Henrico Louw, the newly appointed Strength and Conditioning Trainer at KeNako Academy has spent the better part of the last 20 years composing a career within the sport and fitness industry. Being an avid sportsman himself and always being fascinated with the physical and mental requirements of becoming a high-performance athlete, there was never any doubt that Henrico would end up transforming his passion into a career. The journey commenced in 1999 when Henrico joined Virgin Active as a Fitness Instructor while studying towards becoming a qualified Exercise Specialist and Sports Conditioning Trainer.
This eventually led to a 10-year employment relationship at Virgin Active where Henrico fulfilled many different roles including that of a Fitness Manager, a Club General Manager, and a Regional Fitness Manager. In 2009 Henrico decided to expand his career aspirations from climbing the corporate ladder into entrepreneurship and enterprise, when he became the Regional Director for ETA (Exercise Teachers Academy), where he was tasked with setting up and establishing successful tertiary education campuses in both George and Gqeberha (previously known as Port Elizabeth).
The role as Regional Director at ETA exposed Henrico to numerous sport federations in and around the South Western Districts and Eastern Cape regions. This network provided him the privilege to moonlight as a High Performance and Personal Development consultant for well-known establishments like SARPA (South African Rugby Players Association), SSISA (Sport Science Institute of South Africa), DCAS (Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport), and SACA (South African Cricketers Association) between 2009 until 2021.
Self-development, lifelong learning, and ongoing personal development have always been part of Henrico’s DNA, which is why he is currently in the process of completing his Master’s Degree in Psychology. Understanding the mental development of the athlete in complementing the physical, is a way for him to improve on his knowledge base, where he can ensure that world trends and best practice is adhered to when working with athletes and clients.
