Meet Amanda Bisk

Maddie 0:00

My next guest is a qualified exercise physiologist, a former Australian pole vaulter who competed at the highest level her sport demands. A fitness creator and a movement educator whose philosophy has quietly changed the way thousands of women think about their bodies. What she has built is not just a fitness program. It's a different story about movement entirely. One built on care rather than criticism, on strength as a feeling rather than a look, and on the radical idea that your body deserves to be treated well, not because of what it produces, but simply because it's yours. As a client, I can tell you from personal experience that she cares deeply about how a woman feels in her own body. And I cannot think of a better person to have this conversation with for the girls listening right now. Amanda Bisk, welcome to LitHERacy. Amanda Bisk, thanks so much for being here with us today.

Amanda 0:53

Thanks for having me.

Maddie 0:53

So we ask all of our experts this, what do you wish someone had told you when you were younger that had nothing to do with your field and everything to do with being a women?

You Don't Have To Be Everything For Everyone

Amanda 1:03

I think it's probably you don't have to be everything for everyone.

Maddie 1:10

Yeah.

Amanda 1:10

Um, I think in like as women in particular, there's this like pressure. I don't know if everyone feels it, but I feel like a lot of women that I talk to feel like they have to not like please everyone, but kind of be able to fulfill everyone's needs and wishes and desires and all of that.

Maddie 1:28

We all feel it.

Amanda 1:29

Yeah. So I just, I feel like not having that pressure on myself and just understanding that like I don't have to be everyone's cup of tea. That's okay.

Maddie 1:38

Yeah.

Amanda 1:39

And it's okay for people not to like me, it's okay for people not to receive what they want from me. Like that's okay . So I just really wish I I knew that a lot earlier.

Maddie 1:52

I think that's a really important message for young girls to hear because if you think about it from your perspective, you don't like everybody. So not everybody is going to like you. And to learn to not take that personally

Amanda 2:06

yeah, it's the hardest thing.

Maddie 2:08

It's a hard, yeah. I was gonna say it's super difficult because of that people-pleasing tendency that young girls of our generation want to be have been drilled drilled into us. But if you again really freeing type of thing, if you can let that go and just be yourself, take up the space and not have to please everyone. Yeah, great.

From Gymnastics To Pole Vault

Maddie 2:28

Love it. So you are an elite pole vaulter, you trained your body at all the highest levels. Walk us through your background with sports and training and what happened.

Amanda 2:37

I'm actually so thankful that I got into sport really early, and that was pretty much because of my dad. So my dad uh ended up with ankylosing spondylitis, which is an arthritis of the spine, , where literally the bones of the spine fuse and you lose mobility and function. So I think, you know, as his only daughter, I think growing up, he was like, I want to make sure that she's healthy and that she's able to move and she doesn't end up like me. So he put me into gymnastics really early. I think I was two and a half years old. Even the gymnastics club that he took me to, they wouldn't take me because they were like, no, we take three-year-olds and up. So he is very persistent. If you've ever met my dad, very persistent. I ended up going to gymnastics that day and yeah, never looked back. So from that moment I stepped into the gym, I absolutely fell in love with movement. And you know, I was a very energetic kid as well. I think part of it was also just getting me out of the house. And I was an only child, so he was probably like, oh my gosh, I need some time away from this little gremlin. So yeah, putting me in gym, it gave them a break. It also allowed me to make friends, it allowed me to expel my energy. Yeah. Um, so yeah, that's kind of how I found movement gymnastics.

Maddie 3:53

Yeah, good. What was training like for pole vaulting and like through your career, do you still pole vault? Was there a time when something happened that that stopped your pole vaulting for a little while?

Amanda 4:04

Yeah, so pole vault was kind of like my dream sport that I eventually found. So I was a gymnast until I was 18 years old. And then I got talent identified for high jump. So we had the West Australian Institute of Sport come through our high school and do some tests with us, and I ended up being selected for that squad. Then I ended up seeing the pole vaulters on the other side of the pole vault, uh, uh other side of athletics stadium, and I was like, oh my gosh, I really want to try that. So that's how I found pole vault. And at the time I was 18, and because I had done gymnastics, it really set me up for the sport. I loved like the thrill and the dare of it as well. And it is a very thrilling sport and the most gymnastic sport of all the athletic events, so I really found like I found my place. Um, and you know, I was training as a pole vaulter on the elite kind of side for about four to five years, and you know, my ultimate dream was to make the Olympics, and London 2012 was my Olympics, like that was the Olympics that I wanted to get to. Um, so I kind of was on the right trajectory. So I was chosen for the 2010 Commonwealth Games, , which were incredible. I didn't have the most amazing like build-up to it. I got injured a couple of times, but anyway, the the experience in the end was incredible, and I was like, yes, I'm on my way there. Like, I'm gonna make the Olympics, you know. After 2010, I've got two like two years to work on this, I'm gonna get to London.

