Henderson was recently listed in Charlotte Fit life as top 10 personal trainers in the Charlotte area. He also helped to kick-off a City Wide 5k run, raising awareness for Domestic Violence.
46-year-old Roy Henderson, great build, good attitude, incredibly dedicated—He’s that all-American overachiever who’s naturally gifted at sports.
His story is that of humble beginnings. Each phase of his life tug gracefully at the heartstrings, capturing the ears and imagination of people in need of confirmation that hard work and dedication really pays off.
“I was a student athlete in college, and I always excelled on the fitness piece of sports. I think what truly inspired me is that my father died at the age of 42. He was an alcoholic and smoked what appeared to be a carton of cigarettes a day,” says Henderson when talking about his motivations for the salubrious phenom.
“He just shortened his life, and that made me want to take care of myself and spread the gospel of fitness.
When it’s someone you know, you think they’re strong and immortal. Nothing will ever happen to them. My grandmother called me and said, ‘Call your dad. He’s in the hospital.’ I called, and he told me he was fine. A week later, he had a heart attack and died.
While making my own life choices, it’s just like every other teen falling into bad habits. In the back of mind, I knew I didn’t want to be like my dad. He died at 42. With these habits, you are not going to live forever, and your body is going to break down. I was always mindful of my body, and I think that’s where it came from.”
Henderson pushed the habitual need to become healthy even as a teenager. Impressively, he played basketball in Queens, New York. He earned all-County, all-Conference first team, and team MVP honors.
In 1991, the native of New York, attended college at Chowan University in Murfreesboro, North Carolina. He then transferred to the University of South Carolina at Aiken, where he received a full scholarship for basketball from 1993 to 1997. He was captain his junior and senior year and led the team in scoring and rebounding his senior year. While there, he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Health & Physical Education.
The esteemed individualist wasted no time to utilize his degree. He moved back to Queens, New York, and accepted a position in Brooklyn as a Health and Physical Education teacher in 1997. Henderson also taught academics from 1998 to 1999, to 5th grade students.
“Afterwards, I moved to Richmond, Virginia,” he said. “I was teaching health and physical education again. I went to graduate school in Virginia State and got my master’s in Administration and Supervision. From 1999 until 2001, I taught for 3 years in Richmond, Virginia.”
By default, Henderson became an all encompassed Phys Ed teacher. He’s fashioned to be competitive, so it wasn’t uncommon for him to stretch outside of familiarity to achieve— There was no amount of time or distance that would come between him and greatness. Henderson eventually relocated to Charlotte, NC. Between 2003 and 2008, he taught at Phillip O. Berry Academy, Albemarle Rd Elementary, and Winding Springs Elementary.
Henderson had everything that a man in his position could want. He settled down, married the love of his life, and had two beautiful children [whom are both athletically inclined, and chips off the old block]. However, as an School Administrator he worked taxing hours, and couldn’t spend quality time with his family, so he left the field altogether and took a stab at Real Estate. That didn’t work out.
“In 2008, I became a realtor. I crashed. I should’ve been an investor, but I became a realtor. I started Remnant Investment, LLC and I transitioned it into Remnant Fitness,” he says. “The one thing I learned is that people have to believe you. When I was a realtor, nobody believed me. They just didn’t, and I couldn’t understand the reason because I was the same person, educated, charismatic, but nobody believed me. I didn’t know that it wasn’t my calling. I didn’t know that Real Estate wasn’t a passion of mines. I had to do some soul searching and dig down deeper… ‘What would I do for free if nobody paid me any money?’ I knew it would be fitness and sports.
'When I first started, my trainees were my family. I trained my friends for free. I always invited them to the gym to workout with me. I learned a lot from doing that.”
Henderson agrees that his undergrad degree in Physical Education helped with the transitions. After getting feedback from an old college buddy, Henderson was on his way to changing lives after getting his LLC for Remnant Fitness.
"One of the biggest things that I want people to know about me, and to know about themselves is that they shouldn't be afraid to fail. My whole goal this past year was to fail three times, majorly, in front of people. My live streaming subscription [YouTube] was a failure. I thought I was going to hit China,” Henderson chuckled, thinking back over 2018. "It was a failure. The things that I wanted to happen quickly, those things failed. I grew in failure. I don't get too high or too low."
