Amanda Bisk is a Former Pole Vaulter who was inspired to take up Fitness and Yoga to lead a healthy lifestyle. From here began her journey into the world of professional fitness and exercise which made her achieve over a 500,000 followers on Instagram and other platforms. Lets take a look at how it all began.
In 2011, it had been six months since Amanda had competed for Australia in the women’s pole vault at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India. She soon began to train for the London Olympics in order to realize her dream of becoming an Olympic Athlete. Then came the turning point of her life, when she was diagnosed with chronic fatigue.
Despite of all the obstacles, Amanda being the fighter that she is she never let her spirits down and soon began practicing yoga and started moving towards leading a healthier and fitter lifestyle.
Her Simple Mantra to Success in Life is: “Never stop making your life what you want it to be. LEARN, LEAD and LOVE your own journey”.
Amanda Bisk is an exceptionally talented and accomplished Fitness Expert with the following qualifications:
Graduate Diploma in Exercise Rehabilitation – The University Of Western Australia
Bachelor of Science (Exercise and Sport Science) – Edith Cowan University – Western Australia
Personal Training + Exercise Rehabilitation
Qualified Level 3 IAAF Advanced Events Coach (Pole Vault) – Athletics Australia
Certificate 4 in Sport Development – Central Institute of Technology – Western Australia
Certificate 3 in Fitness – Central Institute of Technology – Western Australia
Yoga Teacher
Cross Fit Coach – CrossFit Sydney
Amanda Bisk Shares her Spectacular Transformation Story in a Candid Interview with Namita Nayyar, President Women Fitness.
Ms. Namita Nayyar: You have been interested in fitness and sports from an early age. You began practicing pole-vaulting sport in 2005. You were Australian Pole Vaulter at World University Games 2009 and Commonwealth Games 2010. You were also a high jumper and a gymnast. Later you were encouraged & motivated to take professionally fitness as your career. You reached the pinnacle of success on being a leading Exercise Physiologist, Elite Athletics Coach, Qualified Yoga Instructor and Fitness Expert. Tell us about your journey that took you to the world of fitness?
Ms. Amanda Bisk: My journey in sport and fitness all started when my dad took me to my first gymnastics class when I was 3 years old. Ever since that first class, I fell in love with moving my body and just being active.
Over the years I have jumped and changed from so many different sports and professions in the fitness industry. The one thing that it has taught me is that there is not just one way to be active and fit. Exercise should be something we enjoy and it is up to us to be creative and explore ways to move our body. It is important to change up our exercise routine to keep it exciting, something we WANT to do everyday. It’s ok to love the gym one month, then move to running, or soccer, or yoga, or hiking, hiit, or a combination of a lot of different things. Life changes constantly and so should our fitness!
Ms. Namita Nayyar: How has your educational background of Graduate Diploma in Exercise Rehabilitation – University of Western Australia and Bachelor of Science (Exercise and Sport Science) – Edith Cowan University been a catalyst in your present profession of being a fitness expert and fitness trainer?
Ms. Amanda Bisk: Education has always been so important to me. Ever since I was a little girl my dad always reminded me how important it was to learn as much as I could from the world around me and to do my best in school.
My degrees were a huge achievement for me because I knew I wanted to be a well-educated professional in my field. Working in health and fitness means you are dealing with people, and especially dealing with individuals. Every person is different, their situation is unique, and of course the human body is hugely complex. It is so important to have a good understanding of how and why things happen in the body, especially when you are prescribing exercise and health techniques to others. I want to make sure I can pass on the most sound, well researched practices and advice that I can; so I’m forever striving to know my field and I keep learning every day.
Ms. Namita Nayyar: What is your motivation to take a multi-faceted personality of a exercise physiologist, elite athletics coach, qualified yoga instructor, fitness model, fitness trainer, fitness writer, nutritional expert and an online fitness trainer?
Ms. Amanda Bisk: Health is multi-faceted, so I want to be able to approach it in that way. I think that is why I have never stuck to just one fitness job for a long period of time. When I started teaching people, I started to notice that to have control of your health and well-being it wasn’t just about one aspect, like exercising everyday. It was about how you approach your lifestyle from every angle. Exercising with correct technique, eating well, recovering, being mentally healthy, dealing with stress, being motivated, understanding exercise routine, building a supportive environment…everything!