When Chronic Fatigue Stopped Everything

Amanda 5:27

And in 2011, a year later, I ended up being diagnosed with chronic fatigue, and that completely removed me away from the sport, out of any movement that I'd ever been used to. And it was the first time I was forced to like completely like forced to stop, , which was so strange for me because I started, you know, gymnastics when I was two and a half. I was training in the elite squad for gymnastics when I was six years old. So I all I had known was competitive and elite sport. Um, so that kind of ended then in 2011, and I had, you know, this opportunity to go on this other path I see now. I see now it's an opportunity, but to build my career, to heal myself, you know, that's where I really learned about health and the body and wellness and how it can look a little bit different to elite sport as well. Um, and then, you know, flashback now to when I'm back to pole vaulting, which I never thought I would be. Honestly, I thought 2011 was my retirement.

Maddie 6:26

Yeah.

Pole Vaulting Again At 38

Amanda 6:27

But yeah, like two years ago, I was kind of sick of my fitness routine. You know, I had done all the CrossFit things, like all the weight training, all of that, and I loved it. But I really missed the competitive side, like, and I'd always had this deep down passion of athletics and going down to the track, like some of my best memories of being at the track on a sunny day, running around, like being around my friends. And I was like, you know what? I'm just gonna go down to the track and like dabble in a little bit of long jump or something. So I was doing long jump and then I saw a group of pole vaulters there and started to talk to them and said, Yeah, like you know, I used to be a pole vaulter back in the day, and they were like, Oh, like have a go, like, come on, see if you've still got it. So I did that, got into training, and every Sunday I came down to the group and just had like a bit of fun with it. And a few months passed, and they were like, So, you know, competitive season is starting. You should try comps. And I was like, Oh, I don't know. And I like questioned myself whether I should do it or not, and then I could see how much fun, like that they're more like probably a social group, so I could see how much fun they were having with it, and the competition was just another way to experience the event. So I was like, okay, let's compete, let's see what happens. And then that's kind of how this second generation of pole vaulting started.

Maddie 7:46

I love that you dove back into it, but we all question ourselves, right? But I I think if you had the support of the group, like what a gorgeous gift that you had for your second round of doing this.

Amanda 7:58

Like, absolutely, and I'm just so blessed that they were there. You know, I was 38 at the time, so pole vault's not a gentle sport.

Maddie 8:07

No

Amanda 8:07

It's not like it doesn't look like I don't want to like look down on swimming or something, but like you know, swimming, like you're in the water, everyone can kind of like swim, right?

Maddie 8:15

Yeah

Amanda 8:16

But pole vault is like you're rocketing yourself up into the air like four or five meters. Yeah, it's pretty hectic on the body, and I just didn't know if I could physically do it either. So it's I'm just so thankful that my body allows me to do it. That group was there, divine timing, right?

Maddie 8:31

Exactly. Divine timing. Can you tell us what the experience taught you about the difference between moving your body and genuinely caring for it?

Amanda 8:38

Yeah,

On Her Own Terms This Time

Amanda 8:39

so this whole like journey back to let's say like elite sport, , it is completely different for me. You know, back when I was in my 20s and pole vaulting, everything was about performance. There was a lot of focus on like aesthetics and like being a certain body type and like all that kind of stuff. This time around, all of it is on my terms, which is incredible. Like I just never thought I would be able to do that. And for me, it's about number one, really enjoying the sport and enjoying movement. And number two, like looking after my body. Yeah. Like I want to be able to not necessarily pole vault for ages, but maybe I can, I don't know. We'll see what happens. But like, I want to be able to move my body until my last day, right? So it's that only happens if you look after your body. And I've just learnt and experienced so many different things in these past years that genuinely care for my body from like the inside out. And I have seen the differences, right? So I'm 40 now and I can just feel in my body. I'm so much stronger, I'm so much more connected to my body, and everything I do now is more about hey, how do I feel? Like, how is my body moving? How am I like performing? Not in a competitive way, but how is my body functioning?

Maddie 10:01

Yep.

Amanda 10:01

Um, so that's yeah, what it's all about now.

Maddie 10:04

It's such a healthier outlook than trying to exercise to be a certain body. If you think about exercise and moving, I love that. I love that you call it moving your body because it's such a change in just that small mindset, makes you think about it in a whole new way. Because when I think about exercise, I'm like, oh God, exercise is so hard. But when you say move your body, I'm like, oh, I can move my body.

Amanda 10:28

Yeah, it's so much more gentler, but yeah, it it is also what it is, right? You're moving your body. Exercise is like this label that I don't know, there's so many negative there is like relations to it. It's just nice to be able to maybe speak about it in another way. And that's how I see it now. It's like, you know, it's not exercise, it's like movement.

