Moving for wellness

At a time when people are putting more value on health and wellness, much thought is given on how one can involve his or her fitness routine in his or her daily schedule. Such is the case of Edric Maguan, a real estate broker and a Spartan athlete.

Edric first joined the Spartan Race in Pampanga on February of this year.

Unlike the usual fun runs and marathons that most of us are familiar with, Spartan Race is a mix of trail running with several obstacles in between.

“We run on a trail and every few hundred meters, we face an obstacle that we have to complete,” explained Edric. “If we can’t complete it, we have to do 30 burpees which is also very tiring.  We just prefer if we can finish the obstacle.”

Spartan Race definitely tests one’s toughness and endurance physically and mentally especially since the obstacles involve mud, wall, rope and even barbed wire. “There’s a wide variety of obstacles,” he continued. “Some test your strength to carry objects, some test your pulling power, your [ability to carry your] body weight where you have to lift yourself up over a wall, for example.”

Each Spartan Race has three core events:  Sprint, Super and Beast. Edric joined the Super event which has 13 kilometers of trail running and over 24 obstacles.  On September, he is planning to join the Beast event with 21 kilometers of trail running with over 30 obstacles. Sounds even more daunting, but there’s actually a glimmer of excitement in his eyes the second he is asked about it.

Prior to joining Spartan Races, the 29-year-old has always been a regular at the gym, going to the gym after work or whenever his schedule permits.  For his first race, he trained for five months ahead of race day. “I trained cardio, lots of running, we also practiced the obstacles. There’s an obstacle course gym in Taguig so we would go there to practice the obstacles.”

It is therefore a must for Edric that his place of residence compliments his active life-style.  He hopes for a future home to have all the things that he needs on a daily basis. A nice environment that will fit his daily exercise routine is on top of his list.  He also wants a place where he  can travel to any point of the metro very easily.

“Right now, the current situation of Metro Manila is always traffic everywhere and kind of hard to move from one place to another, so ideally it would be great if I live in a place where I can do my gym workout and also run at the same time.  To make it more convenient so hopefully I won’t miss any day of going to work out because my goal really is to get better every day,” Edric said.

This is what attracted him to The Arton by Rockwell situated in Katipunan.  This 1.9-hectare high rise community is jointly being developed by Rockwell Land and Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd.

“For one, The Arton has all the amenities. They have a swimming pool, they have a jogging path to help fit my active lifestyle. On top of that, it is a great location because of the demographic of people living in the community and because it’s in the Katipunan area which is a very lively neighborhood,” he explained.

At The Arton, one is never out of options on how to maintain an active and healthy lifestyle, especially at The Arton’s newest building, The North Tower, which houses the fitness gym, function room (which can be converted to a yoga and dance studio)  and a 200-sqm pool.

Edric is also very fond of the area, having gone to University of the Philippines in Diliman for college. “It’s very familiar. I know it’s a great place, [there are] the restaurants there and lots of areas where you can hang out.”

As a real estate broker, Edric also believes in investing in The Arton.

“Based on my study of the area, it’s also getting bigger and bigger with the developments there,” he said. “The place is continuously growing and it has a lot of potential so I feel that The Arton is a good investment in terms of capital appreciation and maybe future rental income.  I think it’s a great place for an investment and to really grow into.”