Hepburn Rimisi’s physique puts most young people to shame. The 61-year-old has a perfect V-line shape, with well-defined abs and obliques. He maintains an incredibly low body fat percentage, perhaps 11 percent. He is in the best shape of his life.
He walks into the Workout Warehouse gym with an air of confidence and easily performs explosive burpees, a staple of warm-up exercises.
He smiles when I flatter him.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve been doing this (workout),” he replied calmly, but his smile quickly faded as he recalled when his fitness journey began.
He was the victim of bullying when he joined Starehe Boys’ Center as a Form 1 student in the 1980s. Hesbon said she realized she needed to get stronger in order to survive.
“I had no choice but to find a way to protect myself as bullying was commonplace. I immediately enrolled in karate training. Back then, Sh10 was enough for a three-month subscription.” laughs a retired human resources manager who worked at the Justice Department during a critical period 45 years ago.
earn green belt
By the time he sat his final Form 6 exams, the father of three boys had achieved a green belt in martial arts.
Although he never displayed his defensive skills during his school days, he returned to school as the karate club coach for two years before entering university.
Hesbon Rimisi, 61, does forearm planks to strengthen her abdominal muscles.
Photo credits: Cinda Matico | Nation Media Group
“Even at this age, I’m very good at karate. It’s one of the disciplines that allows for flexibility because of its explosive nature,” he explains.
In karate, you use your arms and legs to kick, strike, and block defensively.
He was finally able to use his karate skills in 1991.
“It was around 10pm when I was driving home from work. Three thugs on motorcycles attacked me. There were not many motorcycles in those days. If you owned one, You were considered wealthy. So when I saw people on motorbikes speeding away, I didn’t feel anxious. They stopped me and I carried them. “I knew I was in danger when I ordered them to hand over the small bag I had. I became aggressive and told them to come and get it,” he says.
One of them advanced towards him brandishing a metal rod and struck him in the head. He was startled and started bleeding. He says the injury would have been much worse if he had not reacted quickly to incapacitate him.
“There were a lot of flying kicks, and I’m sure one of them broke his leg and disappeared. He grabbed his leg and fell down screaming in pain, and his accomplices just walked away. At this point My face was covered in blood,” he recalls.
But it wasn’t until Hesbon took another step in her fitness journey that she trained.
weight training and running
In college, I realized that I needed to start weight training to build muscle and age gracefully.
“If you can’t build up your muscles, it will be difficult to do even the simplest things like lifting a chair. Men always have problems with their thigh and back muscles as they get older if they don’t build up their strength.” That’s why you see men in their 60s and 70s with canes and bent backs,” says the fitness enthusiast, who retired from the Ministry of Justice and is now a businessman.
Mr. Hepburn does weight training at the gym four times each week. On the weekends, I go for a 10km run.
“For me, exercise is non-negotiable. I’ve encouraged my wife of 58 years to exercise and she’s doing well. We do the same with our sons and they My two oldest sons are gym rats, and the last one is a notorious swimmer. He’s trying to make it to the Kenyan team,” Hepburn proudly says. speak
After graduating from university, he worked at Finlays, a multinational tea company in Kericho, where he met his wife.
“For some reason, I was always active. When I worked at Finlays, I managed a huge tea estate, which required a lot of walking. We also had a gym.” the teetotaler added.
support culture change
But when he joined the Department of Justice, he discovered a different culture.
Hesbon Rimisi, 61, does forearm planks to strengthen her abdominal muscles.
Photo credits: Cinda Matico | Nation Media Group
“I noticed that there was a lack of entertainment in the judicial courts. People are always calm and serious about life, it’s a corridor of suits. People smiling, laughing, joking around, things like that. We needed people to feed off of each other’s energy. I introduced a culture change where my staff came to work in loose clothing every Wednesday, and then we all went out at 10am. I went out and did 30 minutes to an hour of stretching, breathing exercises, and other relaxing exercises,” he boasts.
Interestingly, over time, even the judges joined in
“So Wednesday was a bonding time for us.”
Before he left, Hesbon said he and his team installed desks that allowed staff to work while sitting or standing.
“I encouraged my staff to keep moving around rather than sitting constantly. We also introduced height-adjustable tables that allow you to change your position from sitting to standing throughout the day with the push of a button. Moving around, sitting, and standing regularly improves blood flow, circulation, and mobility.”
Hepburn will eat anything that is “delicious.”