Maddie 10:46

Yeah, it's a

What Movement Does For Your Mind

Maddie 10:47

great way to look at it. What does movement do for a girl's brain and move that has nothing to do with how she looks?

Amanda 10:52

Honestly, movement changes everything. Like, obviously, there's so many scientific experiments and like results that show you not only physically all the changes, so just healthier body in general, whether that's like your heart, your lungs, your circulation, but mentally, I think that's the biggest thing is just how much it affects your mental state and how important it is. And you know, growing up, I never thought about that. I mean, it was always the result of my like I was a pretty happy and motivated young person, and a lot of that probably was exercise, but I didn't know that at the time. Um, so now it's like I just see the mental benefits and the like psychological benefits so much more. And , I think that's what's really, really important for young girls is hey, like it's not just about your body, it's where you are in your head, and that's so important.

Maddie 11:49

Yeah, I find the days I took I didn't take a year off, I couldn't motivate myself for a year, and I found my mindset in a completely different way than where I am now, where I'm moving my body multiple times a week, also thanks to you. And I find my mind is in a completely different place. I like look forward to it because I know it may be hard, but it's kind of that positive outcome from something that's going to be hard. I know how I'm going to feel afterwards. And if I can, for me, it's putting my shoes on. If I can get my shoes on, then I'm good. My mindset is there, but it's the motivation sometimes that I think people struggle with to get their body moving. But I know if I jump in the pool for a swim, or if I come work out with you, or if I go to the gym by myself early in the morning, like it, the way that it sets my day up is completely different than if I don't do it. And I think that you're right, it just it changes you mentally.

Amanda 12:57

Yeah, it it completely does. And you know, I've coached people for a really long time now, and more than like all the physical benefits that they achieve, the the thing that makes me so proud is those people who like show up even when they didn't want to, and just watching their mood change from when they like step in the door, you know, they're sluggish, they might be looking down, they might be tired, and then seeing them leave, like bouncing their stride, head held up high, like they're on a buzz, like it's just so amazing to witness.

Maddie 13:29

Sometimes I walk in and I'm like, I don't want to go, but I I always leave, and you can see it everywhere else. Like everyone, they they feel amazing, and we're laughing and we're giggling. And I think camaraderie also, when you have like you're not just working out by yourself when you have other people to work out with.

Amanda 13:47

Yeah, to support you.

Maddie 13:48

Yeah, I think , especially as women, we push ourselves because we know it's going to make us better, but we also inspire each other through that. What does movement

Movement and Sleep

Maddie 13:58

do for sleep?

Amanda 13:58

Oh, honestly, it it sets you up, sets you up for the best night's sleep. Obviously, like when you're exercising, you're releasing those hormones, those endorphins, and it really helps to allow your body to find its cycle and its rhythm for sleep. Um, so I'm sure many people who haven't exercised or have been in a slump where they haven't exercised for a while, they'll find that their sleep is really affected. And it's because of exactly that. You know, the hormone fluctuations don't happen as well, and your body it can't find the rhythm. So the more regularly you can exercise and get out and find movement, let's call it. I think the better you're gonna find you're gonna get to sleep and also the quality of sleep as well.

Maddie 14:46

Do you find you sleep better when you work out in the morning as opposed to nighttime? Like, is there a different is there a better time to move your body during the day than another time, or is it kind of whenever you can get it in, whenever works?

Amanda 14:58

I always say just move when you can. And you know, it'd be great if we were all athletes and had an athlete schedule and we could schedule in exactly when we wanted to work out and we had no other worries in the world. That would be amazing. But honestly, if like you can only work out in the evening, do it. And then there's always things you can do. Like evening workouts will increase like your excited excited-ness, just the hormones that get you really up and at it. So it will take a little bit longer to try and calm the body down, but there are things that you can do. So I would say, you know, morning or early afternoon workouts are better if you want to really support your sleep. But if that's gonna affect your workouts in general, where you won't do any, then do the evening workout.,

The Best Exercise Is The One You Enjoy

Amanda 15:43

you know.

Maddie 15:43

You work with research every day as an exercise physiologist. If you could prescribe movement as medicine to every teenage girl in Australia tomorrow, what would be the movement best suited for them?

Amanda 15:54

I think it's the movement that makes them feel the best. And everyone is so individual and so different. So some people just love to be outside. So I'm like anything that gets you outside, getting vitamin D in the sun, you know, go for a walk, go for a bike ride, go walk the dog, whatever it is, whatever makes you feel really confident and strong in your body. That might be, you know, training with body weight or training with weights as well. That might be doing a sport. So anything that is really gonna like give you a little spark, a little bit of extra energy and motivation, I think that's honestly the best style. I think it's really hard to just narrow down on one style of exercise because we are all different.

