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David Kimmerle

David Kimmerle is a fitness model with much success!! Donning shredded abs on the cover of Muscle and Fitness magazine, David is obviously a big force to be reckoned with in the fitness modelling community. With aspirations of becoming an actor, Dave definitely has the “Hollywood looks” to make it happen. Let’s take a look at how Dave chisels out those unbelievable abs and what his short term and long term goals are.

Natural Sports Nutrition proudly presents: David Kimmerle

To read the interview simply click on each question and the answer will appear or disappear.

Read the Interview

• Can you start out by telling our readers what or who was your inspiration for getting into a fitness lifestyle, where you grew up and where you currently live?

  • My story is an interesting one. 

    I was born to less than desirable parents, and when I was turned six the state of Utah acknowledged my situation and decided to remove me and my two sisters from the home we were in.   My sisters went into foster care and I was basically institutionalized in the children's hospital and later moved to a boy’s home.  I had a lot of emotional issues from abuse, and the lack of care that every child should have for healthy development.  

    During this time I had very little interaction with my family with the exception of my grandma, who kept in touch, making every effort to get me and my sisters out of our situations.  When she would come up to visit she would tell me stories of my uncle’s bodybuilding efforts and his story of becoming Mr. Utah several times. He was a great guy who was handsome and had an amazing muscular physical body, I was sold. I thought to my self, how could I be a bodybuilder? That was when the dream started; I was only 8 years old.  
     
    A year later I was adopted by a wonderful couple who had no children of their own and moved into the biggest house and yard I had ever seen.  So at nine, I was reborn into a better life with parents that showed me love I never knew.   Because of everything I had been through, wrapping my mind around all of this at that age was very difficult. The lack of love, nurturing, attention and just basic things that parents teach children, I lacked.  Basically I became socially inept and had no understanding of the process "think before you talk or do" and that is how I lived most of the last 20 years of my life... not thinking or caring before I did things.   I am a good guy and have tried hard at just about everything I did, but without the thinking ahead, all my efforts were in vein.  There were things that I should have known, like simple relationship and friendship skills, which I didn’t know.
     
    So at thirty I woke up single, fat and unemployed with a terrible attitude.  One day a couple months after my birthday I received a call from the gym in the afternoon.  I literally had a bottle of Jack Daniels in my hand when I picked up the phone.  The guy from the gym told me that I did not have to pay the old debt of my unused gym membership if I would just start up again. Well I am a symbolic guy and a realist, but I could not discount this sign. I could kick my own butt and it was cheap, way cheaper than drinking all day. That day I put down the bottle and went to the gym to workout and get my fat tested.  
     
    When I saw that it was 26% I was pretty upset and it taught me a lesson, I basically quit drinking that day. I did not miss the gym for almost 70 days after that, Mothers Day, Fathers Day not a single day and for more than half of those days I went twice. I wanted to get out all this frustration that I felt from everything that I was unhappy with in my life and it was the only place I could do it positively. I decided to make it my job until I had one and I work hard so I took that ethic plus anger to the gym.  During all this time my dream never left my pillow, sometimes my life was hectic and busy but it was always there.  
     
    After months of unemployed random efforts in the gym I got a call to be in a commercial, I was incredibly surprised and I had no idea this industry really even existed. I guess somebody did not show up that day and this director had heard that I was in good shape from a girl on set,  so he called hoping that my unemployed starving working for free everyday wannabe bodybuilder was willing to be paid 500 for the day to come over and be in this commercial with a pretty girl. I was pretty excited.  
     
    So needless to say when I found out people get paid to be in shape and take pictures, all the sudden my efforts did not seem in vein anymore. I had already lost the fat and my attitude was getting better but I was dragging my feet getting employed because there was nothing out there I wanted to do. My passion was fitness!!!  So when this whole industry appeared in front of me I decided to alter my dream a little by" Make money in Bodybuilding".   
     
    Unfortunately being a body builder doesn’t pay your bills!  But if I could earn a living doing this it would make going to the gym twice day and not have a job seem better. So I have moved to LA and I am making it happen.  It all starts with a dream, I have learned that most people forget their dream for so long they can’t even remember it, that almost happened to me but I was able to get it back and enjoy the financial benefits the allows me to do what I love. 

• When you first began did you make the classic mistake of only training the "show" muscles like chest arms and abs?

  • Yes I did, I think just about everyone is worried about chest, arms and abs. So after 8 months of training I asked a judge from a local Utah show and he told me my back was non existent and I had no rear delts. So I started training those muscle groups before my favourites and in retrospect the gains I have made in my back and rear delts are the gains I am the most proud of.

• Can you tell the readers what your typical training routine looks like?

