Relatable Fitness is happy to feature different people from around the country that motivates and inspires us Pinoy to jumpstart that road to a healthier and fitter you. And we are glad to have reached an additional 2,000+ Facebook fans and Instagram followers in less than a month, which proves that we’re actually building a base of people who wants to get fitter and better, like you!
So up next in our #PinoyFitspiration is this guy who have been making rounds in the social media these past few weeks, including being featured at When in Manila and Elite Readers, being referred to as #HarambetoHaramBAE. Meet Hanz Rainier Arias.
Hanz! Before we get through this quick interview, I’d like to personally congratulate you with the achievement you got from all that hardwork. What was your path into fitness? And how did you become interested in it?
I was introduced to fitness and health awareness by my cousin, Kirk Kierulf. He was really the person who motivated me and helped me in my weight loss journey.
You just lost 65lbs in just a year and that’s pretty amazing. What is your biggest motivation?
My biggest motivation back then was simply losing weight. Whenever I see myself getting lighter each week on the weighing scale, it triggers me to become more hungry (to achieve even more) and driven as it made me get closer and closer to my goal. My secret for being consistent is to always show up at the gym even at times you don’t feel like it because the truth is, exercising can be boring for some but if you have a goal in mind, nothing stops you from attaining it. You must always insert exercise as part of your daily routine.
Can you take us a bit to your training routine? What is it like?
I go to the gym 5 times a week. And after each session, I follow it up with a 30-60 minute cardio workout. On rest days, I try not to remain static. I do this by playing basketball for 2-3 hours or jogging for 10 kilometers. It may sound grueling but once your body adjusts to it, sisiw na lang ‘yan. Haha.
Can you tell us your top 3 favorite exercises at the moment and what do you love about them?
My top three would be bench press, deadlift and bodyweight exercises, or more specifically, pull ups and dips. I love bench pressing and dead lifting since it’s a compound exercise, meaning it engages a lot of muscle groups. It’s like hitting 2 birds with 1 stone, or even 3 or more birds for that matter. Haha. I also love pull ups and dips since these are the indicators that I’m getting much stronger. Starting out before, I could only do 1-2 reps of pull ups or dips. Today, I’m proud to be able to do 20 reps for 3 sets!
In your own opinion, how many hours for a guy would it require for a normal workout and how many times a week to lose weight at an optimum rate?
Workout sessions differ with each individual. Since my goal was to build muscle while losing weight, my workouts usually last from 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours. That includes weightlifting and cardio already. But if your sole goal is losing weight, a 30-minute intense cardio (boxing, sprinting, cycling, swimming, etc.) or a 60 minute jog would be fine.
What’s your take on nutrition? Do you count calories? Any sample diet you’d like to share?
I once read an article that stated, “Weight loss is 80 percent diet and 20 percent exercise”. True enough, diet is really the greater factor considered when losing weight. By eating healthier foods, you can cut more calories as compared to eating unhealthy ones.
#RelatableFitness Question: Do you still allow yourself to have cheat days? If you do, what are your favorite foods you allow yourself to indulge in?
Yes, I still do allow myself to have cheat days. I indulge myself with anything that I want to eat for that day like burgers, lamb, beef, any high protein foods.
Any supplements you’d like to share with our readers?
I only take whey protein shake and amino acid tablets before and after workout.
What are your current fitness goals right now knowing that you’ve gone fit and fab through all the hard work the past few months?
Right now, it is to improve my current body and to share my fitness experience and tips to other people so they can also achieve their goals when it comes to fitness. I want to let everyone know that nothing is impossible if you really work hard for it.
Before we end this interview, what’s your recommendation on how to get the ball rolling with working out, eating healthier, looking better?
Just be yourself, do what is right for you and don’t listen to other people who intentionally pull you down. EAT right, be MOTIVATED and DISCIPLINED.
Any shout outs / parting words / fitness quotes you live on by?
I would like to thank my cousin, Kirk Kierulf for challenging me into this journey and for getting me to be passionate with what I do. To my family who always supports me with everything I want to do, to my friends that keeps me motivated and to push myself to the limit and to all my brothers and sisters in iron, I Salute you guys!
I want to inspire people I want someone to look at me and say “BECAUSE OF YOU I DIDN’T GIVE UP” – Arnold Schwarzenegger
Hanz’ Final Tips
1. Track your daily calorie intake
2. Track your weekly progress
3. Sunday is cheat day!
4. PATIENCE.
1. Tracking one’s calorie intake varies with every person. Basing from an article I found online, in order to lose weight, you have to consume less than your daily caloric maintenance. So for me, whose goal is to lose weight, I was required to integrate some Math into my diet. (Don’t worry, it’s just basic! And that’s coming from someone who HATES Math and barely passed it in high school and college LOL.) So the formula for one’s caloric intake is: 16 x (Your current weight) – 500. SEE. EASYYY! When i first started, my daily caloric intake was 16 cals x 225 pounds – 500 cals = 3, 100 calories per day. As long as I was not exceeding this number of calories per day, I was basically losing weight. (And you just adjust every week as you continue to lose weight.)
2. Tracking weekly progress. Small things in the long run can yield to BIG RESULTS. Every week, I would monitor the amount of weight I lost. Imagine losing 1-2 pounds per week (and that’s average). In a month, that’s 4-8 pounds of fat. To help you in visualizing how HUGE this is, I HIGHLY recommend you watch this video:
3. Sunday is cheat day. Yes, go forth and enjoy thyself!
4. Stay patient and trust your journey. There will be a lot of challenges along the way, but in the end, it will all be worth it.
Read more about his viral post through here. You may also ask away by following / contacting Hanz through the following:
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hanzkiboy
- Instagram: https://twitter.com/hanzkiboy
More fitspirations for you this week! Cheers yo!
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