Maddie 16:34

So I think to what you mentioned, like going for a walk, oftentimes I don't know if other people feel this, but when I think of exercise, I think of like you have to go to the gym, you have to go to a class. But walking is exercise or like having fun. Like, can you talk to me about joyful exercise?

Amanda 16:51

Yeah, I mean, that is my number one philosophy. And and that's why I find it really hard to prescribe specific types of movement for people. It's honestly like whatever makes you feel good. And if you enjoy doing it, there's more chance you're gonna be doing it more often. So that's only got to be a positive, right? And and that's what movement should be about. Like that should be the main aim is to find joy in it. And that's exactly, you know, why I went back to pole vault in particular or athletics, because I had so much joy for that type of movement, and I've stuck at it and it's made me really happy. So if someone can find that going to the gym, doing a dance class, going for a swim, like whatever that is.

Maddie 17:33

Coffee and a walk with a friend.

Amanda 17:34

Exactly.

Maddie 17:35

Yeah, I love that. How can a girl know if her relationship with movement is a healthy one?

When Movement Stops Being Healthy

Amanda 17:40

That's a hard question. I think deep down, you know, there was a time in my life where I struggled with like disordered eating and probably a very negative connection to exercise because the result I was wanted was physical and aesthetic, right? So deep down I knew it wasn't right. And when people would ask me, Are you okay? Of course I was like, Yeah, I'm fine, nothing's wrong. Like, no, this is normal behaviour.

Maddie 18:05

Yeah.

Amanda 18:06

But I think deep down you can feel it. Like you could feel guilt for not moving, you feel like anxiety or stress that you haven't done a workout or gone out and exercised. Or tied it to food too.

Maddie 18:18

I think there's like a really in this culture right now, there's like shame around if you eat something of guilty pleasure and you don't work it off. Like there's that whole mindset you're working off what you're eating.

Food Is Fuel, Not Punishment

Amanda 18:33

Yeah. And I think that's a really totally opposite relationship to what it should be. It should be what can I eat to fuel my workout? It's like a complete flip.

Maddie 18:42

How did you come out of that?

Amanda 18:45

I remember this one point where my mum was really upset, like in, and that just kind of shook me to the core. And I could really see how it was affecting the people around me. And being like an empath, I really suffered and struggled through that time. And I was like, I cannot do this anymore. And honestly, it was like a switch for me, which I think was very lucky. And I think the reaction from my mum triggered that. Not everyone is that lucky. But I think it's like the little things that bring you back, you know, and like learning a little bit more about food in general, I think is really important. Just understanding how different foods can make you feel, what they fuel, what they give your body. One thing I really like to remember is every little cell that we have, your skin cells, your hair cells, your eyes, like all of that is the food that you are eating. You know, all those cells get replenished from what you're eating. You're not just like got the same cells all the time. So if you kind of think of it that way, you're like, oh, like if I eat well, I'm gonna have like glowing skin and like luscious hair, and like I'm gonna feel really good and my hormones are gonna be balanced. Like if you kind of think of it in that way, I think the relationship with your meals and how you eat changes.

Maddie 20:02

Yeah, it does. Let's talk about the hormones for a second because I think that's a really, really important part for women as well.

Training With Your Cycle

Maddie 20:09

How does exercise and hormones throughout the cycle? Can you walk us through like if there's a time in our cycle when we can be pushing ourselves harder, or if there's a time in our cycle where like just let's just sit on the couch. You're okay on the couch. Like, what talk us through the hormone cycle.

Amanda 20:26

I actually have a YouTube video on this where I go into like full detail with graphics and stuff. So if you want to see that

Maddie 20:32

Great,

Amanda 20:33

check out the YouTube. But I'll put it really simply. First and foremost, every woman's cycle is different, every person is different, but also your cycles between each month is different. So just understand that. And any information that you see, obviously, it's going to be different for you. Um, so our cycle is divided into two phases. So, first day of your bleed until ovulation, the first two weeks, that's our follicular phase. And then after ovulation, the following two weeks is our luteal phase. And then we go back to day one where we're in day one of our bleed. So obviously, when our period hits, very common for us to feel tired, in pain, run down, moody, bloated. Everyone's symptoms is going to be different. Some women don't have any symptoms, great. And like I mentioned, between cycles, it's also going to be different for you. So you can have a lot of pain one cycle and then no pain the next cycle. Um, so I say normally during your period, just try and find a way of moving that feels good for your body.

Maddie 21:37

Yeah.

Amanda 21:37

And there is actually a lot of scientific research behind stretching and things like yoga being very good for this phase of your period.

Maddie 21:46

Right.

