Meet Katz Salao, new ‘Gameplan’ host

Katz Salao was your typical athletic child. She started as a gymnast at 4 years old, and soon went on to pursue ballet, taekwondo, volleyball, and cheerleading. But her glorious days ended when she entered college.

“I always had a team with me to push me, to be good, to be better. And then I got to college and I was alone, so I just stopped everything. No one’s there to tell me what to do, to tell me to do more push-ups or run farther, stay stronger. I was probably in my worst shape ever,” she shared.

Katz always promised herself that she’d get the best beach body every year. And every year, she would fail.

“One day, I just woke up and I looked at myself and I was like: ‘If you’re not going to be the best version of you right now, when are you going to do it?’” she said.

Since then, she started working out on her own and posting them on Facebook.

“I knew I was going to get people judging and looking. But I also knew that there’s always gonna be people who are going to be supportive. And that’s all I needed. I just needed support,” she said.

After years of having a love-hate relationship with fitness and exercise, Katz tried her hand at becoming a certified spinning instructor and Nike Training Club trainer. From inspiring other people through her Facebook posts, she now takes a spot on the podium to push people toward their fitness goals.

“I was so scared because I had not been teaching anyone for so long, but what kept pushing me was knowing that there will be people who arrive and they’re going to feel good about themselves,” she said.

Being one of the newest Gameplan hosts, Katz is eager to reach out to more people and encourage them to try something new.

“Gameplan is going to be a platform, a way for me to inspire people to try things. Knowing that someone out there, hopefully at least one, saw one episode or just a snippet, and felt better about themselves and tried something new…that would be the best feeling ever,” she said. – Rappler.com