Amanda Doherty FitX Expo Interview

Amanda Doherty FitX Expo Interview

FitX Sport and Fitness Expo
BE Entertained
BE Inspired
GET Involved

FitX Sports and Fitness Expo 2013 will focus on Family, Fitness and Fun, with additions to the show to cater for all ages from kids to parents through to grandparents!

Last year's FitX Sports and Fitness expo exceeded record expectations with over 14,000 attendees across the weekend with queues reaching over 350m long (or the length of the Melbourne Exhibition Centre). This year's event promises to stand by their mantra of; BE Entertained, BE inspired and GET involved.

'We were overwhelmed with the popularity of the 2012 FitX event" comments Nina Grootz, Planning and Operations Manager FitX Australia 'We promised to deliver the biggest Sports and Fitness Expo this country had ever seen – and we did just that!"

This year, the bar has been raised and the event has more inclusions, more interactions and more reasons to head down.

'If you are interested in health and fitness, no matter what level; from beginners to pro, we have tailored this year's expo to cater for you."

The Wellness Centre is one of those additions that aims to provide an information hub to help educate people on all areas of the industry from; nutrition, rehabilitation, alternative, holistic and natural approaches to their health and wellbeing programs. 'At last year's expo we introduced an Experts Area that served as an information hub, answering peoples questions about various services available within the industry, this sparked an unprecedented response from attendees, in showing them how this industry can support people from all walks of life", comments Nina 'We encourage people to come down and spend 5 mins with a consultant in our, now, Experts Lane to discuss what would work best for them – a Naturopath, Physiotherapist or maybe a Nutritionist, or even speak to a Yoga or Pilates instructor to make an informed individual decision, and this is all FREE".

The Xtreme Zone makes sure the kids don't miss out! With world class BMX and Scooter Stunt Riders preforming throughout the weekend in the purpose built Xtreme Zone, this area guarantees thrills.

'We are so excited to be offering the Xtreme Zone this year and in addition to that, some of the best Skateboarders will be offering free beginner lessons to kids in 2 one hour sessions each day, this is an area parents can drop their kids off, knowing they are safe while they enjoy the rest of the expo!" Friday Night is Fight Night, new to the program this bringing together 8 of the world's best Thai Boxers from Australia and around the world all competing for the title of Champion. 'Hosted by the 9 times world Muay Thai Champion and Australia's greatest Thai boxer John Wayne Parr, the FitX Eliminator Fight will see Australia's first FitX Champion walk away wit the belt and $10,000 in prize money".

In addition to the new areas, FitX is thrilled to announce the following Superstars of Fitness attending the show including:
Long time Arm Wrestling Champion, John -The Legend' Brzenk. John has been an Arm Wrestling Champion for over 25 years and was the inspiration for Sylvester Stallone in the 1987 film -Over The Top'. There will be a challenge to attendees to try to beat him for a cash prize…

Former Norwegian Strongman, Svend Karlsen will be attending. Svend is recognised as the original Strong Man and is famed for his catch cry -Viking Power' yelled during competitions.
American Professional Bodybuilder, Ronnie Coleman is confirmed. Ronnie is an 8 x Mr. Olympia titleholder as well as the record for most wins as an IFBB professional.
Strongman Legend Derek Poundstone and the awesome Nick Best will compete along side other local and international strongmen in the Giants Live Tour, the only qualifier for the Worlds Strongest man in the southern hemisphere.
IFBB Miss Figure Olympia champion Erin Stern, Fitness Model and IFBB Pro Figure Champion Candice Lewis will be competing alongside Australia's very own mother of 4 Amanda Doherty for the Australian title.
Competing in the first ever IFBB Australian Pro Bikini Show will be IFBB Miss Bikini Olympia 2012 Nathalia Melo, IFBB Miss Bikini Olympia 2011 Nicole Nagrani and IFBB Bikini Star India Paulina.

Fit X Expo 2013 will also hold various competitions open to professional and public registration including:
IFBB Amateur Grand Prix
FitX Bench for Cash
FitX XFit Championship

With all this and much more being finalised, this year's event is bound to create an even bigger, better response and get more people involved!

FitX Sport and Fitness Expo 2013
When: Friday 8th, Saturday 9th, Sunday 10th March, 2013
Time: 5.30pm – 10pm Friday and 10am – 5pm Saturday and Sunday
Where: Melbourne Exhibition Centre
Tickets: Presale tickets available now from www.fitx.com.au/tickets. 1, 2 or 3 day passes available.

Interview with Amanda Doherty

Question: What are you looking forward to at the FitX Sports and Fitness Expo 2013?

