Pedro Araújo is an athlete of the Men's Physique category who has collected excellent ratings this year both in the North Regional and in the National Championship.
Pedro debuted on stage last year at the age of 21, when he got the 11th place in his category at the National Championship, but this year he returned to the stage 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 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 to 1.80m
- North Region 2016 - Absolute Champion
- National Championship 2016 – Junior Absolute Champion
- National Championship 2016 – 1st place up to 1.82m
How and why did you start training?
Since I was very young, the aesthetic and muscular physiques of some comic book heroes caught my attention, I admired a lot and aspired to one day be able to resemble the register 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 started high school I met a colleague who was already training and I decided to start training with him, but it was a year later, in 2011 just turned 17, that I really started training in earnest.
I signed up at a gym close to my school and started to dedicate myself and focus on trying to maximize 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 with myself, always raising the bar to higher levels, always looking for new challenges and imposing new goals of way to get close to the shape you wanted.
What made you want to compete?
I think that what led me to compete was the fact that I like and take this lifestyle so seriously, to always look for more within this medium, both in terms of information and results, that's 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 extracting as much information as possible from that experience.
Another of the reasons why I decided to compete in the Men's Physique category was because I thought my body had some lines that fit the standard of the category, the way of presentation on stage and the whole concept of this new aspect of bodybuilding fascinated me. me for the fact that it is a category very focused on the aesthetics, balance and harmony of the male body.
What kind of food do you follow?
My diet varies according to the phase and physical condition in which I find myself, in any case I will leave here a little of my daily life in terms of food, stressing that I never miss any meal and leave space for one once a week for a free meal when I find myself in the off-season.
- Meal 1
- 300ml clear
- 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 clear
- 2 gems
- OR
- 60g Casein
- 20g peanut butter
What kind of training do you follow?
As a rule, I train on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, leaving Wednesday and Sunday as a rest day that I sometimes take advantage of to do a cardio session and leave space to work with a group that I consider weaker.
When I set up my workouts I try to change every two months, sometimes I separate the muscle groups all by days like in the current workout or I concentrate more groups on each day of the week.
I always have a base but I try not to repeat the same training every time, I always look for compound and concentrated exercises for each group, I like to super-series as well as composite series.
I look for a very slow eccentric phase in at least 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 goal.
Above all I like to feel the pain, that I'm squeezing the muscle to the maximum, I love the feeling of finishing the workout with the feeling of accomplishment and knowing that I gave everything I had for that workout.
Weekly Planning
- Monday: Chest and Calfs
- Tuesday: Back and abs
- Wednesday: Cardio + 2 shoulder exercises
- Thursday: Legs
- Friday: Bicep and tricep
- Saturday: Back and shoulder
Training example – Back
- Elevations – 5 sets x Failure
- Horse paddling? 4 sets x 15 reps + Dropset on the last
- Lat Pulldown ? 4 sets x 10 to 12 reps
- One-sided rowing on the pulley? 3 sets x 10 reps
- Hacksaw on the bench with Halter ? 3 sets x 10 reps
- Dead weight ? 3 sets x 6 reps (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 the pain in this process is our ally and above all feel pleasure where others are afraid to risk.
I often look for motivation from videos and photos of other reference athletes for me like Felipe Franco, Sadik Hadzovic, Jason Poston, Jeremy Buendia or Anton Antipov.
Currently on social networks where I share my day-to-day, I look for a lot of motivation, not only for sharing with other people, where my goal is to show and motivate those who see, but also for receiving messages and positive feedback from my posts, this is a huge help 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, it's not because I'm not motivated that I'm not going to stop training or miss a meal!
Besides that I always try to set goals for my goals and looking for results is what motivates me the most, I do everything not to miss a workout, not to miss a meal, a series and even a repetition.
I focus a lot on my goal, sometimes I isolate myself a little so as not to be distracted by something that might influence the results, I am quite ruled on what I eat, what I drink and what I do during the day in order to always enhance the results. 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 without effort and dedication, things don't happen!
What supplements do you use?
I'm very basic about supplements, I like to have a good whey to have as an alternative to some meals or sometimes I like to include it in my diet.
It is a practical source of protein, complete and where we can get a sweeter taste.
I also use a Multivitamin which I consider to be super essential, Creatine, BCAA's intra-workout powder, Glutamine in the post-workout and before bedtime and sometimes I like to use Tribulus.
Any tips in particular for those just starting out?
Don't give up on the first hurdle that comes your way, don't believe everything you read and tell you and don't expect overnight results.
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 to the end and never give up on your dream, if you want to give up, give up on being weak!
In fact, better than reaching the goal is to enjoy all the work until then, so be patient and persistent that the results appear.
Goals for the future, what are they?
As for future goals, I'm still deciding what will be best for me, in order to be able to reconcile my whole life to face new challenges.
The last titles won give me access to be able to compete abroad, something I really aspire to like any athlete, now it's up to me to make the choices I think are the right ones to be able to move forward confidently and securely.
Follow this athlete on social media.
Instagram – @pedroaraujofitness
Snapchat: pedroaraujofit
Email: pedroaraujofitness@gmail.com
