Hi! My name is Riz: grad student, scientist and a (sorta) new fitness enthusiast. I wasn’t the sporty type in school, instead opting for a clarinet for 10 years. I didn’t start taking exercise seriously until my freshman year of undergrad where I joined and eventually became the president of the taekwondo club on campus. Between that and taking fitness classes every now and then I kept myself physically busy until I graduated. I moved to Philly, started pursuing a master’s degree and started a new chapter. Some point in that time things began changing with the bad having equal weight of the good. So I sought out things to do and joining a gym kept circling in my mind since moving to the city. 

Since joining RippedPHL it was a once a week class with spells of queasiness and wondering what in the world I was doing. One class became two with little sick-like side effects. Then it was three, four and even five classes a week with nothing but a drive to become the physical version of myself I’ve always wanted. I can run better for longer periods of time and can lift heavier weights than I did compared to just last month. While physical changes can be seen with the naked eye, my confidence in my body and self have started rising to the surface. I get Ripped because I want to improve my state of health and love my body a little more. It’s hard work and while I’m not close to my goals yet, the staff are an amazing group of people who are more than willing to help you achieve your goals. I can’t wait to start the new year off in the right direction and finally call myself ripped!