Amanda Doherty: Being a mum of four gorgeous children I am really looking forward to having my kids there to see what their mum does because this will be the first time they've ever seen me compete. Secondly, I am looking forward to all the athletes, there will be five co-Aussie Figure Girls competing on the same day and that is phenomenal. We also have the beautiful international guests coming such as Miss Olympia Erin Stern, Candice Lewis and more amazing athletes. What is there not to like about FitX? I'm excited!

I want to see everybody at FitX which is on Friday 8th, Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th March, 2013. Please come down and support me.


Question: You're competing against Candice Lewis at FitX Sports and Fitness Expo, can you tell me what we can expect from this competition?

Amanda Doherty: All weekend at FitX there is something on, it's a major event. As far as the Professional Girls go there will be pre-judging and prior to that is the amateurs which are not to be missed as they're amazing athletes. You'll see international and home-grown athletes all together competing. On Saturday night we have the big Pro Show which is the finals of the Figure competition and we have the Pro Bodybuilding judging with the finals on stage. It's an action filled weekend. Saturday is the main day to attend if you want to see the competitions however there constantly something going on during the expo, it's so much fun!

I step on the main stage on Saturday at 2pm.


Question: What's a typical day of training like, for you?

Amanda Doherty: My alarm goes off at 4:30am every morning and I make myself a coffee and jump on my spin bike and spend an hour doing cardio and after I finish cardio I prepare my food for the day. I have to get the kids off to school and organise their lunchboxes, get them dressed in their uniforms and that sort of thing. If it's a day where I have a Nanny (I have a Nanny at the moment for two days a week) which is an absolute blessing then I can head to the gym and train. With my training I treat my body as a sculpture and I don't have a strict style of training. As I go week to week I assess my physique and I can look and see what I need to work on and back off on what may be developing too much. My workouts are never the same and they're always evolving which keeps it interesting and fun.


Question: What is a typical daily food diet for you?

Amanda Doherty: At the moment I love Steggles Mince or Grounded Turkey as it's low in fat, high in protein and tastes delicious. Turkey is a lovely sweet meat with amino acids that other proteins don't have and I really enjoy that. I also have oats, vegetables and salads. I increase and decrease carbs as I need them as well because your body changes daily.


Question: Did you meet your husband, Tony Doherty - from Doherty Gyms, during a workout?

Amanda Doherty: I met Tony when I was 15 years old, when I started weight training at his Bendigo gym however I didn't know him as such. We both moved to the city from Bendigo when I was 19 not knowing that we'd both moved from the country and we pumped into each other when I was doing modelling/promotion work and we had a little kiss and the rest is history…


Question: Has it made it easier to return to training with a supportive husband?

Amanda Doherty: Yes and no. Yes, he is fantastic and has a lot of knowledge but it's been difficult because Tony puts on the FitX event and that is a fulltime job and it puts a lot of strain on him. I am bugging him all the time about how I'm looking and if what I'm doing is right (laughs). He is stressed let alone listening to me about how I'm going and looking. We are a good team but I can't say it's been a walk in the park; it's been difficult but manageable. Four kids, five gyms, FitX – it is chaos!

Question: Why did you decide to re-enter the Fitness Modelling and Pro Body Building field?

Amanda Doherty: I decided to compete in Pro Figure because I always wanted to come back; it just had to be the right time. I always wanted to have a big family and at 27 I started having children and now my youngest is 3 years old I feel that it's my time to get a little bit of me back and get back on stage. I hope to inspire some other mums because it doesn't matter if you've had one or four kids you too can step back on stage and be body proud. You don't have to let yourself go and accept mediocre, I don't accept it. This is a lifestyle for me, I eat clean and I train regularly and this competition is an extension of that.


Question: Can you talk about the preparation you have to do, prior to a competition?

Amanda Doherty: Off season I have a little more body fat so I don't have to be as careful training, however perfect form is ideal, you can go a little bit heavier and push your body a little bit harder. Getting closer to competition you are a little bit leaner and it's a lot easier to become injured or pull a muscle and you don't want to do that close to a competition. Leading up to a competition the training is different.


Question: What do you children think about your career?

Amanda Doherty: Our kids have grown up in the gym and our son loves going there after school to wander around, on the weekend he does a workout including light weights because his 11 years old now and he loves it. Our other children are very active, they do ice-skating, nippers and swimming. I have very active kids and I'm sure that they'll want to do weight training when they get a little bit older too.


Question: What advice do you have for mothers who want to focus on their health and wellbeing after having children?

Amanda Doherty: I say go for it and don't hold back! Life's not a rehearsal and you've got to do what you want to do and do it now. If you have time to yourself as a mother and your happy then you'll have happy children and a happy family. I really believe that weight training is necessary as a mother because we're lifting things, loading dishwashers and vacuuming. It's important to do weight training especially for bone density. You don't have to compete but it's a great feeling to train, get in great shape and be body proud as well as being a parent at the same time.


Interview by Brooke Hunter