Fond of nature and the great outdoors, Evox Nutrition-fuelled ambassador Willem Engelbrecht aims to use his influence and passion to motivate, uplift, and shape young minds.

As a kid, Willem showed promise as a gymnast and his coach constantly pointed out that his muscularity was ahead of his time.

Although he was always surrounded by those who motivated him, Willem’s twenties took a dark turn, leading to drug use and alcoholism.

It was then that he turned his life around, finding solace in what he loved doing most as a kid – spending time outdoors.

Getting closer to nature, Willem started finding more of himself. He started finding fulfilment by venturing outside and taking up hobbies such as river rafting, abseiling, bow-hunting, mountain biking and kayaking, to name just a few of his more adventurous pursuits.

Finding purpose

Realising all the wrong turns he made a youngster, Willem sought ways to right the wrongs of his past and turned his passions into purpose.

He has spent the past decade helping troubled youth as a youth worker for a local school and takes on youth development projects such as leadership talks, anti-drug and anti-bullying campaigns, and disciplinary intervention camps with high-risk pupils.

His mantra is, “if the body is healthy, the mind and soul will follow.” Willem has since founded the ‘Geared4Life’ organisation, which takes troubled youth on outdoor excursions to introduce them to positive alternatives in the form of outdoor activities and adventuring.

Willem believes that being told to “take care of your body, it’s the only one you have” during a motivational talk at school was the best advice he ever received. He now seeks to constantly re-enforce this underlying principle in his role as a youth counsellor in the hope of having the same impact on other kids.

Athlete stats

  • Lives: Pretoria
  • Qualifications: Diplomas in Logistic Management, Business Management and Personal Training
  • Occupation: Entrepreneur, youth worker, sports conditioning coach
  • Height: 1,77m
  • Weight: 90kg
  • Competitive achievements: Finishing 3 consecutive Sani2C Mountain bike stage races
  • Sponsor: Evox Nutrition

Holistic development

Willem believes that fitness is more than just excelling in one aspect of life. It’s about using one aspect to better yourself in another – creating a domino effect that results in a more well-rounded, healthier, and happier you.

“Balance, to me, means to live out all your passions, and not have any of them dominate your lifestyle.”

While gym and resistance training is a regular feature in his weekly schedule, Willem makes time for all his other passions too – hunting, mountain biking, touch rugby with the boys, and his faith.

Willem backs up this active lifestyle with solid nutrition. Being in the health and fitness community, Willem emphasises the need to eat according to your goals. Whether that is reducing calories for weight loss, or focusing on macronutrient timing for better performance, different goals require different methods.

Like everything else in his life, Willem finds pleasure in the simple things with his meal prep. He spends two evenings a week in the kitchen preparing his staple meals. He includes as much whole food as possible, restricting, but not completely eliminating, ‘junk’ foods such as fast and processed foods.

Willem’s typical grocery essentials include lean mince, chicken breasts, eggs, basmati rice and mixed veg.

General Diet:

  • Breakfast: 80 – 100g oats, a serving of Evox Synergy Whey protein, and mixed berries. On the side, he enjoys 4 eggs (2 whole and 2 whites only).
  • Snack time: A can of tuna, low-fat mayo and rye cracker bread.
  • Lunch: Sweet potato and chicken breasts
  • Post-workout: 1 serving of Evox Synergy Protein
  • Dinner: 200g steak and a green salad

Fuelled for victory

Willem supports his approach to healthful eating with well-formulated supplements. Fuelled by Evox for the past two years, Willem has no doubt that his performance levels have increased now that he is able to tick all the boxes in terms of his supplement stack.

When tackling the outdoors, Willem never heads outside without Evox Energy Oats bars in his backpack.

Willem’s daily supplement stack includes:

Ultimately, Willem’s greatest ambition in life is to leave a legacy that has a positive impact on the world long after he is gone and can’t physically do so himself. His work with the youth is a testament to this, using fitness and his love for the outdoors to change the lives of troubled youth one adventure at a time.

Quick facts

  • Most challenging exercises? Squats, dumbbell rows, assault bike.
  • Favourite exercises? Tricep extensions and leg extensions
  • Favourite cheat meal? Double chicken fillet burger with mayo and cheese or a Romans pizza
  • What do you do to relax? Camping next to the riverside, hammock between 2 trees and fishing rods in the water.
  • What’s in your gym bag? Ear pods, pre-workout, water bottle, wallet.
  • Favourite motivational quote? ‘Be the person you needed when you where younger’.

Connect with Willem: