400km of running outdoors a month, every month. Clocking this high mileage consistently is not for anybody, really. But for Terengganu-born Ridwan Mustafa – host of Selamat Pagi Malaysia, deejay and an adidas Runners creator – this is the distance he runs every month because of his love for running, keeping fit and looking good on screen.
Even in the current Movement Control Order (MCO) conditions, he is still motivated to maintain his fitness with home-based workouts. In fact, he spreads this positivity by constantly going live on Instagram to inspire others with exercises that can be done in a very limited space, with minimal equipment and is fun! This means Tabata or High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) workouts at home.
Looking at his chiselled figure today, it is to imagine that 10 years ago, he weighed 42kg more. Running is the key driver in his weight loss journey, en route to some seriously fast marathon timings. To maintain good health, Ridwan eats in moderation, drink lots of plain water, and eat fruits and vegetables on a daily basis. No fancy diets; just have less sugar, less oil and less salt in meals.
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Having a high level of discipline, a good training regime and a balanced diet has reaped results for Ridwan. His personal best (PB) marathon timing is 3h 16 mins clocked at his memorable race that was the Berlin Marathon in 2016. In that same year, he also completed Tokyo and Chicago marathons. His dream is to next complete New York, London and Boston marathons so that he can get his hands on that 6-star World Marathon Majors (WMM) medal.
Being on this running journey for 10 years now, Ridwan has some two pieces of advice for newbie runners. Firstly, he is a strong advocate that for runners to improve their running, they would need to do non-running training, including body strength exercises.
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Secondly, runners should do research on running and fitness and then plan accordingly to match their lifestyle and wallet. He has seen too many newbie runners blindly following fashion and trends, and waste monies unnecessarily on gears, apparel and diet.
In this year, Ridwan looks forward to run the Kuala Lumpur Standard Chartered marathon (still on schedule at this point of writing) and perhaps another one in Australia or New Zealand. But well, with the MCO, he is contented to be working out at home listening to Coldplay, Calum Scott and Lady Gaga.
For home workout motivation, do check out Ridwan’s Instagram account linked below.
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https://www.instagram.com/p/B-djhadAWwP/