  • I like to train hard and sweat, I follow a fighter routine where I will do super or tri sets or 1 set that all last 3-4 minutes. I like to burn at least 600-800 calories per hour of large muscle groups. I wear a heart rate monitor that holds me accountable in my sessions. I love to run and take cycling classes where I burn an average of 800-1000 calories in an hour on top of my workout putting me at around 1500 or better in a couple hours. You will feel like you have been in a fight when it is over. 

    I also like to listen to my playlist of good music and try to follow the mind muscle connection through-out my workout. The Arnold split pre-competition workout I have followed for months and love it. I like it because you get the full body workout 3 times per week. I am a big believer in muscle confusion and manipulation so I am always mixing things up every few weeks. But my favourite way to train is still the fighter type workout.

• Since you could be called at any moment for a photo shoot, how many pounds do you stay within "photo" weight? And do you do any kind of water or carbohydrate manipulation the week of a photo shoot?

  • It is not," what you look like yesterday, last week or on your last cover".  It is I like "what do you look like now". I like to stay with-in 10 pounds at all times off season, during the season which is Jan to Nov, I stay with-in 5 pounds. I recently decided that if I have to cut water than I am carrying fat and every time I mess with carbs and water I look good for the day but the next few days I look bad, so I decided to just drink my 2 gallons per day and eat my normal carb intake and just shoot with what I look like daily. 

    A quick story on this lesson was best taught to me in 8 words.  Last year I got a call from Muscle and Fitness magazine and they wanted to shoot me.  I had a week; I walked into the gym and asked Mr. Utah if he thought I would be ready for the shoot acknowledging that I would try as hard as I could.  He looked at my thick skin and simply pulled on his paper thin belly skin and said “I am six weeks out from the NPC”, that was a symbolic time in my life. 
     
    I try not to let my skin get thick anymore because I remember how it must have felt for him to be ready rather than trying to play catch-up. So later that day, I was training with Mr. Utah when he said something that really hit me hard.  "Every bite you take either takes you away from your goal or towards your goal".  I wanted to punch him because now that I knew this, it would add guilt or confidence to every bite I would take from then on. It has and I like the accountability.

• Have you ever had an interest in competing in natural bodybuilding?

  • I have, but in the game I am playing it pays to stay lean and mean rather then big, lean and mean. I stand at 6' 2" and I would have to bulk up to like 240 and I would not be able to pay my bills as I am a full time fitness model and actor. I will enter a fitness competition as soon as I feel like it is a good time in my career to do so.

    I won the fitness couples competition last year at the Fitness expo in LA. I entered it because it was giving a check to the winner :)

• In your opinion what are the key elements involved in getting shredded abs? Do you have favourite ab exercise? How often do you train abs?

  • HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA the question of all questions, the answer is simple and the same from all successful athletes, I know because at one time I asked the same question. DIET, if you do not thin the skin around the belly you will never see the abs or you will see faint hints of what is underneath. Abs are a secondary muscle to most exercises which means almost everyone has them by default. 

    I am a big believer in training abs heavy, they are a small muscle group and can be exhausted easily. I prefer to start with hanging leg ups and knee ups, then I love to do roman chairs and decline sit-ups. My rule is usually if I can do more than 20 then it is not heavy enough. So I will put a ten pound weight between my shoes and do leg ups for sets of 5-20. 
     
    Whatever works for you but get creative, all you have to know is that it needs to burn and the more you can stand the burning the better the results.  I also like to train them 3 times per week.

• How important is cardio in your day to day training regimen?

  • I do not do steroids so my diet has to be even more spot on, I usually do about 12 hours of cardio or more a week and always after I train. I probably would not have to do as much but sometimes I cheat and that causes me to gain a few pounds which literally takes me out of my ideal shape to book work and sell my efforts. 

    I also have this sense of anxiety to reach my potential as soon as possible and cardio is a good fix for that, it is also good for fat loss. Pictures do not lie and if you are not doing your cardio then you had better be eating perfect and that is difficult, cardio helps with the balance of eating and the need to be calorie deficient. 
     
    And besides who likes to train every day but can't run up some stairs or defend themselves for more than 1 minute? That happened to me and I vowed it never would again. 

• Can you tell the readers what it was like to be on the cover of Muscle and Fitness? That’s quite an accomplishment!

  • This is how I have been telling the story. So I am living in Utah when some friends and I decided to go down to the Olympia to watch the show and go to the expo. 

    Acknowledging that at the time I was unemployed and had no experience in the fitness industry my intention was to network and audition at the M&F booth. So there I was at the booth with my shirt off and flexing my muscles thinking this is it "now I am in". 
     
    Wrong, so Erica took some photos and never called me. I have to admit I was a little disheartened, but I kept training as hard as I could and eating with educated bites hoping my day would come. It did, six months later I received a call from M&F telling me they would like me to fly down to LA and do a feature in an upcoming magazine. 
     
