How to Live Your Best Life with Ironman Eric Hinman
Our series Trend Report is a style spread featuring clothing brands, trends and stores. This month, Eric Hinman wears clothing from Ten Thousand and Lane Eight. Eric is photographed at Apex Human Performance.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ESTHER LEE LEACH
CLOTHING: TEN THOUSAND AND LANE EIGHT
Cherry Creek Fashion: Eric, thanks so much for sharing your story with us! Your quest to live your best life and do what you love every day is so inspiring! You are known as a fitness leader but you have also invested in other industries. One of your first businesses was an insurance company that you created and then hired someone to manage for you. You then ‘retired’ at 34 and spend your time doing what you love. Tell us more about that experience, building your company and then stepping away.
EH: It was really tough. I was the face of my insurance agency for seven or eight years. And I was doing everything. And, you know, once they started delegating little things here and there, I realized the beauty of having other people that can do things just as well, if not better than you do them. So that you can focus on what only you can do and things that you do best. In my insurance business that was selling the actual policy. It wasn't sitting at the desk and doing a lot of the service work, it was being in front of people creating relationships. So that was my lesson in entrepreneurship. To this day, I delegate, automate and eliminate a lot of things so that I can only do what I can do and I can do best and now that is exercise, content creation and connecting people. No one can do that for me. So those are my three big focus areas now.
CCF: Before moving to Colorado, you lived in Syracuse, New York where you built an athletic facility, Urban Life and then became the co-owner in two restaurants; XO Taco and Original Grain. How do you stay involved in these ventures and stay ‘retired’? Describe your version of retirement and how you are able to achieve this.
EH: Alright, so retirement to me means doing what you love every single day. And I'm so fortunate to be doing that right now, in this chapter that I'm writing. My insurance business has been on autopilot for 10 years. And then the other businesses that I co-founded, I partnered with people with the sole intention of relying upon them to operate the business. So, you know, I learned along the way that operations is what requires you to be in a certain place at a certain time. So whenever I start a new venture, I make sure that, you know, it might take some of my time in the beginning, but I'm finding a partner that you know, likes to do the operational aspects of the business. So that again, I can just keep creating new ventures and I can keep creating content and I can keep building my network and introducing people and adding value where I can so you know, it really just comes down to making sure that when you get involved with a venture There's purpose behind that and you understand what your role is going to be and you make sure you find partners or employees that can run the actual business for you.
CCF: Let’s talk about your fitness routine! You are an Ironman and have spoken about being an ‘everyday athlete’ and doing some type of exercise daily. Describe your weekly fitness routine. What do you do on a daily basis?
EH: My daily fitness routine right now is I typically do 90 minutes of Olympic lifting, strength training, gymnastics and anaerobic conditioning in the morning, starting around 9 am and finishing around 11 am. And then I do some kind of aerobic activity like mountain biking, hiking trail running, road cycling, road running in the afternoon, and that's usually anywhere from 60 to 90 minutes. That's just kind of my general lifestyle training. When I'm competing in something, I'll shift my focus towards whatever it is I'm competing in. So with the Ironman when I was training for that I was swimming, biking and running upwards of 25 hours a week. So it's a very time demanding sport. I'm not training quite that kind of hours right now, even though you know 15 to 20 hours is certainly a lot more than you need to be lifestyle set. It's a huge part of my life and I really enjoy it. I love the people that I'm around, what I'm doing it and the brands that I'm working with now, they're all involved in the health and wellness world. So it just really fits in with my lifestyle.
CCF: Nutrition is also an essential part of your routine. What do you eat on a daily basis? What are your top 3 power foods and what are 3 things that you eliminate?
EH: So some power foods are spinach; I have a smoothie bowl every morning with two giant handfuls of spinach. I mean vegetables are the best possible thing in the world that you can eat. So every single meal, I make sure that I have at least two to three sets of vegetables. I don't eat a lot of red meat, it zaps my energy. I do eat a lot of eggs for protein, nuts, seeds, and fish as well. Sugar and alcohol are incredibly inflammatory. As much as you can possibly stay away from alcohol and sugar. Those are just they, you know, give you a little energy boost. You know, they're type one fund, but you're going to suffer afterward. So I prefer to eat lean proteins, lots of vegetables, and I also put eating on autopilot. That's a huge key. I eat at pretty much the exact same place, the exact same things every single day and I have the same smoothie bowl every morning. So I'm taking the decision making out of eating. I just know, what I'm going to be eating and when I'm going to be eating it. My body knows how to function well with those types of foods at those times.
CCF: It’s January and the time that a lot of people are creating goals for the year. What advice can you give to our readers about setting goals and staying motived to achieve these goals in fitness, businesses and life?
EH: The biggest thing I would say is just start. For as much as I work out, sometimes I may not want to go for a run, but I know once I start, I always feel good. So it's just starting and some of the things to help you start are accountability. Doing it with friends, hiring a personal trainer, or signing up for some kind of goal, race or event so that, you have a purpose behind the workouts. You can't be doing it for other people, you have to be doing it for yourself. That is absolutely key. And then the other thing is to make sure it's something you enjoy doing. I look forward every single day to what I'm doing, even though it may look excruciating, I jump out of bed and I can't wait to do the CrossFit workouts. I can't wait to go on some kind of afternoon adventure. I love what I'm doing. And there's other forms of exercise that I don't enjoy, so I don't do them. There are a million ways to be healthy and to be fit. And the key is finding that exercise, that group of people, that positive environment that you get excited about and that suits your life.