Amanda 21:47

It's been shown to relieve pain, relieve cramps. So if I could recommend any style during your period, it'd probably be like yoga or stretching. But I also say if you feel like you want to do a piece. Be lift in your squat, or you want to go sprinting, or you know, you want to do something intense and you feel like you can, go for it. You know, I was an elite athlete and I competed at all phases of my period. And for me, very luckily, I felt relatively good through all phases. So just to show you, it's not dangerous to exercise during your period, that you don't need to do any specific type of exercise. Just get moving. And really, if you're feeling a bit crappy, I would suggest a gentle stretch, go for a light walk and just see how you feel. You never know, you could start and then you'll get into a little workout and you'll feel great. Usually it'll make you feel better.

Maddie 22:38

Yeah.

Amanda 22:38

Then you know, when our period ends, so whether that's three days of period or seven or whatever, again, everyone's different. You'll normally, I like to call this like the peak period time, right? This is normally when you're gonna have a lot more energy, when you can do exercise that's a bit more explosive, a bit more demanding of the body. Um, this is when our oestrogen is really the highest and our progesterone is low. So it's when you're gonna be feeling your best. So this is the time to schedule in that PB testing day, you know. But again, everyone's gonna be different. So that might not be your time, and that's okay. So I would recommend things like, you know, a HIIT workout or if you're doing heavy weights going for a PB, then you know, week two, that's your time to shine.

Maddie 23:25

Yeah. Great.

Amanda 23:26

Then we around day 14, you hit ovulation, and then we find our following two weeks, which is the luteal phase, and throughout this time, this is when you usually start to feel a little less motivated, a little bit more slow to get started. Maybe like you're just finding it difficult to get through the reps that you normally get through. So if you're like, oh, I'm lifting like 50 kilos and I normally do six reps, and then you go to your workout and you're like, I did four and I felt terrible, it's okay. Your body's not on your sides. So but , this is when I would suggest, you know, this is where you could do like steady state cardio. So going on a light jog or a run, going for a swim, cycle, that kind of stuff. Or if you're in the weights room, you know, lowering the weight a little bit and doing higher rep range and just working on endurance and working on your technique and your form.

Maddie 24:18

Yeah.

Amanda 24:19

Again, some people might feel great and they can do their normal sport or their normal workouts and and feel good. And then when you get to that final uh fourth week, that's usually, you know, when we're feeling our crappiest. And anything that you can get in, go for it. If you feel like, you know, today's not the day and I really just want to chill and have a rest day, listen to your body.

Maddie 24:45

Good.

Amanda 24:46

And I think again, deep down you know when it's okay to push and when you should step back.

Maddie 24:51

So and I think too, sometimes I get to the gym and I'll do like one or two in that like week before my period. And sometimes I'm like, I'm just not in it. And I think it's also okay to like if you get to that point, and even if you've done one or two reps and you're just like, I'm not here today. Like it's okay.

Amanda 25:12

Yeah.

Maddie 25:12

Give yourself permission

Amanda 25:13

And it's also completely okay to do a plan B workout, right? So if you're in the fourth week of your period cycle and you're like, okay, I should really go to the gym. So you've gone and you're like, this is feeling terrible. You know, you're doing barbell squats or whatever it is. You know, do a plan B. So, okay, maybe let's not do the barbell. Let's do just like a light dumbbell and let's just do, you know, pick up the rep range to 20 and like let's just find our form, you know, find our technique, find the movement, and you probably will find the workout will turn around.

Maddie 25:46

Let's talk about weights in teenage

Weights, Bones and The Bulky Myth

Maddie 25:48

girls. I know that there's a lot of controversy around whether young girls should be lifting weights or not, but I love I haven't always. I was in very much in that camp of like cardio, cardio, cardio. But I think it's it's a bit different for women and growing their bone. Like, what is lifting weights do for a woman's body and their bones?

Amanda 26:11

Yeah. Well, it's so important, especially young women. That's when you're laying down the foundations of your bone. Like you need to be giving your bones stress so they become strong and you lay down more bone. So I would say weightlifting is great for young girls. Obviously, the the main thing I would say is that just be very careful of technique and making sure that you're really lifting with optimal technique, no pain. Um, so if you're able to have guidance during that time, I would highly suggest it, like getting a very qualified coach. And you don't have to do anything crazy. It doesn't have to be Olympic lifting where you're lifting 100 kilos over your head. You know, I think beginning to work with weights at a young age is really important just because when you do, you know, eventually hit an age where you can go to the gym by yourself, you can go in there and feel confident that you know the movements, you can find your way around the weights. And then yeah, you can continue, you know, building strong bones. There's also been many studies of, you know, 60-year-old women who have started weight training at 60, who have better bones than a woman at 40 years old who has never lifted weights ever. It's crazy. And that's starting at 60. So imagine if you just continue weightlifting throughout your life. It's just you're setting yourself up for a strong, healthy body.

