A little motivation goes a long way and you can totally depend on Hydris Wajiuddin for that if you follow him on Instagram religiously. Trainer to some renowned names from the entertainment industry such as Syra Shahroz, Shahroz Sabzwari, Anoushey Ashraf, Nausheen Shah, HSY and many others, he is upping the ante with a vision to make fitness accessible to everyone.
His studio ‘Hydro Fit Team’ is his labour of love, a result of his 8 years of struggle and a representation of his fitness philosophy. HTV gets in conversation with the trainer about his fitness mantra, favourite cheat meal and important nutritional elements for a fit body.
1. How do you start your day? A morning ritual or habit you have?
I wake up at 6:45am everyday. The first thing I do is have a glass of water, and then I get ready for a busy day of work ahead of me with a healthy breakfast of oats and protein shake.
2. A thought or motto you live by?
Well, it’s quite simple! Never give up and No Pain, No Gain.
3. How did your fitness journey start?
I’ve always been a sportsman, I was always good at sports in school and used to go for running, swimming, badminton daily. Growing up I also competed in swimming nationals and because of that I had to hit the gym everyday to train and to get my muscles stronger. That was when I found my passion: fitness!
Although training myself was a huge part of it but on the other hand the pleasure I got helping others achieve their fitness goals made me fall in love with training. It’s been eight years now that I’ve been training and five years since I started my professional journey as a fitness trainer.
4. If you could describe your fitness mantra in a line, what would it be?
You have 24 hours, I’m not asking you to give two to three hours a day, even if you can workout for 15 minutes, DO IT. Always keep trying!
5. Can we eat whatever we want and still stay in shape?
If I say yes, that’ll be very wrong of me so I can’t say that, 80% of the process is what you eat and 20% is what you do at the gym. If you’re giving 20 minutes to 45 minutes everyday to the gym, and the rest you’re eating and resting that’s wrong. You have to look at what you’re eating but I’ll never say starving yourself will ever work. No, I’ll never starve myself, but I eat the right thing, and the right quality and quantity.
6. What are the best exercises to do at home if you can’t go to the gym?
Planks, Push-ups, Squats, Jumping-Jacks, High-Knees, Mountain Climber.
7. How is training men and women different? Can both follow the same fitness strategies?
Actually it’s not even men and women, every person that comes to me has a different kind of body, a different kind of chemistry, so every individual requires tailored work-out and a tailored diet, so it depends person to person.
8. What according to you are best foods to consume before and after workout?
Before workout I’d say eat something which gives you energy like good carbs (banana, date etc.). After workout I’d definitely recommend high-protein diet (chicken, fish, eggs etc.) for muscle recovery. Look at at this way; before your work out it’s all about energy and after it’s all about protein rich foods for recovery.
9. Favourite place for a cheat meal?
Easy by Fatso.
10. What kind of exercises do you recommend to beginners?
A lot of cardio, a lot of strength training, a lot of compound exercises like snatches, squats, planks. These are some basic exercises everyone should start off with.
11. What mistakes do you generally find people making in the gym?
Two things I have noticed a lot, women think that by lifting weights they’ll become huge. It is a huge myth jbtw. And men think by lifting more weight they’ll get into shape which is very wrong. It is all about the form and how you do it and how you diet, there’s nothing to do with how much you lift.
12. Favourite song to work out to?
Wow hmm, I’ve got so many. Black Coffee these days for sure.
13. Key foods or nutritional elements you think are vital to achieve your fitness goals?
As I said, when it comes to protein, go for chicken, eggs, beef and fish. For carbs, opt for oat meal, brown rice, brown bread. For fiber, make sure you take fruits and vegetables. Your diet should be balanced, you can’t just have protein or carbs, there should be a little bit of everything.
14. Where do you see yourself in the next five years?
I own one studio right now, I hope to open more and spread my love for fitness not just via my clients but through informative medium like the television or a YouTube channel. I want to be reachable to everyone in the next 5 years.
15. Celebrity or personality you’d love to train?
Alhamdulilah! touching wood while I say I have trained almost everyone I could have dreamed of in Karachi. *blessed*
16. Your all-time fitness crush and someone you look up to?
My fitness crush or someone I look up to is Bradley Martyn and definitely Julian Smith.
17. Any words of advice for your followers?
There is no tomorrow when it comes to training, it’s either now or never! Even if it’s for 15 minutes, pick yourself up and hit the gym or play any kind of sport, just burn your calories. You have to bring your heart beat up, you can not afford to be lazy.
