This profile of Camila Ramón is part of Street Meet, FLEETSTREET’s series, where we meet up with trailblazers and thought leaders to deliver unique insight and inspiration into issues we all care about.
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With all due respect to Peloton instructors, their motivational mantras at the end of a cycling, strength, row, barre class (I’m asleep by the end of meditation ones) are much too late. I appreciate the energy I need to pull my tired-ass self off my mat (yes, I sit there, even after machine workouts). But it’s before the workouts that I need Peloton instructors in my earbuds. And thankfully, on World Running Day on June 3rd, I met cycling, treadmill and strength-training instructor Camila Ramón. And she agreed to be our (yes, you too!) motivator for all our excuses.
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What makes Camila Ramón so motivating?
“I’m a hype girl,” she says without hesitation. She describes herself as always being this way, always encouraging her girlfriends and even her husband before they dated. At her high school in Miami, she walked past Luciano Reinoso and mentioned he should join the cross-country team. He signed up that day. “He didn’t tell me that until after we were married,” she exclaimed. “So I motivated him first.”
They also realize that there’s a fourth “person” in their marriage – the third is their rescue mini goldendoodle Rex. It’s movement.
“We have good camaraderie,” she tells me before she’s about to motivate a roomful of people to run. “It comes from a place of both being athletes. We like to motivate each other, and it works for us in such a great way. He’s very supportive of the time that I need to train outside of work. And I’m also very understanding when he needs to do jiu jitsu for five hours and come back with a busted eyeball for the 11th time.”
“I motivate through passion and positivity. I care about every person in my class. I teach you to push boundaries. I want you to discover your strength, and after class, I want you to feel like you can take on anything!”
— Camila Ramón, onepeloton.com
During a workout, “I’m going to push you, I’m going to distract you, but I’m going to make you feel really good,” she says, adding that she had a “terrible relationship” with her body in high school and college. So having optimism and a positive influence motivates her, too. “Selfishly, I get the highest level of fulfillment when I know that a person leaves my class feels better, feels good.”
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Check out Ramón’s tips for fighting through every excuse.
Excuse: “The couch is so comfy!”
“F- – k with the couch. Like, are we staying on the couch? It’s going to be there 30 minutes later.”
Excuse: “But I’m bloated.”
“B—ch me, too. Let’s go! You’re going to feel well. First off, what did you eat? Because if you know you have to work out, then pay attention to what you’re eating beforehand.” Also, “It’s OK. You can take it a little bit easier today, if you’re feeling, like you know, uneasy. But try to find some like soft movement. Or instead of doing the high-intensity interval [HIIT] workout you wanted, pick something a little bit more low-impact. And tomorrow pay attention to what you’re consuming, so you don’t feel bloated and feel like there’s food stuck in your esophagus at 5:30 when you know your workout is at 6. No one told you to have that croqueta at 5 p.m.”
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Excuse: “I’m tired. It’s been a really rough week.”
“Do you need an emotional day off? Because that’s valid, too. You’re allowed to take that. OK, so if you need to give yourself grace today, give yourself grace. But if you know you’ll feel better on the other side of it, which I personally know that you will, go for it. There are days when we just need a day off, and I take those too. And if that’s your day today, great. But tomorrow’s not going to be that day.
Excuse: “I’m sore from yesterday’s workout.”
“Do something that’s lower impact, if you can. If you’re sore from yesterday’s workout, you can do a low-impact ride. You can hit up a yoga session, which is still going to be muscularly challenging, but it’s going to elongate your muscles and make you feel better with a little bit more recovery. Yes, you can go on a lighter jog rather than an intense run, or you can focus on a different body part if you’re training strength.
“You want to flush some blood into your legs, get that blood flowing, and make sure that you stretch. I wouldn’t recommend foam rolling when your body is really sore. You’re going to hate me.”
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Excuse: “I’m hungover.”
“I’m hungover – that’s my fault. You’re going to be all right. That’s self-inflicted, right? So, honestly, hydrate. Drink water. And it depends on how hungover you are. I have to make sure I don’t say the incorrect thing that’s going to harm people, but, yeah, get up and do the f–king workout, and make sure you hydrate.”
Excuse: “I registered for a race, but I’m not where I need to be, so I should just give up. I can’t do it.”
“You can always walk and run. But if you feel like you’re going to injure yourself, don’t do it. If you feel like you can walk-run it and still feel happy about it, do it.
“I love race energy. Period. So, I will always take advantage of any opportunity I can to get out there. I also know the dangers of running a race untrained, so you want to make sure that you’re not going to get injured.
“But if you’re feeling good, and you can hold back without pushing yourself, especially if you feel you haven’t followed your training plan at all – not smart – walk, run it. If you feel like it’s too much, you can always hop out of the race and just hit it up next time. But if you honestly did the majority of your training, chances are you’ll probably be OK. You might not hit the exact race that you wanted, but you’re still going to get out there. It’s going to be so much fun. Just have fun.
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Excuse: “I don’t have enough time to work out.”
“Yes, you do. We’re all scrolling on TikTok for 30 f–cking minutes every day, so you have enough time. Put a chicken breast in the air fryer, and then go do a 20-minute workout.
“We have 10-minute workouts, and that even helps with your consistency, so you’re able to build it over time. And if you don’t skip the workout, even if it’s 10 minutes, then you’ll be more likely to do it tomorrow.”
Excuse: “All my clothes are in the laundry.”
“I don’t care, you’re in your house anyway. That’s the beauty of Peloton. You can literally work out naked if you want to.
“I always say that, yeah, I’m looking cute right now [on your Peloton screen] because I’m at work. There’s thousands of you guys watching these classes, but if I’m at home, I’m in my f–king PJs. Legit.”
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Excuse: “I just don’t want to.”
“OK, hear me out. The thing about movement and working out is that you have to do it for the rest of your life, because it’s like brushing our hair, taking a shower. It’s a part of your hygiene. It’s a part of your overall health. And when we stop looking at it as something temporary and we start looking at it for longevity and as something that we need to do to take care of ourselves, it makes it easier for you to opt into it without feeling guilty or feeling the need that you have to overstructure your entire routine.
“So maybe if you don’t want to today, that’s fine. But at least give me three days a week where you’re consistently training. That gives you a lot of days off, if you think about it.”