Ms. Namita Nayyar: Share your exercise routine that you do to maintain such a bikini perfect physique?
Ms. Amanda Bisk: My exercise routine changes all the time. I travel a lot and have a very busy schedule so it is all about making my exercise fit into my daily life. I am also a big fan of variety in my exercise because I get bored easily!
From Monday to Friday I train twice a day but only for 20 minutes at a time (morning and afternoon). I usually do a 20 min HIIT circuit in the morning using body weight exercises and then a 20 min sprint session or running in the afternoon. I love fast paced, explosive workouts that you can do anywhere (like at a park or even a hotel room) so most of my workouts don’t use equipment. Each evening I also stretch and practice yoga at home for 30 min-1 hour before I go to bed.
On Saturdays, I try to do something different, like surfing, gymnastics, bike riding, tennis, hiking, a walk with my friend, or a fitness class then on Sunday I have recovery day where I only do gentle yoga and stretching.
I created a fitness program called Fresh Body Fit Mind, which is an exact replica of my training schedule. It is based on short but incredibly effective 20 minute workouts that are really great to fit into a busy lifestyle. FBFM includes hundreds of exercises I use from day to day and a training schedule that is focused around variety and sustainable workouts.
Ms. Namita Nayyar: What is your diet? Do you take a particular fixed regulated diet comprising of nutrients and vitamins to keep you in perfect health?
Ms. Amanda Bisk: I am a vegetarian. I have been eating this way for a year now and ever since I changed I noticed many things with my health improved (better skin, more energy, sleeping better, better digestion etc).
I always believe in eating a diet full of wholefoods (little or no processing) with as much variety as possible. All of my meals are based around fresh fruit and vegetables with a portion of carbs and protein to support all of the exercise I do. Because I am vegetarian I also try to boost my portions of foods that contain protein, iron and B vitamins (like beans and lentils, eggs, chia, tofu, spirulina, leafy green vegetables).
Water is also a huge part of the way I eat. I try to drink throughout the day and I also have a big glass of water when I wake up, and before every meal or snack. Dehydration makes our bodies send off hunger signals, even if we are not hungry! Water also aids in digestion, clears your skin, and boosts your energy.
My Day On A Plate:
BREAKFAST:
2 poached eggs on 2 slices of good quality toast with half an avocado.
Long black coffee with a dash of soy milk.
LUNCH:
Chia pudding (made by adding 3 tablespoons of chia to 1 cup of soy milk overnight)
Topped with granola, bran, nuts, and seeds
Fruit Salad
DINNER:
Mexican Lettuce burritos:
Vegetarian Chilli Con Carne: Kidney beans, chick peas, broccoli, carrot, mushroom, capsicum, tomato, onion, spinach, zucchini, all diced and cooked in a pan with Mexican spices.
Homemade guacamole (avocado, squeeze of lemon, salt and pepper)
Salsa (tomato, cucumber, onion finely diced)
Greek Yoghurt
Use a lettuce leaf instead of a burrito tortilla and stuff it full of the above ingredients!
DESSERT:
2 or 3 squares of dark chocolate
Fruit
Ms. Namita Nayyar: You have glowing skin and gorgeous hair. Do you take some kind of skin treatment to keep it young and glowing and secondly what you do to your hair to make them look so stunning?
Ms. Amanda Bisk: Thank you! Healthy hair and skin all starts with diet. I know that if I eat fresh and healthy foods it will show through on the outside. I have this really great book at home called the ‘A-Z of nutrients’ and it tells you which foods contain certain nutrients that help your hair, nails, muscles, recovery, skin…its so great for giving you a good understanding about how important it is to eat right. I also use Biotherm products as part of my daily skincare routine. It’s important to have a consistent skincare regime that suits your skin and lifestyle. I like to cleanse well (especially after a sweaty workout) and then use a good moisturizer to put all the goodness back in.
Ms. Namita Nayyar: You have done many photo shoots and shown your spectacular chiseled physique. What advice do you wish to give to the women of today to be body confident in order to do such fitness modeling?
Ms. Amanda Bisk: I think body confidence comes with knowing you are doing the best you can for your body. Its never about how you look, its about what you do and how you feel. I see so many beautiful, healthy and confident women and they all look different…tall, short, lanky, strong, curvy. But they know that they workout everyday, or they prepare healthy meals for themselves, they are a good healthy example to their kids, or they can now do 10 push ups after months of training. Confidence is knowing you are doing your best.
