As a young boy growing up in Bujumbura, the Burundian capital, Arnaud King Habumugisha’s first love was the game of football. 

"My dream was never to be a model,” says the 24 year-old, who is today not only a renowned fashion and advertising model in Kigali, but also an actor and personal fitness trainer. 

As a fitness trainer, a calling that takes up most of his professional life, his work station is at the Waka fitness center, located in Kimihurura. 

He joined Waka Fitness as a fitness trainer just over a year ago, after moving from the Grand Legacy Hotel where he had had a short stint as a fitness instructor: 

"A fitness instructor stays in the gym showing people what to do and how to do it, while a personal trainer designs fitness programs for clients, recommends the best diet, and follows up on the client’s progress,” he explains. 

Before getting the fitness instructor job at the Grand Legacy Hotel, Habumugisha used to train his clients from their individual homes. 

Habumugisha had his early education (P1-P5) in Bujumbura, before his family relocated to Rwanda, from where he would continue with his education. 

He enrolled at Muhima Primary School for his primary six, before relocating to Gisozi Gasave, from where he completed his primary school. 

He then moved to Cyangugu for his O-Levels, but left in S3 to join St. Peter’s College Shogwe, in Gitarama. He finally wound up in Kigali (Ecole Technique Muhazi II, in Kimironko), where he studied automotive mechanics. 

Currently, he is pursuing a degree in Marketing at the University of Kigali (Kacyiru campus).

Football dreams quashed

By the time he moved to Rwanda from Bujumbura, Habumugisha was ten years old. Even then, he had already been playing third division football in Bujumbura. 

"My dream was to be a good football player and not a model. However at the time when I played football I also used to spare time for weight lifting and doing sit ups every once in a while. However, he hastens to add that this was not due to any ambitions he harbored for modeling. On the contrary, he explains, "I was crazy about getting a six pack and that was my main reason for working out.” 

Back at home, however, his strict parents did not warm up to the idea of their son building muscles:

"They thought that it would affect my normal growth,” he laments. 

His childhood dream to be a "good footballer” however suffered a huge setback when he fractured his knee while doing tests for first division football at Nyamirambo stadium.

Dark cloud, silver lining

"After breaking my knee, I went back to the gym to train. While at the gym, all the guys there were telling me I could make a good model. 

Slowly I started developing an interest in modeling and becoming a fitness trainer. My gym mate, a guy called Gary Shelay insisted that I was cut out for modeling like him. One day, he ‘hooked’ me up with Patrick Muhiire, the CEO of Inkanda, a local fashion house. At that time, Muhiire was preparing to host a fashion show. 

That was in early 2011, and it was to be his first ever go at the runway. The novice that he was, however, that first fashion show was a tough calling:

"I took part in it and it was tough for me. It was difficult to model on the runway in front of so many people watching you, and without the benefit of experience. I tried but it was tough. I would say I was good but not good enough,” he explains modestly. 

Shaky as that initial attempt was, however, he did not walk away empty-handed:

"After that fashion show I got an advertising contract with Mutzig beer to appear on their promotional flyers,” he explains proudly, adding that it was at that point he started to seriously consider modeling as a career option. 

At the time when he went for the fashion show, he was a fitness instructor at Seven Lakes Gym, which was his first ever job. He was also still a student, in S5. 

"I remember I would come from school at 1:30 pm, rest a little, then report for work at around 3:00 pm and work until 10:00 pm.”

He credits the appearance at the fashion show for emboldening him to quit his job at Seven Lakes Gym to concentrate on modeling. 

Habumugisha also worked briefly as chief of security at Sundowner and Papyrus night clubs during this time.

"While I was an instructor at Great Lakes Gym, I was also a bouncer at Papyrus. I was trying to make ends meet to see me through school because I was paying for myself from that time.”

As a fashion model, Habumugisha has attended different fashion shows in Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi. He attended the first, second and third editions of the Kigali Fashion Week, the Kampala Top Model boot camp for 2014, as well the Great Lakes Fashion week in Uganda in August 2014. In March this year, he attended the Umuringa Fashion Show in Bujumbura. 

He also took part in the first and second editions of the Rwanda Culture Fashion Show (2013, 2014), different fashion shows for Rwanda Clothing Store, the Rwanda Upgrade Fashion Show 2013, and the Summer Spring Fashion Show (2014, 2015).

At the Great Lakes Fashion in Uganda last year, he was spotted by Glamorous Models, a South African fashion house that showed interest in his work. 

"I sent them my portfolio and they liked it, so they gave me a contract.” Unfortunately the terms of the contract were not favorable to him, forcing him to drop it. 

"According to the contract, I had to pay my South African manager 30% commission, and also pay for my own accommodation. This was a new country I was moving to, where I knew nobody, so after considering all these factors and soul-searching, I decided to let go.”

As an actor, he has starred in a few Hillywood movie titles like Umuringa, and Anita (Pt II). 

He has also appeared on a billboard for Atlantis Bank, and on advertising frames for Bourbon Coffee.

On fitness

He contends that fitness "is all about keeping in shape.” 

"I do what is called over training so as to keep building lean muscles. I train very seriously, six days a week. I also control my diet by eating more vegetables and proteins than carbohydrates.” 

He also does a lot of weight lifting, including cardio-vascular drills, which he performs for thirty minutes every day. 

"For me, everyday means three hours of working out after I have attended to my clients. I also swim and jog a lot.” 

He reveals that his thickly muscled body is not down to the quantity of food he eats, but rather the quality: 

"What my body needs the most is proteins. I do not need to eat a lot, but to eat good food.” 

Habumugisha is lucky to have never really been victim to some of the most widely held negative stereotypes about modeling, especially male modeling:

"People have always appreciated and encouraged me in my work. Right from when I was starting out as a model, people always told me I was doing something good and that I should take it seriously. 

He believes that fitness "is not so much how you look, but how you feel”: 

"Each client usually has their own specific need. While some want to put on some weight, others want to become lean, while others want to build some muscle, and all these require different routines to attain. 

The world over, most people who seek out the services of a fitness trainer simply want to lose some weight and be fit.”

He says that in the world of fitness, "a lot depends on the commitment of the client and discipline as regards diet.

You can’t lose weight by continuing to eat junk food.”