live in the LA area, but also take trips back to England and do a lot of traveling for shows too. How are you able to effectively train while on the road and is there anything you could recommend for our member when they are on vacation or traveling?

Rob Riches: Preparation….I take meals with me and I prepare them before I leave. I leave nothing to chance when I’m on the road. I’ll take 3 meals on the plane with me if I have to and I’ve definitely gotten some funny looks on the plane when I’ve got 12 potatoes with me. When people see me putting 12 potatoes wrapped in aluminum foil through the scanner they look at me like I’m gonna take down the plane or something. But if I need to carbo load then that’s what I’ll do.

As far as working out goes, I obviously can’t work out on the plane so I have to do my workouts beforehand so I can just rest on the plane. If I know I have a flight then I’ll work harder on the days before leaving. I’ll work out on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and then just rest on the plane when Saturday rolls around. I think it’s very important to keep a training schedule or diary too because this helps a lot with the preparation.

George Spellwin: What was the single biggest factor in convincing you to move from London to LA?

Rob Riches: Well I still have to get my citizenship to be a resident of the US, but I’m glad I am here. It wasn’t a dream or anything where I grew up dreaming of one day moving to LA, but when I came to the MuscleMania World Finals it felt right. It was like, as soon as I stepped off the plane I thought this was good.

There are just so many opportunities in Los Angeles and, I’m not saying there aren’t opportunities in England too, but there are just so many here in LA. It’s kind of like fishing…..you fish in one spot and don’t catch anything then you know that it’s time to move to another spot and try there to see if there are more fish. Sometimes there won’t be a whole lot for you in one place, but when you move somewhere different everything opens up for you. There are magazines here, sports agencies, commercials, and I’ve made all kinds of connections here too.

George Spellwin: You have obviously experienced a lot of success within the bodybuilding industry. How did you get to where you are today?

Rob Riches: People often ask me how I’ve done what I’ve done. But I don’t walk around like, “Hey, I’m a fitness model”, or anything like that. I have just gotten to where I am through hard work. Things change when you just sit back and expect everything to come to you, but I said that I’m gonna do it myself. I want to be in shape and look good all of the time so there’s really no blueprint to how I’ve gotten to where I am, but I’m still willing to tell people what I did to get here.

I’m a pretty humble guy, but I am also very competitive so if someone wants to follow in my footsteps and then compete against me then I’m like, “Bring it on”. I have no trouble telling people the steps I took because I know in the end that the hardest workers will get the top spots in competitions.

You’ve just got to make a plan for how you’re going to achieve success in bodybuilding or the fitness industry. It’s like if you were setting up a budget for a business and needed to know how much money you could spend here and there. You have to make a business plan for how you’re going to achieve success in bodybuilding and fitness too.

One thing that I think is cool about where I am today is walking around with my girlfriend at a competition since she doesn’t know that I have any fans or followers. People will come up to me and say, “Hey, you’re Rob Riches, can I get a photo”, and she’ll just look at me like, “Who is this guy, do I know you?” One of my favorite times was when I was filming a video for Monica Brant and somebody came up and said, “Can I have a photo?” She was like, “Yea, you can get one with me”, and the person said, “No, no….a photo with Rob Riches.” It was so weird because it was completely backwards in that they were asking the cameraman for a photo when Monica is a huge fitness star.

George Spellwin: You have a lot of people come up to you for fitness advice. How do you handle this?

Rob Riches: When people come up to me, even when I’m busy, I want to give back. Sure there are sometimes when I’m really busy, but I still want to give back. I always try to give back to people because I often think back to where I was when I was beginning and asking others for advice. I do a lot of things to answer people’s questions….I do video conference calls, e-mails, etc. I will help out anyone and I also enjoy when people see me out and want to give me feedback.

One more thing I’d like to say with the advice is that you should always do what you are best at in anything. I am a pretty creative person so I stick to filming and editing with my work while I have certain people handle other responsibilities. I always try to make sure that I work with the best people and it’s important to delegate responsibilities so things get done as well.

George Spellwin: Is there anybody you looked up to while starting out in the fitness industry?

Rob Riches: Dolph Lundgren is definitely one person who I looked up to. He was big and muscular, and was always in TV and the movies. I’ve actually met him now... it was when I was filming something for a bodybuilding website. It’s amazing because he’s 51 and he still looks the same and is in great shape! Greg Plitt is another guy who I have looked up to and he’s like the number one fitness model in the world. I’ve met him before too and he’s just a great guy.

George Spellwin: Thanks Rob and we\'ll look forward to seeing you on the EliteFitness.com Forums.