There are trainers everywhere from social media to your local gym. Each trainer brings a certain credibility to the table. Henderson is standout because he has background in sports. He’s the peoples champ when it comes to sports. He also has compassion for the multitude as well.
“I didn’t realize it, but I was training people when I was a teenager. I always kept someone around because I wanted to show them how to do something. I’m a physical person. That’s my love language, that’s my gift. I guess that’s the teacher in me that’s wanting to show them and wanting to help them. I’m a people person and I enjoy inspiring people. I use the platform of health and wellness.”
Entrepreneurs rarely break into the markets that they choose because they are afraid of asking for their worth. Sadly, Henderson agrees that it was easier to ask for friendships than it was to ask for business; however, he wittingly changed that and became liberated, creating an effective brand that people wanted. He established a need for his services, and the rest is pure divinity.
He got his first paying client in 2010. Henderson went overboard to provide incomparable services because he wanted to leave a lasting impression while using the motto, “Clients should get more than they give”
“I wanted them to understand that their life had to change within that training,” he says. “I wanted to help them within that training and not six weeks from that. I had to learn to pace myself and alter my expectations. It was good. They enjoyed me. “
Once Henderson established pricing, he met clients where they were, and within their budgets.
“I always market the personal training with budgets. Do you have a chef? Do You have a butler? Do you have a driver? Do you have a personal trainer? These are all high-level amenities. These aren’t necessities. I created an outlet where I can train the masses for a more reasonable price.”
The health and wellness trainer conduct one-on-one sessions, and mini boot camps, where he allocates his time weekly instructing strength and conditioning classes. For the worker-bees that can’t enlist during the week, he’s at 3400 Beatties Ford Rd at 7:30 am on Saturdays. The price is ten dollars. Anyone can join. Henderson will still instruct even if participants can’t recompense. “I’m there anyway,” he says.
On Tuesdays, he’s at Dowd YMCA on 400 E Morehead St, Charlotte, NC 28202. These classes are free to members-only.
“I consider myself a functional, movement, trainer, like cross training. That’s when you take several different training/exercises and go back-to-back. That’s been successful in sculpting your body, losing weight and getting in better shape.”
The green-eyed giant said that he works with all types of clients, but he doesn’t override what their doctors says. “We can make modifications for people who have heart disease and cancer patients as well.”
Henderson is passion led, but if he hit the lottery today, he’d come back tomorrow.
“I’ll be back Tuesday, but my hours may change,” he laughed. “I’d still be doing what I do. It’s in me to help people to exercise. It’s in me to spread that word about health and wellness. It’s changed my life. When you have something great, you don’t want to keep it to yourself. You want to share it with other people.”
He’s an open memoir when talking about his journey, the things that scare him as well as the things that motivate him to be the best that he can be.
“There’s a gentleman named Terrel Danzey, who came to see me when he was 26-years-old. He probably weighed 225 or 230 pounds. He’s about 5 feet 11. He’s a good looking young man. I always tease him about his double chin. He had a nice body frame, so I knew it would be an easy fix. He thought it was over for him. I knew he was young and healthy. I also knew that he would be able to cut the weight. He dropped down from 225 to about 180 pounds within a couple months. He changed his eating habits and the way he looked at life. He credits me— This is not me crediting myself. He credits me for helping him get focused with things that were important to him in life. He started back going to church. He quit the liquor company he was working for at the time. He would throw huge parties with his corporate connections. He quit that and started working for the YMCA. He changed his lifestyle. He’s now an entrepreneur. That was probably the most gratifying experience that I was able to be part of. Till this day, we are the best of friends.
There is this other client that I’m working with. She came in weighing about maybe 235 pounds. She’s 5 feet and 5 inches. I’m about 207 pounds at 6 feet and 2 inches. She’s done everything that I’ve asked of her. She works out with me about three times a week. I told her that every time she goes to the gym when she travels, she must burn 500 calories. She is on the elliptical treadmill, weights, and she changed her eating habits as well. She juices. In the first couple of months, she lost over 30 pounds. She’s competitive with herself. We’ve finished the first stage, and now we are on stage two. She’s my age. Just seeing her transformation... I think the ah ha moment for me was when she weighed in and her weight was less than mine."
Henderson is engulfed with gratification when his clients reach their goals. It’s hard to break habits, so when his clients dedicate themselves and they incur the results that they are looking for, that’s rewarding to him.
Recently, Henderson moved his model for Remnant Fitness into government contracts and cooperate wellness.