Maddie 27:33

And I think statistically, women start losing bone density really early, right? I think it's 25 or something like that. We start losing our bone density. And every decade, there's a small per a small percentage. Do you know what that percentage is?

Amanda 27:48

I don't know exactly.

Maddie 27:49

Yeah.

Amanda 27:49

Yeah, but it it's honestly a decline. So if you don't start correcting it, it's just gonna keep going down.

Maddie 27:56

And you lose quite a bit in your menopause years as all of your hormones drop out. So I think weight training is incredibly important. What do you say to the girls? Because this was what I thought, who if you lift weights, you're gonna get bulky.

Amanda 28:10

We unfortunately don't have the hormones for that. I mean, again, everyone's a little bit differently. So some people will build more muscles than others, but honestly, it is very, very difficult to get, you know, quotation marks, bulky.

Maddie 28:25

Yeah.

Amanda 28:25

You would have to be lifting some serious weight and be like taking some serious protein to do that. So there is no stress at all about becoming bulky.

Maddie 28:36

Yep.

Amanda 28:37

Like if anything, and if someone is worried about aesthetics, like you you'll generally look more athletic and you know, you will have a shape of your body. Um, I think the bulkiness is very much like a rumour.

Maddie 28:54

Yeah, Well, I think there's a big educational piece that's missing there, right? I don't know if it's the educational piece is still the gap is still there, or if it was just my generation of young girls. I played sports and stuff, but I was never taught about going to the gym and lifting weights. I was we were taught as women cardio is your best friend. Um, don't lift weights. That's for the men.

Amanda 29:18

We used to see in gyms there was a divide, like all the guys in the weight side and all the girls on the on the treadmill side.

Maddie 29:25

Absolutely. Yeah. So I think that there is a real like educational gap of what a woman really needs for her body. And I think that missing piece is the weights. You're not gonna get bulky. It's only going to benefit you. It doesn't need to be a long workout, it can be a shorter workout. Um, it could be either more intense, it doesn't need to be intense. So I think like educated, is there any other educational piece that you think girls are missing right now?

Who To Trust In The Gym and Online

Amanda 29:52

To be honest, it's probably technique and confidence in the gym. Because I know a lot of people like want to lift, and I've spoken to a lot of girls, a lot of women that want to go into the gym and they feel intimidated, which is totally normal. Like I am a coach and I sometimes feel intimidated. I'm like, I don't know what these machines do. I don't know how to move the weights around. So I think the more you can expose yourself to weight training, the more education and research you can do around it, the more you can like get into a few gyms and have a bit of a play around and like get yourself around the equipment, the more confident you're gonna feel. So I think that's that's super important. Like something really cool that I would see in like upper school or upper levels of school. So let's say like year 10, 11, 12, is actually taking kids through like weight training. I think that would be really important. Like you, yes, we're like exposed to sport, which is I think is probably the most important because that's where a lot of joy comes in. But to just do, you know, a little session on weights, hey, we're gonna introduce you to a few dumbbells and this, I think that would be like a really great area to start to get more education happening.

Maddie 31:07

And form too. I because when I go to the gym by myself, not only is it intimidating because you said there's that divide there, but I look at everything and I'm like, oh man, I don't know what to do. I don't know, like, I'm not a particularly self-motivated person in the gym anyway. So I find if I don't have a program like yours, or if I don't have something else to help guide me at the gym, and I also get into the gym and I'm afraid I'm doing it wrong, or like my back hurts, and I'm like, oh, this can't be the way that you're doing it. So, like, how how does a young girl learn form?

Amanda 31:42

Well, it's actually hard these days, I feel like, because there is a lot of misinformation and we're in information overload, I think, this time, especially with social media, it's information overload. So I always say to kind of source where this information is coming from. So, you know, if you you're seeing someone on TikTok or Instagram prescribing you a workout or an exercise, hey, you should do this exercise this way. Just take a moment to like have a look at their bio, their credentials, where is their information coming from?

Maddie 32:15

Yep.

Amanda 32:15

I think that's the most important thing. I mean, I I'm so proud of like the degrees and qualifications that I achieved. And I think that's something that sets me apart from a lot of the, let's say, fitness influences in the space. So I think for consumers and especially young girls, it's so important to just be like, okay, , like this person looks good, but where is their information coming from?

Maddie 32:39

Yeah.

Amanda 32:39

Yeah. I think that's really important.

