Pedro Araújo is an athlete in the Men's Physique category who achieved excellent results this year in both the North Regional and the National Championship. …
Pedro made his debut on stage last year at the age of 21, when he came 11th in his category at the National Championship, but this year he took the stage again and this time won some titles.
He was the absolute champion of Men's Physique in the North Regional and in the National Championship, in addition to winning his category, he was also the absolute champion of Juniors.
Find out more about this athlete in this interview.
- Name: Pedro Araújo
- Age: 22
- Height: 1.80m
- Competition weight: 81kg
- Out-of-competition weight: 88kg
- National Championship 2015 – 11th up to 1.80m
- North Regional 2016 – Absolute Champion
- National Championship 2016 – Absolute Junior Champion
- National Championship 2016 – 1st place up to 1.82m
How and why did you start training?
From a very young age, the aesthetic and muscular physiques of some comic book heroes caught my attention, I greatly admired them and aspired to one day be able to resemble the record of a muscular, aesthetic body with visible definition.
However, over time I grew and at a certain point I felt that I could start taking the first steps to improve my physique, making it similar to some aesthetic references I already had at the time.
When I entered secondary school I met a colleague who was already training and decided to start training with him, but it was a year later, in 2011, having just turned 17, that I really started training seriously.
I signed up at a gym near my school and began to dedicate myself and focus on improving my results, researching more and more about training, nutrition and supplementation, trying to gather as much knowledge as possible from different sources. of information.
I was testing the trial/error method in order to achieve the desired physical shape and over time I became more and more demanding of myself, always raising the bar to higher levels, always looking for new challenges and imposing new fitness goals. way to get close to the shape you want.
What made you want to compete?
I think what led me to compete was the fact that I liked and took this lifestyle so seriously, that I was always looking for more within this environment, both in terms of information and results, which is why competition fascinates me.
It's not just for the simple fact of competing against other athletes, but also for the curiosity of living and knowing how to prepare, being able to learn and get to know our body better during this process and extract the maximum information from this experience.
Another reason why I decided to compete in the Men's Physique category was because I thought my body had some lines that fit the category's standard, the way I presented myself on stage and the whole concept of this new aspect of bodybuilding fascinated me. me because it is a category very focused on the aesthetics, balance and harmony of the male body.
What type of diet do you follow?
My diet varies depending on the phase and physical condition I am in, in any case I will leave here a little of what my day-to-day life is like in terms of nutrition, stressing that I never miss a meal and leave space for one once a week for a free meal when I find myself in the off-season.
- Meal 1
- 300ml egg whites
- 1 yolk
- 15 almonds
- OR
- 180g beef
- 1 egg
- 15 almonds
- Meal 2
- 200g Sweet Potato
- 200g Fish
- Meal 3
- 150g Basmati Rice
- 200g Chicken Breast
- Meal 4
- 150g Sweet Potato
- 180g Chicken Breast
- 15 almonds OR 20g peanut butter
- Meal 5
- 125g Basmati Rice
- 175g Beef
- Meal 6
- 300ml egg whites
- 2 egg yolks
- OR
- 60g Casein
- 20g peanut butter
What type of training do you follow?
As a rule, I train Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, leaving Wednesday and Sunday as rest days, which I sometimes take advantage of to do a cardio session and leave space to work on a group that I consider weaker.
When I set up my training I try to change it every two months, sometimes I separate the muscle groups by day as in the current training or I concentrate more groups on each day of the week.
I always have a base but I try not to always repeat the same training, I always look for compound and concentrated exercises for each group, I like super-series as well as compound series.
I look for a very slow eccentric phase at least in one of the exercises in each group, I also look for exercises that lead me to failure, exercises where the load is greater and I try to adapt the number of sets/repetitions depending on the objective.
Above all, I like to feel the pain, that I'm squeezing the muscle to the maximum, I love the feeling of finishing the training with the feeling of accomplishment and knowing that I gave everything I had to that training.
Weekly Planning
- Monday: Chest and calves
- Tuesday: Back and abdominals
- Wednesday: Cardio + 2 shoulder exercises
- Thursday: Legs
- Friday: Bicep and tricep
- Saturday: Back and shoulder
Training example – Back
- Elevations – 5 series x Failure
- Paddling Cavalinho? 4 sets x 15 repetitions + Dropset on the last
- Lat Pulldown ? 4 sets x 10 to 12 repetitions
- Unilateral rowing on the pulley? 3 sets x 10 repetitions
- Bench saw with dumbbell ? 3 sets x 10 repetitions
- Dead weight ? 3 sets x 6 repetitions (high load)
What are your 3 favorite exercises?
- Free squat
- Walking Lunges
- Lat Pulldown
Where does your motivation come from?
Motivation is a key element in everything we do in life to be able to do it successfully.
Every day I try to be motivated and focused as much as possible, we have to wake up and not be afraid of what is to come, we have to accept that pain in this process is our ally and above all feel pleasure where others fear to risk.
I often seek motivation from videos and photos of other reference athletes for me such as Felipe Franco, Sadik Hadzovic, Jason Poston, Jeremy Buendia or Anton Antipov.
Currently on social media where I share my day-to-day life I get a lot of motivation, not only by sharing with other people, where my goal is to show and motivate those who see it, but also by receiving positive messages and feedback from my posts, This helps enormously and is always an extra motivation to our day.
Since I love training it's easy to stay motivated, and on bad days I can always count on the support of my training partners, just because I'm not motivated doesn't mean I'm going to stop training or miss a meal!
Furthermore, I always try to set goals for my goals and looking for results is what motivates me the most, I do everything I can to not miss a workout, not to miss a meal, a series and even a repetition.
I focus a lot on my objective, sometimes I isolate myself a little so as not to get distracted by something that could influence the results, I am very regimented in what I eat, what I drink and what I do during the day in order to always enhance my goals. my results as an athlete and person, and I always try to make the most of every moment, live one day at a time and feel the pleasure of this lifestyle that makes me feel great and good about myself.
Above all, keep in mind that things don’t happen without effort and dedication!
What supplements do you use?
I'm very basic when it comes to supplements, I like to have a good whey to have as an alternative to some meals or sometimes I like to include it in the diet.
It is a practical, complete source of protein and where we can get a sweeter flavor.
I also use a Multivitamin which I consider something super essential, Creatine, BCAA's powder during intra-workout, Glutamine post-workout and before bed and sometimes I like to use Tribulus.
Any tips in particular for those just starting out?
Don't give up at the first obstacle that appears, don't believe everything you read and tell you and don't expect results overnight.
Work for results, failing is part of the process, look for the best people to guide you and always look for the most worthy information, always fight until the end and never give up on your dream, if you have to give up, give up being weak!
In fact, better than reaching the goal is enjoying all the work until then, so be patient and persistent and the results will appear.
Goals for the future, what are they?
As for future goals, I'm still deciding what will be best for me, so that I can balance my entire life to face new challenges.
The latest titles won give me access to being able to compete outside the country, something that I really aspire to like any athlete, now it's up to me to make the choices that I think are the right ones to be able to move forward with confidence and security.
Follow this athlete on social media.
Instagram – @pedroaraujofitness
Snapchat: pedroaraujofit
Email: pedroaraujofitness@gmail.com
