Last March, Rica Peralejo celebrated her 44th birthday by commuting via bike. The actress and host-turned-content creator has been actively promoting the benefits of having an active lifestyle on her social media accounts and continues to share her fitness activities like biking and running. Last July 10, Rica shared her thoughts after completing her most recent race this month.
In her Instagram post, she wrote about how getting into running has changed her life for the better. “Bib# 5545 must be the easiest race bib for me to remember. Apat na numbers lang eh! 😂 @runjustone thanks for keeping it simple! Also, thanks @vinisonreyes for the first three, last two I am not sure who took them but I really am so glad I found photos of myself where I an exhibiting the joy instead of the pain hahahaha! Seriously tho, running has made a happier person. And if you are someone who is looking for a race or run anytime soon, for whatever reason — to start a new thing or to try and to hit your new personal best then swipe till the end for :
YOU VERSUS YOU (July 20)
REV RUN (Aug 2; have a discount code for that too) @colorfestasia
MOMMY MILKSHAKE RUN (Aug 3, can bring your kids!!!) @mommymundo
See ya in at least one of them!”
In a previous post, Rica shared how running also led her to get into Pilates. WedMD describes Pilates as a type of exercise developed by a German named Joseph Pilates and “It highlights precise movements, controlled breathing, and muscle engagement, enhancing muscle tone and stability.”
Rica wrote, “Running has got me also running to my doctors every so often. An ache here, ache there. And their prescription almost always is not medicine, nor therapy, but Pilates. And I totally get it now. When I run, mechanics is huge. In my own words I would call it moving forward with such consistency and efficiency brought about by how well you carry and propel your body through given the speed and time. And this is only possible if you have the following:
CORE STRENGTH: center of gravity keeping everything line.
COORDINATION: neck not straining, chest open, shoulders above hips, arms swinging in right angle, knees driving, midfoot landing and not far out of the upper body— all happening at once 😂
ALIGNMENT: back not hunched, hips not protruding, head isn’t throwing back so on and so forth!
"And yes, all that Pilates addresses. Also in painfully slower pace and suspended moments where you have no choice but to do it in proper form or else you fail… When I am fast I barely notice where I am not aligned but in this practice, you have to face it and I am glad to because I know I can only run better if my body is more aligned and balanced. So ya, committing to this at least once a week! 🫶🏻”
READ: Rica Peralejo celebrates 44th birthday by bike commuting
It was in an interview in 2021 when Rica first shared her decision to start a more serious fitness journey and started getting into jump rope as a workout routine.
During her teen years, the former matinee idol revealed she used to be a heavy drinker and smoker but fully quit the vices when she turned 25. She also started doing a diet called the Baron Method to help manage her auto-immune disease known as Antiphospholipid Antibody Syndrome or APAS.
In one post on her X account last March, Rica shared, “Believe it or not but my condition, my hormonal imbalance today, began 31 years ago. When I subjected myself to a life of unnecessary and inappropriate stress as a 13-year-old. I have seen it in my older sister and I have seen it in myself, too, that the body, indeed, keeps the score. Nevertheless I am grateful that God has allowed me to discover fitness in my 40s, because without this, I would only be physiologically trapped in the past.”