Widely regarded as one of the very best international war reporters, Trey Yingst is the Chief Foreign Correspondent for FOX News. The 31-year-old says he has a passion for relaying information in a way that tells the stories of the people on the ground rather than pushing a one-sided political agenda. His work to bring us testimony and pictures from some of the world’s most unstable locations cannot be underestimated in it’s importance.
But for Yingst, each day presents a very real risk to his own health and safety. Fortunately, as an agile journalist who loved to play rugby in high school, Yingst believes that a love of staying in shape is one of the key factors for performing his job at such an exceptionally high level. And, in this exclusive interview with M&F, reveals how he navigates himself though it all.
Trey Yingst is Always Go, Go, Go
Prior to the Isreal-Hamas war, Yingst had spent the last several years reporting on conflicts in the Ukraine and has therefor bounced around between cities such like Kyiv and Tel Aviv. His solid reputation has been hard-earned through grit and determination, securing unprecedented access to many stories by embedding himself alongside soldiers and focussing on the undeniable toll that war takes from the human race.
As I log on for our Zoom interview, the internet connection is more than a little sketchy, and Yingst is in one of his familiar off-duty environments—a hotel room, living out of a suitcase and ready to go to a new location at a moments’ notice. I wonder how does such a demanding lifestyle square with trying to stay fit and healthy? “To maintain a workout routine while you are in war zones requires discipline, and consistency,” explains Yingst. Here’s how it works:
Trey Yingst Sees Exercise as Non-Negotiable
Yingst often finds himself in a no-frills hotel where there’s no gym to speak of but on those days, he never skips a workout but rather opts to workout from his room. “Sometimes I’m doing pushups and situps in my hotel room, and when there is a gym available, like the hotel that we are in right now in Tel Aviv, I go to the gym in the morning or in the evening, and when I have time, go on a run just to stay fit and to stay in that routine so that I’m keeping my fitness goals high, but, maybe not as consistent as if I was working out in a time of peace,” he shares.
With safety always in mind, Yingst understands that readying himself physically, whenever he can, could have lifesaving consequences. “… I really like the quote that’s often used for soldiers but I think [is apt] for war correspondents as well,” he says. “It’s ‘to train during peace so that you bleed less during war.”
Running and endurance building is essential in a war reporter’s line of work, especially when oftentimes, he is wearing a heavy flat jacket and helmet.”
When there are natural breaks between putting stories together, Yingst and his crew love to mix it up with some team sports. Recently they have been playing a lot of basketball. Yingst is of the ethos that if constant exercise is what it takes to perform his craft at the highest level, then he’s all in. “As much as we like to train, to channel energy, it can be nice to have a social aspect to working out,” he enthuses.
Trey Yingst’s Nutritional Routine
Those who work with Yingst have a little fun with him because they already know that if a chicken and rice based dish is available on their travels, then that will absolutely be his first choice since he likes to eat clean, healthy foods..
“The difficult and challenging part is in the early days of a conflict, like this war that we are covering right now or the early days of Ukraine, you don’t always have such a variety of food to choose from and so you are forced to eat basically whatever there is, and sometimes to only eat certain times of the day because that’s all of the food that you have access too, and so I find that to be incredibly challenging,” he says. “And, as anyone who is in the gym consistently knows, if you get out of your routine it can be challenging to get back in.”
Then there’s the critical subject of staying hydrated. “When you go into different environments in normal life, you think that having a bottle of water with you is enough, but when you are in the back of an armored personnel carrier headed into the Gaza Strip, on a hot day, wearing a flat jacket and a helmet, you sweat so much you don’t realize you have to be drinking water the whole time,” he explains.
To that end, a member of Yingst’s team is assigned to make sure that there’s plenty of water being ingested. That person is a former Australian soldier who served in the middle east, says Yingst. It’s an example of the type of comradery going on behind the scenes that few viewers consider. It’s seriously difficult to keep food and water to the correct rhythm when dodging a heavy firing assault, “but life continues, and so does the work,” says the committed reporter.
Trey Yingst Relies on Journaling to Maintain His Mental Health
“I always assume that the places I am reporting from are going to be dangerous,” says Yingst, explaining how diligently he and his crew must prepare for every news reel that they create.
In his new book, Black Saturday, Yingst and the team will take the reader inside the harrowing events of October 7, 2023, and the ensuing war between Isreal and Hamas. Tragically, chaos and violence continues to this day. Through raw footage and personal testimony, Black Saturday illustrates the brutal realities of war; from the moment the first rockets were launched by Hamas through to Israel’s devastating ground invasion of the Gaza strip. For those who cover events like this, and bring these important pictures home, being so close to such pain requires a mental fortitude that is perhaps impossible for many of us to comprehend. One of the ways that Yingst has found helpful to put his mind in a positive place is through the practice of journaling.
“For me, I like to both take notes on what I am doing, and sometimes it doesn’t have to look like a traditional diary…sometimes it can be a list of bullet points,” explains the reporter. “Just things you want to remember, or things you want to get out of your mind on to paper. And then coupling that with photos has really helped me to recall certain moments, sometimes in a very positive way, being able to reflect when I was really proud of the work that I was doing at FOX, in the field, reporting on the front lines, leading our international coverage around the world. Other times, it just comes down to being organized. I want to remember what I did today, and what I need to do tomorrow.”
Yingst says that making lists is a great way to journal: putting things down digitally or on paper for goal setting or for reflection. “My approach to this, is getting things out of the mind,” he shares. “Because if you ever feel anxiety, or you ever feel like a cluttered mind, you’ve got so much going on, I think the best solution in any aspect of life, whether it’s personal or professional is to get things down on paper on one, singular list… and that way to you just have one thing to remember: the list!”
Black Saturday, in which Trey Yingst gives his gripping first account of one of the most nuanced and bloody conflicts in history is available to purchase via Amazon!
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