Maddie 32:41

That's a super important piece as well. And I think if you don't have the education and you're it goes back to if you're just doing it for aesthetics or if you're doing it because with someone like you who's got the background can walk you through. And I know from personal experience, like I will you you take the time and you say, like, is how is this feeling? Is this hurting? Like you you've got the care behind and you're you care about how the body moves long term, not just how you're looking short term. And I think that's a really important piece that that girls need to tie in because there's so you're right, there's so much information, it's hard to decipher.

Amanda 33:21

Don't be afraid to ask why am I doing this? If someone can't answer why you're doing something, then you probably shouldn't be doing it, right? And I see that a lot with trainers. Like trainers might prescribe exercises that they see online because they look cool or they look trendy. But if you can't actually explain, like, hey, what muscle group is this working and what movement pattern is this working? And like, is this supporting any other exercises that I might want to do? Like, if they can't answer those questions, then you know,

Compulsive Versus Committed

Amanda 33:51

my biggest.

Maddie 33:51

Starting to question it, maybe. Totally. What does compulsive exercise look like in a teenage girl and how is it different than commitment?

Amanda 33:58

So, compulsive exercise, I think, is really associated with anxiety. And whether it causes anxiety or not doing it results in anxiety, I think that's probably like the big difference. I think commitment, it's a fine line, isn't it? It's very difficult because you can have committed people who also cross the line and it's too much, but I think if you if you're getting that feeling of anxiety and extreme pressure, that probably will tell you that, hey, this is becoming a bit like compulsive and a bit over the top, and I probably like need some help to get out of this.

Maddie 34:35

Yep. Where can a girl go to get help if she feels like she's got anxiety or if you know she's worried about the exercise or any of that type of stuff?

Amanda 34:44

Honestly, to the person that makes you feel heard the most, and that could be anyone. Like it might be your parent, your mom, your dad, your sibling, it might not, and that's okay. It might be your coach, it might be your teacher, it might be a friend, it might be a friend's parent. Like it could come from anywhere. Whoever you think will genuinely listen to your concern and will be there as a supportive ear, I think that is the person to go to.

Maddie 35:13

Exercise and food sometimes get tied together in really damaging ways for girls. Moving to compensate for eating, like we talked about, earning rest through training, working things off. How do you think we change that mindset?

Amanda 35:25

Again, education. And I think it's self-education more than anything because you can be told a million things. Yeah, like you can be in health class or nutrition class and be told you should eat this and you should eat that. But I think it's more about like your self-exploration. For me, I this this particularly happened when I was trying to recover from chronic fatigue and I really saw the connection of fuel and food for the body. And I really wanted to just learn more about how food was affecting my body. And I found, you know, that passion to really look into it. And then that's when I found my eating and the mindset around eating really changed for me. So I think if if you can get into it yourself, find the resources yourself. So for me, it was a book of like for someone else, it might be watching a YouTube or like a dietitian talking about something, or going to your health teacher, or going to an actual nutritionist, finding those resources yourself in a form of media that you're going to really like indulge in. It might be a podcast, you know? I think finding that education and exploration yourself, that's like really important.

Maddie 36:36

Yeah.

Questions From The Panel

Maddie 36:37

So we've got some questions from some young girls. I don't know where to start. When I open Instagram, there are a thousand different workouts and they all contradict each other.

Amanda 36:45

Yep. Totally feel that. I am in the space, so I totally get that.

Maddie 36:50

Yeah.

Amanda 36:51

I would say try and filter down where you're getting your information from. So find like one or two trainers that really resonate with you that you've done a little bit of research with and you know that their advice is quality. Like it's great to be able to have all this information from all areas coming at you, but it is information overload and people do begin to contradict themselves. Happens with nutrition, it happens in a lot of different fields. So I think if you just have like your one or two trainers that you know that you can go to, that's where you should be. Yeah. Yeah. And then if you see something on the side, you can be like, oh, okay, like I get that. Okay, maybe I'll look into that a little bit more, see if that trainer that you're following actually speaks about it as well, you know? Yeah. So finding credible resources and sticking to like just minimising it down a little bit.

Maddie 37:46

Yeah. What does not eating enough actually do to me when I'm exercising a lot?

Amanda 37:51

So you're not fuelling your body, right? And it's if you're performance driven, it's detrimental to your performance. So if you're an athlete and you're really wanting to excel at your sport or chosen exercise, food is key. You need to be fuelling your body. Like people say it all the time, right? You can't run a car without filling it with petrol. So it's the same with your body. If if if it's not for performance and you're not you're under-eating, you're completely throwing off your eating cycles and your hormones as well. So, you know, missing breakfast because you're like, oh, like that's extra calories that I won't eat.

Maddie 38:31

Yeah.