    Now when M&F calls you and you and are an unemployed, an inexperienced wannabe fitness model, it's like Christmas.  I had three weeks to get dialled in and hell yes; I get to finally be recognized for my efforts. So I got shredded and flew down to do the shoot, I was sooooo appreciative to even be in the magazine that I had a hard time asking about what I would have to do to get on the cover and when I did, the answer was a very simple and polite NO. 
     
    My response was thank you for letting me ask and I am so happy to even be here, thank you. I finished the shoot and flew home.  I started eating everything in sight and basically gained about twenty pounds in a week or two.  THEN it happened, I will never forget; I was in Vegas at some meetings and had just finished up eating all I could at a buffet when M&F called my cell phone. They asked if I could fly down in 4 days to do a cover for the issue I was featured in. WOW, I was shocked and so mad at myself at the same time, I wasn’t dialled in and I did not feel good about flying down into a situation where they were expecting a product I could not duplicate in this short time frame. So what do I say.....? (besides profaning to myself) the only thing I could say was a very sincere NO,  and explained that there was no way I could duplicate the product I had two weeks prior. 
     
    I do not think they expected my response so she told me she would have to call me back. I hung up the phone in total disbelief, had this just happened? Did I just turn down M&F? Why did I not just lie? What kind of idiot am I? Now what? Oh it gets better. So a little later in the day she called me back, thanked me for my honesty and informed me that they would really like to still have me come down, of course I said yes! But, because I was so honest and they were needing a good cover, So they decided they would bring in a little friendly competition. I mean literally friend-ly, they called my good friend who's couch I had lived on the last summer in Hollywood and asked him to come in and shoot as well on the same day and they would basically choose between us. 
     
    This is a dream we both shared and even talked about, and now we were competing for it; so I immediately called him and we razzed each other about the up coming week of diet and training. That moment I started dieting; I have never been so hungry! I am going to say it twice; I have never been so hungry! What a week that was,  I was sitting at 205 and needed to lean out immediately, in one week I dropped down to 183 losing  a lot of muscle along the way just to lose the fat and water. I tried as hard as I could to be in a calorie deficient day but still get all the nutrition I needed to feed my body and hopefully provide a product M&F would be happy with. My buddy did the same and came in looking great, so the morning of the shoot we shook hands and gave each other a hug with best wishes and luck. The rest is history.

• Was the photo shoot gruelling?

  • This was definitely an interesting experience.  A boxing gym is a little different than your normal gym with weights, cardio machines and most people standing around looking at each other going through the motions. Nope this is a place where people come to learn how to do battle with their fists, it had a boxing ring and kettle bells and a small weight set. 

    What I noticed the most was the energy in the room, these guys were oooozing testosterone and dripping blood sweat and tears while training for whatever their personal goal was. So when I walked in with my hair all combed and looking pretty ready for a photo shoot I have to admit that I felt a little like these guys were stereo typing me.  I looked like a pretty boy with no edges and this was far from the truth.  I felt like estrogen amongst testosterone and I didn't much care for the idea. 
     
    Not that anyone treated me any differently but I did not even like the thought of it and couldn't discount how I looked and the situation. So towards the end of the day I was reading the shoot list and at the bottom there was a final shot that was described as the stick shot, reading on it described the theory of how the abs would be contracted to their full potential if they were to be struck with a stick. I thought to my self hmmmm, I am not sure if I agree with that, here I am at the M&F shoot trying as hard as I know how to contract my abs to their full potential and I'm not sure if this guy hitting me with the stick is going to really get more out of me. Anyway, we got set for the shoot and Justin whom I described above as a guy that looks like he could just beat the pulp out of you, was holding this Bamboo stick about two or three feet long and a nickel in width and of course some of the boxers and staff stopped to watch his interaction with me and the shoot. 
     
    While we were standing there waiting for the lighting to get set I asked him "what is the real reason for the stick”? His response was crazy, he said “I take this stick and hit the guys from the shins to just below the chest to teach them pain". He must have seen the look on my face so he kept talking and explained to me that in the ring one of the biggest contributors to a loss is when the boxer flinches or loses focus when he is hurt. 
     
    Obviously most things that one can do to themselves or others to teach pain could cause an injury, thus the stick, it doesn't injure the boxer and he still gets to experience the limits of his sustainable pain threshold. Basically you get beat with it and practice not losing focus which increases the pain threshold and ability to fight hurting. At this point I was glad to be a fitness model not a boxer. 
     
    When we started the shoot, Justin was just holding the stick in front of me and we were taking the shots when I realized how much of a girl (no offence to all female boxers) I was and how it must have looked like to the audience so I suggested that he do to me what he does to the other boxers. I mean I have been in a lot of fights, too many to count, so I think I am pretty tough and this is my chance to show the gym what kind of Utah farm boy I really am. 
     
