After nine years, Hemming is still going strong

Posted by admin on Feb 3, 2009 in News | 0 comments

Even as a young boy, Andrew Hemming walked the talk he teaches his students: healthy eating and exercise.

“As a skinny kid who wanted to be bigger and stronger, [weight training] was always my favourite unit in phys ed,” Hemming says. When he realized there was such a thing as a personal trainer, he knew what he wanted to work towards. “University was a stepping out of faith to where I thought God was leading me.”

Nine years ago Hemming graduated from the School of Human Kinetics at Trinity Western University. His alma mater immediately hired him on as an HKIN instructor. Hemming also has a Masters in Exercise Science.

After the Spartans entered the Canadian Interuniversity Sport league, Hemming began training the men’s and women’s Spartans teams to his responsibilities as a weight training professor.

Hemming takes seriously his role as the strength and conditioning coach for Spartan Athletics. “I want to be someone who leads by example,” he says.

His own routine stresses a natural diet and daily exercise. Hemming weight trains three times a week at a performance level, in addition to light cardio and biking to work several times a week. To satisfy health goals and get some quality time together, “I’ll go on a brisk walk with my wife,” Hemming says.

To help further develop the athletes he works with, Hemming developed a “tip of the day” email that he sends out en mass. It started out as an article on the daily topic, but then he decided to put the information into a bite-sized form.

“It’s for the athlete in school who’s busy. We…wanted to educate our athletes in bite-sized chunks. If you learn the whys – it helps them to buy into it.”

Hemming also mentors students who wish to become trainers. “The mentorship process is key,” he says.

He says he desires TWU to have “the best strength and conditioning program in the country.” This goal may not be too far off. The National Strength and Conditioning Association currently recognizes TWU as a strength and conditioning school, a process initiated by HKIN professor Dr. Bill Luke. The internationally known NSCA only recognizes one other school in Canada.

Teaching and coaching students is one of Hemming’s favourite parts of working at TWU. “It’s the ability to help develop leaders through strength and conditioning internships or with a student in a different discipline [but] its overall a calling to me, and I get to work and do what I’m passionate about,” he says.

Talking to his students, it’s clear they recognize Hemming’s passion in their interactions. “He does a really good job of leveling with students where they are at and helping them work on their goals—he is really encouraging. He believes what he teaches and cares about people,” first-year Brittany Lawrence says.

Alex Kirstiuk, a former student and current TWU coordinator of outreach and evangelism, said, “After taking his class, I felt confident to workout in a weight room. As a woman it can be very intimidating.”

According to Hemming’s T.A. Joe Vroom, “Andrew is the man. His classes are great because he enjoys teaching them so much.”

Read a sampling of Hemming’s “tip of the day” online at www.twu.ca/athletics/spartan/complete-champion/tip-of-the-day.html