“My company just got vetted a couple of months ago, locally, state and federal government, to win some of these contracts. Being a contractor kind of puts you higher on the totem pole and that’s where Remnant Fitness is.”
Henderson places family above all else—He sets realistic expectations while prospering.
“Fatherhood supersedes everything I do as far as business or people. If my kids have a game out of town, we won’t have boot camp. If they have a game or practice, we’re taking them to practice. It adds flexibility into being owner and operator. I can build my schedule around them.
This journey keeps me on my knees a lot. It keeps me humble. There will be a need that I have for my company or personally, [and] I’ll pray about it with belief. I just ask that God meet the needs of my household and He's never let me down. It’s a challenge because the natural is saying, ‘The numbers don’t look good this month,’ but the supernatural belief is God will never let you down. Wanting things to happen faster than what they are, that’s been the biggest challenge. I’m from New York, so I want things right now, but things don’t happen like that. Everything happens at its appointed time. I’m slowing down and continuing to grow and develop myself.
'I think God gives me many different talents. I believe I’m just using a facet of my talents now. I would love to be a philanthropist where I see needs around the world, and I get to help meet those needs. I did a mission trip to Kenya and Ethiopia. The water situation wasn’t good in Kenya. I was part of a medical mission's team that aided a health care."
The worldly assignments were eye opening for sure, but the humanizing trek wasn’t the only shock factor that Henderson experienced.
“Prostate cancer runs in my family,” he says, while reflecting on unnerving experiences that even he wouldn’t be able to predict. “My uncle had it. My grandfather had it later in life. I’ve never had a health issue. I’m accustomed to going to the doctor and being told that I’m in phenomenal shape. I was getting my prostate checked early when I was 35. This had to be divine intervention when I got it checked. I turned 42, and he told me that there was an issue. He said that my prostate felt funny. My doctor put me on meds because he said it might be a viral infection. However, even after medication my numbers continued to climb. There is a number where you should stay in your range from 2.2 to 5.5. Mines started at 2.7 and it jumped to 3.5 within a year. Even after my doctor prescribed me the medication, my range jumped again to 3.7. I was referred to a specialist. After canceling and rescheduling the biopsy, I got the diagnosis… I had prostate cancer.”
About 1 out of 9 men will catch prostate cancer in his lifetime. According to the American Cancer Society, prostate cancer develops mainly in older men and in African-American men with most cases being in men above the age of 65.
“We talked about several options, but I had to fly outside the country and have this procedure done. The prognosis was a 90 % chance that I would have no side effects. The insurance didn’t cover it either. I flew to Mexico to get the procedure. I walked in with cancer and I walked out cancer free. I couldn’t tell before I had it, and I can’t tell now. It refocused me. I stopped waiting for the perfect timing to do things. Now, I do it. If not now, when? Think about it, my dad died at 42, I got prostate cancer at 42. Now, I’m here.”
Henderson launched the 90 for 90 Challenge. It’s a fitness campaign where he shares his fitness journey live, while encouraging others do the same.
The Facebook live will kick off January 1, 2019 and will run until March 31, 2019.
“I do the 90 for 90 challenges each year. This will be my 8th year. Basically, it’s taking 90 people for 90 days and challenging them to eat clean—Whatever clean looks like to you. You know what eating dirty is. There is no sugar, fried food or processed food. Eat clean and I’m going to help people out a little more with that. Exercise every day for 90 days until it becomes a habit. You don’t have to follow me. You create your own journey whether it’s going to the gym or getting a personal trainer, walking every day or starting with groups at work. I’m going to give tips, and while you shop for foods, I will suggest organics brands for your dishes. I’m going to micromanage a little more. Newcomers, get on the boat!
'When I started the journey, I was addicted to ice cream. I was up to one pint per night of ice cream. I almost ate two pints a night. I love Ben & Jerry's, Cherry Garcia. I love everything that everyone else loves, but I love myself more," he said. "I'm a lean person anyway, but I lost weight. I lost body fat. My numbers at the doctor’s office was a little high like my sugar and my cholesterol, and now it’s perfect."
Three points:
Eat clean
Exercise for 90 days.
Read something that’s inspirational to you
"I’d rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I am not."
Catch Henderson the first Friday of each month on V101.9 WBAV with Janine Davis as they discuss health, wellness and lifestyle changes.
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