A year ago, entertainer Riccardo Simonetti (26) got muscles. But he didn’t want to be another fitness influencer who makes the workout look easy and gives the impression that you can eat a huge breakfast buffet afterwards. His fans love him for his authenticity. FITBOOK met him for an interview.
At least since the blogger («The Fabulous Life of Ricci»), moderator and author was included in the «30 under 30» list of the German edition of the business magazine «Forbes» at the beginning of July, it has been clear: we have to keep Riccardo Simonetti on the screen to have. The 26-year-old is one of the most successful German influencers. Instagram is his favorite platform – and he sees it as part of his job to roll out his life there every day. In contrast to many other influencers, the Berliner by choice also shows himself outside of his comfort zone: for example when working excessively on his dream body. «People should see that I sweat and sometimes cry and have to overcome myself,» says Riccardo in an interview with FITBOOK.
Everyone should see his passion for training
That’s why, after almost every workout, he posts Insta-Stories in short film length that show him during intensive training sessions in the gym: Riccardo with dumbbells, on the pull-up bar, on the treadmill… always with a strawberry-red pear, at the limit of his strength, sometimes smiling, sometimes dancing , sometimes with a lot of anger on their faces. He is usually filmed by an old FITBOOK acquaintance: personal trainer Erik Jäger, with whom Riccardo has been training between five and six times a week since September 2018.
«I had no idea»
The moment that triggered his fitness desire was a cinema premiere last year where he saw himself on the screen. «I found myself bloated. At the same time, my biceps were thinner than my forearm.” Friends would have made fun of it. It couldn’t go on like this, he realized that at that moment. So the trigger for wanting to change something was there – just behind the “As?“ Riccardo still had a huge question mark. “I was super focused in all areas of my life. Only then I had no idea. I thought Caesar Salad was sane. And in the gym I stopped when I started sweating.”
Nothing goes below 100 percent for him
As soon as he had decided on the body transformation, only this one question rattled in his head: «What if I train for an hour every day?» From 0 to 100, that may sound exaggerated – and for a goal that actually doomed to fail. But anyone who knows Riccardo knows about his particular ambition, which he can impose on any project that comes his way. He revealed to FITBOOK where this ambition came from: Even as a young man, it was clear to him that he had to work hard to make it into the celebrity world he had always dreamed of: “I knew that my life it sucks if I can’t do it.” So Riccardo decided early on to always give 100 percent. That also applies to the Hammerbody project.
«I’m working on the best version of myself,» he puts it with no little pathos. Actually a platitude. But in the subtext one reads: This is my very first time doing this too and it’s as hard as it looks. But if I can do it, anyone can do it. His fans love him for this authenticity.
Also interesting: fitness queen Pamela Reif: «I’ve never showered in the gym!»
5 kilos tumble in the first 3 weeks
In September 2018, Riccardo started his “fit, healthy body” project. He brings personal trainer Erik Jäger to his side, who works out an individual training plan for him. When it comes to nutrition, Erik asks him to stick to three simple rules, because one hour of training a day can only be achieved if the groundwork is done. The rules are: eat three times a day; as low in sugar as possible; and sweets are linked to meals. If it has to be ice cream or chocolate, then by no means during the day, but only directly after lunch – this way the blood sugar level does not rise further. As a result, he lost five kilos in the first three weeks, says Riccardo.
The workout
First, personal trainer Erik focuses on Riccardo’s muscle building. The entertainer does up to six sessions a week (a day of regeneration should be enough), mostly at 7 a.m. Erik takes part in half of the training sessions, the 27-year-old completes the rest on his own. Jäger: «I divided the training into leg and strength training for the pressing muscles of the upper body: bench press, shoulder press, lateral raises, etc. Another session goes to the pulling muscles: rowing, lat pulldown, pull-ups, biceps curls, etc. Above that In addition, Riccardo does one cardio unit per week that works on the core muscles: running, planks, side planks, crunches…»
At the beginning of the year, after about five months, Erik switched to definition training: “Riccardo now does two to three endurance workouts a week, in which the entire body is involved. This circuit training gets your pulse really high. As a result, the burn is higher and there is a lot of sweating.”
Also interesting: The best exercises for a small waist with Erik Jäger
«Everyone wants to touch me!»
Over the past few months, Riccardo has learned to get results by building a nutritional awareness and making exercise an important part of his life. It helped him to design the sessions in such a way that he felt comfortable with them. In his case, that means pink workout clothes, Britney Spears, and a workout partner he always has fun with. But we still have to ask him one question: What’s going on now if you train for an hour every day, Riccardo? «In the first three weeks I lost five kilos, after that slowly built up (now) solid biceps. I already don’t have to worry about sucking in my stomach anymore. Everyone wants to touch me and compliment me!”
With others that may sound selfish – with Riccardo you can feel self-love. Because he has looked at himself and found answers to what he needs. You have to like him for that.