Ms. Namita Nayyar: Advice and motivational words to the inspiring and budding fitness modelling girls who all are your fans and shall like to know from you for their climb to ladder of success in field of fitness modelling?
Ms. Amanda Bisk: Stay true to you and your passion. Never feel like you have to look like someone else or do what they are doing. If you stick to what you believe in and the true person you are it can only lead you in the right direction.
Ms. Namita Nayyar: Tell us more about your 12 Week workout plan you offer online at www.amandabisk.com/freshbodyfitmind/?
Ms. Amanda Bisk: I developed Fresh Body Fit Mind around my super effective twice a day training method. 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the evening. There are 12 weeks of workouts with every day planned out for you, from high intensity body weight circuits, cardio sessions, test workouts, and recovery sessions.
I am a huge believer of variety in your training so every day of FBFM is different, you never repeat workouts, and there are over 100 exercises throughout the program that constantly keep pushing your body to get results. The great thing is you’ll never get bored!!
We also have an amazing online community where you can chat to people all over the world who are also doing FBFM. You can ask questions, get support, share your journey, and even meet people in your city that want to workout!
Ms. Namita Nayyar: Would you like to elaborate upon your life story on how you conquered over Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)?
Ms. Amanda Bisk: I was diagnosed with CFS in early 2011. I was training for the London Olympics at the time and it was something that instantly stopped me in my tracks and flipped my world upside down. I retired from athletics and felt like I had no purpose in life, I couldn’t even function during the day I was just so tired and unwell all the time. It was the lowest point in my life and I just never knew if I was going to make it out.
In mid 2011 my doctor prescribed me anti depressants (used to help with some of the symptoms of CFS). This was the turning point for me. I knew that if I started taking them it would be a downhill battle with constant medications so I decided to throw them in the bin, and try to heal myself on my own.
For me overcoming Chronic Fatigue was about being more in tune with myself and understanding what my body and mind needed. I saw a psychologist, did meditation, acupuncture, researched about nutrition and started to eat better, saw a chiropractor, a naturopath, removed stressors and negative energies from my life, in short, I made an effort to try as many things as I could that might help. I think many of the things I tried added to my healing and I definitely learnt things about myself along the way..
One of the most important things I found on this journey was yoga. As a person who holds onto a lot of stress, pressure, and self-expectation on themselves, yoga is a way I break that all down. It’s my time to tune into my body and mind and actually understand how I am feeling.
It was a 4-year journey coming back from my lowest point. Chronic Fatigue doesn’t have a cure; you can only manage the symptoms so I know I will be living with it for the rest of my life. I know that the most important thing for me is to know when to slow down and to stay in tune with what my body and mind needs.
Ms. Namita Nayyar: With an audience of over 562k followers on your Instagram account @amandabisk has made you a social media sensation and an internet leading star. Tell us more about this internet craze phenomena and how does it feel that you do influence healthy lifestyle of so many individuals??
Ms. Amanda Bisk: Instagram has really transformed the way the world connects and communicates. It has given us the opportunity to not only share our lives with the world but also connect with people who have the same passions and dreams. Suddenly, we aren’t limited to the immediate environment around us; we can make friends and find inspiration from anywhere and anyone in the world.
When I first started sharing posts on Instagram I just wanted to create a positive space, somewhere to share my passion for living a happy and healthy life. I feel incredibly blessed for every single follower that has tuned in to my feed. They are a huge inspiration to me and I am continuously amazed by all of the positive energy and supportive comments.
Fitness and health is my life, and I am so grateful to be able to share what I have learnt over the years with so many people. I think social media can be a very powerful way to create and inspire positive change in the world.
Ms. Namita Nayyar: What you wish to say about the website Womenfitness.net and message for its visitors?
Ms. Amanda Bisk: It is such a great resource for women to make informed decisions about their health and active life.
To know more about Amanda Bisk, check out: http://www.amandabisk.com/
To get all the latest news follow her on her Social Networks:
- https://www.instagram.com/amandabisk/?hl=en
- https://www.facebook.com/amandabiskfitness/
- https://twitter.com/amanda_bisk?lang=en
Women Fitness Team thanks Amanda Bisk for giving us her valuable time for this interview and quenching the thirst of her fans to know more about her and making this interview happen.