Phillipa Ferreira
In just her first year as a fitness competitor, Phillipa Ferreira has already amassed a raft of titles including, the ICN Bikini Under 23 Australian Champion & ICN Bikini Open Champion. With this early success, Phillipa says the "fire has been lit" in her belly & she is setting her sights on even bigger goals.
"I want to get my pro-card in ICN. I'm putting it out there now, I'm going to get that this year. So watch this space," Phillipa told Pario while exuding confidence. She then went on to say her ultimate goal in the fitness world is to win Olympia, the premiere fitness competition in the world.
Prior to delving into the fitness competition world, Phillipa was no stranger to training, as she had been a professional dancer since the age of 13 years old. Something which she says brought with it some physical impediments that have made things a little more difficult for her, "I'm only 22 but I've already had a torn tricep, a fractured kneecap, bursitis in my other knee, & multiple broken toes."
While Phillipa had previously always approached training with the mindset of training hard she now looks at training as a job & pushes herself to train even harder.
"Now I treat myself as more of an athlete because I've realised that I only have 1 hour per day to change my body, so if I don't give everything to a session I'm only letting myself down. I always feel like if I'm not doing my best then there will be somebody else out there training harder than me & that one poor session could be the difference between a first or second place."
While the training is gruelling Phillipa told Pario that there is another aspect that is more challenging. That being her strict diet in the period leading into a competition because it can be "very socially isolating." Phillipa explained that during preparation her daily menu will have, "no sugar, no red meat, no dairy & no gluten for 14 weeks." It comes as no surprise then that she tends to splurge a little with her post-competition meals.
"After the nationals last year, I ate anything that was within reach for about three weeks, I just could not hold back."
Phillipa is now back in the preparation stage for the ICN National Titles on May 8.
You can track her journey on Instagram @phillipa_ferreira
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