Amanda 38:32

Well, 3 p.m., 4 p.m. is going to come around and you're going to be raiding the pantry because you're starving, because you haven't fuelled your body from the morning, you haven't given yourself enough protein, enough sustenance to get through the day. So then you can end up in a binge eating cycle. So that's really important to fuel your body, whether it's for performance or just for general health, and to fuel it with the right things. And that all comes back to researching yourself, you know, finding that information, getting into food. Like we eat every day. We eat at least three meals a day, hopefully. And it's the most consistent thing you'll ever do in your life apart from like breathing.

Maddie 39:09

Yeah.

Amanda 39:10

So learn about it.

Maddie 39:11

Yeah. And like you said, every single cell in your body needs to be replenished. So you've got to, you've got to figure out how to fuel your body.

Amanda 39:20

Exactly.

Maddie 39:20

I want to start lifting weights, but everyone tells me I'll get bulky. Is this true? We did cover that.

Amanda 39:26

That is not true.

Maddie 39:27

Fair enough.

Rapid Fire Questions

Maddie 39:29

So you've got rapid fire, and your options are yes, no, or it's complicated. No pain, no gain.

Amanda 39:36

No.

Maddie 39:36

It's not supposed to be painful, right? And you can exercise without there being pain

Amanda 39:42

of course. I mean, some people love the pain. I'm sometimes one of those people who's like, oh yeah, I want to feel the pain, like it's giving me something, but it doesn't the pain doesn't necessarily mean you're gaining.

Maddie 39:52

Yeah, good. Rest days are lazy?

Amanda 39:54

No.

Maddie 39:54

Cardio is better than weights for girls.

Amanda 39:57

No.

Maddie 39:57

You need to exercise every day to be healthy.

Amanda 40:00

Or can I say move every day?

Maddie 40:03

Yes.

Amanda 40:03

Yeah. I think yes. Move every day. Movement. Every day. Yeah.

Maddie 40:07

Exercise compensates for what you eat.

Amanda 40:09

No.

Maddie 40:10

You can be fit and unhealthy at the same time.

Amanda 40:13

Yes, you can.

Maddie 40:14

If you're not sore the next day, it's not working.

Amanda 40:17

No.

Maddie 40:17

I can tell you from personal experience that that's not true. The best workout is the one that burns the most calories.

Amanda 40:23

No.

Maddie 40:24

What a dangerous mindset to get yourself into it.

Amanda 40:26

Soo dangerous, yeah.

Maddie 40:27

Yeah, to exercise just to burn the calories. That ties back to that like loop of eating.

Amanda 40:32

Anxiety. Anxiety.

Maddie 40:33

Anxiety. Yeah.

Amanda 40:34

Yeah.

Maddie 40:35

You should push through the pain.

Amanda 40:36

No.

Maddie 40:37

Movement only counts if it's intense.

Celebrate The Wins

Maddie 40:40

Amanda 40:40

No.

Maddie 40:40

If you could go back and tell your teenage self one thing about this, what would it be? And how long did it take you to learn it?

Amanda 40:48

I think it would be allowing myself to celebrate the wins more often.

Maddie 40:54

Yeah.

Amanda 40:55

And really celebrate them, no matter how large or small those wins were. I look back at my younger self, even you know, like 23-year-old Amanda who had made her very first Australian team. And yeah, I was like excited and proud and all of that, but I was constantly living in the future. And I was like, oh, this is like the first step to the Olympics, and then I'm gonna make it to the Olympics, and it's gonna be awesome. Like I wasn't present in that time, and I wasn't celebrating what I had actually achieved. And this time around, like getting back into sport, I have such a different mindset, and I'm just trying to celebrate the most littlest things. And no matter how dorky that is, either, I will shout it from the rooftops because looking back at that Amanda, I just wish she just was more proud and just gave herself more credit and just gave herself more time to be present and be in the moment and just celebrate where she was.

Maddie 41:58

Yeah.

Amanda 41:59

Yeah, because you don't know what's gonna happen in the future.

Maddie 42:03

No. I want to go back and give that Amanda a hug and tell her well done.

Amanda 42:06

Thank you.

Maddie 42:07

Thank you so much for being here with us. I think this has been so informative. It's been so great. We'll link all your stuff in the show notes and I can tell you all that she's amazing. And thank you for being here.

Amanda 42:18

Thanks so much for having me.

Maddie 42:19

I'll see you Monday for training.

Amanda 42:20

Yay!

Wrap Up

Maddie 42:21

Thanks for listening to this episode of Literacy. Please take a moment to subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow along on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts so you can listen on the go. For episode resources or downloads on how to continue these conversations, head to our website, literacy.com, L-I-T-H-E-R-A-C-Y.com. Make sure you're following us on Instagram at litheracy.pod and on TikTok at literacy so you don't miss a thing during the week. And most importantly, if you've got a friend or family member that would be interested in this episode, share it with them because we believe an informed girl is a protected girl.