    The staff agreed and so did Mr. Fortune, so the beating commenced, and not to be redundant, but I said it before, I do a lot of talking before I do a lot of thinking!! OUCH!  With the camera and video cam rolling we took several shots of him whacking me with this stick, he started with the stick about a foot away and whipped it towards me actually making a sound right before impact. OUCH, if my job was to get hit with the stick and not move, I was not doing a good job of it. I kept turning my body away from the stick when he would hit me and I was turning away from the light and the shot. So the director told me to stand still and basically take it, so I did. OUCH! I was taking it like a man when on the final shot I was told to try not to even flinch to make sure we got the shot they wanted, so I gathered all the courage I had and stood there flexed and with the eye of a tiger. WHACK, WHACK, WHACK and that last whack hurt so much I moved just enough away from him that on the next swing the stick caught me on the lower left ab, immediately causing a fluid build up.
     
    Like a half of an egg sized bump appeared immediately I screamed "I am done, I am done” and that was the last shot. All the other takes did not hurt as bad because he would hit me square with about 4 -6 inches of the stick but on the final take when I turned away, only about 3 inches hit me and the lower abb took all three. Talk about feeling alive, I had just shot my dream job all day long and had the chance to be beat with the same stick Manny Pacquiao was beat with during his training with Mr. Fortune. 
     
    When I was getting ready to leave a boxer walked up to me and told me that when he did the stick training he was sore for more that for two weeks and I have to say my experience was the same. The bump went down several days later and all that was left were bruises, which I was happy to have to show my buddies as I told this same story about the stimulating day. So in the end I am very happy to have had this experienced, even if only for an hour, what some of these guys go through to be the best in their attempt at glory.

• If you have some time between shoots do you enjoy "no-no foods"? Like pizza or burgers or a beer or two?

  • My favourite bad foods are cookies, anything with sugar in it, pizza, bread, cheese, thai food, and cereal. The biggest problem I have found is portion size of these no-no’s, 1 cookie is not enough and 1 piece of pizza is just a teaser.

• Since you are already ripped for your photo shoots, do you feel a sense of responsibility or "pressure" to stay close to that condition all the time? Do people expect you to be so lean year round?

  • Yes, Yes and Yes. There is nothing like the anxiety of not being at your potential. You only get one hand shake with many of the people in the business and showing up carrying a few pounds is like showing up late or not at all. I have fluctuated my weight and learned that lesson the hard way, now I follow the saying my sister told me this last Christmas, "nothing tastes as good as skinny feels".  

    Now if I am not the best looking guy in the room, I am ok with that but not having the best body is unacceptable, I have only been training for 2 years so I have some muscle groups I am still working on and I acknowledge that but not having the same or better body fat is gambling with your future.

• So we hear acting is in your future. Are you taking acting classes? And is there any type of role you are going for?

  • Yes I have been learning as much as I can. I take hosting classes and acting classes, I would love to host a body modification show or be a bad guy in a movie or TV show. I spend a lot of time in the gym being angry so acting like it would be easy for me. Hahahaha

• What are your short term and long term goals?

  • My goals are very simple, I want to reach my potential and make enough money in this industry to have a family and a little security. Short term would be to edify my name and efforts by marketing myself and continuing to get inside the magazines and on the covers. 

    I am working to get the muscles lacking the symmetrical numbers required for the perfect 6'2" body.  I would like to evolve my hosting and acting skills as soon as possible.  Long term, I would like to travel the world with my family and be considered one of the best physiques and representations of the sport ever. Funny saying this after that but I am also a very humble guy and would like to look back on my life and see humility through my accomplishments and a positive representative of my family name.

• Dave what do you think about the mental side of the sport?

  • I am a huge believer that you can will things into your life, even the impossible or what seems to be. Be real, what is your reality? I recently decided to write down my reality and my goal and read it almost daily. This has helped me to be accountable and mentally strong, or not, through that accountability.   This is my shout to the world.

    I am an over-eater and I like things that are not good for my body.  I acknowledge I have an eating problem that is difficult to control on my own. I am committed to change my ways and take control of my health, weight, and lifestyle. My wish is to acknowledge my weakness and strike balance between the healthy lifestyle I want to live and my needs as a human being to indulge from time to time. I will reach my peak physical potential by taking educated bites and steps.  I will educate myself about every morsel of food I cram into my body and appreciate how many steps it will take to work off a cookie.  
     
    To reach this objective I know that I have to own my behaviour.  Others in life will probably not share my goals and both of our achievements will reflect that. I will not be influenced to do anything that will prevent me from reaching and maintaining my goal of a fun and healthy lifestyle. I have no excuse, I will not excuse and I am not an excuse. I will reach my potential and am in continuous competition with myself to do so.

I am David Kimmerle and I work everyday to be a success story.

Thanks so much for giving us this detailed insight into your life and training David.

You can keep up to date with David’s activities and follow him online on David Kimmerle’s Performance Network Profile

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