Anyone who pops into The Brick every now and then cannot miss this energetic, friendly guy! With a great dose of enthusiasm, Wout is ready every day to give the best of himself in both his training and for his clients! We are therefore pleased that you can get to know him a little better in the interview below!
Can you tell us a little more about your background? Especially sports related.
Wout : I have actually always played sports since I was little. When I was really young, I started with toddler gymnastics, but then I actually progressed to real tumbling and competitive gymnastics until I was about 16. But in that world you quickly end up with the elderly and then I switched to athletics. Because I thought I could run quite quickly, I quickly found what I wanted in athletics and was able to grow in a short time by being able to train within a very good team. After this he was Belgian champion in the 100M sprint a few times. And then also worked on the repayments as a team until I was about 24.
After this I actually continued training a bit and mainly just did strength training because I couldn't really give up sports after years of top sport. I just picked it up again and really started crossfit last year, more as a kind of follow-up to regular strength training. But I didn't expect it to be so contagious and that I would catch the bug so quickly and ultimately after one or two weeks I just started doing Crossfit full-on 4 or even 5 times a week. Especially underestimating how important the community is and in fact 5 out of 7 have been working on it since then. Also picked up more competitions because this is also a very large and fun part of the sport.
Are you very concerned with nutrition in your daily life?
Wout : Absolutely, especially because I am a personal trainer myself, so health is very important to me. Sports are important, but nutrition is just as important. People keep asking me what my training secret is, but there isn't really a secret other than focusing on your nutrition. In addition to your training, which only takes one to two hours a day, it is important to eat the rest of the day with proper nutrition, healthy food, especially food related to your sport. Of course, that is not the same for everyone. I certainly believe that you should focus on your nutrition in the right way.
In addition to nutrition, are you also working on supplements?
Wout : Definitely! It is certainly important to work on this as you may not get everything from your diet. I am thinking, for example, of minerals and electrolytes or simply extra proteins. Just an easy way to quickly get those right values every day.
You are now a Hydr8 Athlete! How do you feel about this and why did you join our story?
Wout : Yes! Well, because on the one hand I believe that the Belgian market for electrolytes in particular could become much more extensive. There is not yet a lot of knowledge among the population regarding electrolytes and I would really like to contribute to this together with Hydr8! Electrolytes are really necessary to function properly and optimally, both for someone who is involved in sports and in everyday life. I really wanted to get behind it because I strongly believe in the product and especially because I think the formulation is great! The formulation is really clean and has clearly been carefully considered. It is not just bringing yet another new product onto the market, but real thought has been given to working with the right Magnesium, for example. I also found all the knowledge behind this very nice, which is why I really want to support it 100%.
Where do you see Hydr8 in 5 years?
Wout : I hope for Hydr8 that it can really become THE electrolyte brand in Belgium, certainly, but also beyond! I am also considering an expansion of products, possibly including proteins with a similar quality of formulation such as the electrolytes. Is there a particular flavor you would like to see in our electrolyte range? Wout: Yes, I think sour apple or lemon-lime are always good flavors! But the Blueberry was also very innovative in taste for me! And especially the combination of sweet and salty! But I think from a taste point of view the field is really wide open!
