quick stats

Name: Kirsten Allnutt
Age: 24
Height: 1.71 m
Competition weight: 63 kg
Current weight: 68 kg
Current city: Durban, South Africa
Occupation: (Well this is a funny thing to answer- I am by qualification a journalist, but I literally recently quit my job as a rep so lets leave this one blank haha)

How did you get started with training? Has it always been a part of your life?

I joined the gym on December 2014 and really got stuck into training in about February 2015. I have only really been training quite intensively for a year, so no it has not always been part of my life.

In fact, I was not even sporty in high school, I was more into Arts & Culture rather than sport. It was in primary school that I was more active and I used to be very involved in sprinting and athletics. I gave it up when I got to high school.

I decided last year to once again get active and incorporate a healthier aspect to my life, especially after university where I had lived debaucherously and eaten really badly, putting on a lot of weight.

How long was it from when you started training in the gym to competing in your first show? And what made you enter?

It really did not take me long, I was really motivated to actually just change my lifestyle and physical appearance as I was not happy with the way I had neglected my body.

The objective was never to actually compete but then when I started seeing results, three weeks out from one of the shows I decided to compete and I invested into going full force into the prep.

Who is your role model or who do you look up to for motivation and guidance?

The people I look up to are the ladies in the industry that have big legs like me and who train very similarly to me. These include Jill Bunny- who recently became pro at the IFBB Arnold Classic in Ohio and Catharina Wahl who won the line up I was in at Olympia Amateur in Liverpool 2015.

Narmin Assria- she is under rated in my opinion and deserves more credit than she gets on the pro stage. These ladies all have muscles and are the ideal fitness bikini physiques in my opinion.

How important is the mental aspect of this sport? How do you keep a positive mindset and attitude through setbacks?

The sport is more mental than physical. It is in my opinion 70% mental and 30% physical. Your diet is mental, your haters are mental, your determination to persevere, all mental, your ability to wake up and do fasted cardio every morning; MENTAL.

Your body responds to all these mental thought processes and as a result we allow it to perform the physical. I remain positive by surrounding myself with the right team and people who understand my lifestyle and what it means to be an athlete.

I have lost many friends and even family members from competing, however, the people who understand me, support me. Those that matter don’t mind and those who mind don’t matter. I have learnt that quality over quantity these days is more important in this industry to stay afloat than anything else.

Make sure you keep the right people in your circle, those that are negative and always constantly speak badly about others or who constantly prove to be draining of your energy are not worth the effort or time in your life and will suck the positivity out of you.

I am happy when I am on my own and with my bulldog, when you start to appreciate the time you have alone and be individual and confident by yourself you will learn that positivity within yourself becomes easier to exude.

Have you had any major setbacks?

Not physically, but mentally, yes.

There have been times where I have wanted to quit and not compete, because of fallouts with coaches or sponsors or friends or family, whatever the case. But at the end of the day, what use is it to quit? What would I be saying about myself and to myself? The reason I am doing this is for ME.

Prove to yourself that you are capable and everything will come together.

What are your future plans?

I would like to move overseas and compete internationally. I feel the stage has more avenues and opportunities overseas. I want to grow here and then take what I can from the experience with me overseas.

What do you think the fitness industry needs more of?

The fitness industry needs more consistency and more team work. There are too many people that focus on “competition” and winning, rather than the idea of fitness as a lifestyle.

Not everyone is your competition. In life you are your only competition, so what you make of yourself is what you can achieve. You can only do what you can with what you have. What someone else has is out of your control so make use of your talents not only in a competitive way but in a way that you can use to an advantage in your life. Many people do not grasp this concept.

Fitness is not just about going onto a stage, it’s about being the best version of yourself, physically and mentally.

Without one, there is more than likely not the other in this industry. So strive to help everyone be better people, rather than just consider everyone else the competition. There is so much more to fitness than the stage and trophies.

Take us through an average day of yours:

Fasted cardio, eat, social media and emails and some work, eat, work, eat, weight training, eat, eat, relax, sleep.

Give us a brief description of your philosophy on your diet:

Unfortunately I cannot give the full diet as it is not mine and belongs to Jack Lotter. However, I do NOT believe in cutting carbs from a diet for weeks on end.

I have had diets that have caused my body to rebound after competitions because they did not fit decent amounts of macros or a micros. They depleted me and drained me and no they did not even follow a ketosis plan. They were practically thumb sucked plans.

I believe that a good diet is not a generic diet that is given to ten other people, who are totally different to you yet are eating the same foods.

It must be customised to suit your body and your characteristics, otherwise there is no way you can actually expect to see the results you deserve. Get the right coach/dietician to construct your diet.

What are your top Nutrition tips for losing fat?

• Cardio mixed with heavy weight training, minimal carbs (but not cutting carbs entirely).
• Lots of meals every day.
• The more you eat and more regularly you eat the more your body responds.

Do you weigh all your food? Do you think it is necessary?

Yes I do. And yes it is important. You need to be certain of the amount that you are eating when it comes to living a strict diet lifestyle for competition.

Your body needs a certain amount of nutrients to achieve certain goals.

What process do you follow when its time to start getting ready for a competition?

Carb cycling with refeeds (refeeds are purely for mental purposes in my opinion). Then I slowly reduce calories, not necessarily carbs.

What supplements do you use and think are necessary?

Amino acids, whey shake (whey isolate when closer to comp), creatine, casein, fat burner, CLA, greens superfood.

I feel whey and aminos are necessary on a whole, but depending on the goal the others would also be useful or necessary.

What are your top training tips when training during comp prep?

Train as heavy as you can and get the session done!

It’s not always easy feeling drained but budget extra time just in case you slow down from being so depleted. Also if your body is incredibly exhausted, listen to it. Take a rest day.

Give us a brief description of your philosophy on your training and on average how long do you workout for?

Philosophy is that weight training is fantastic! It is my absolute favourite way to train. I would rather use weights than body weight training.

• I lift as heavy as I can for about 10-15 reps.
• I usually work out for about 45 minutes for cardio and I set aside an hour and a half to two hours for weights later in the afternoon.
• I keep the two split up.

What are your 3 favourite exercises?

1. Barbell squats

Although I can not do them anymore as I have to avoid training my legs closer to competition, I absolutely love squatting. It is always a challenge as I like to go as HEAVY as I can for at least 10 reps. I love breaking my own personal bests and because I have strong legs I can go pretty heavy for a girl. This is great for the legs and the booty and the whole body actually as it also works the core to a certain extent as well.

2. Lateral side Raises

My shoulders are probably one of the downfalls to my physique as thy are not very big or as wonderful as I would like them to be. So when I train them I can go really heavy and as hard as I like, which always makes them fun to train as I love a challenge. This is always good for forming shape on the delt and giving it the round capped look, which adds more shape and dimension to the overall shape of the physique in my opinion.

3. Straight leg deadlifts

I love these. They work the hamstrings and booty without working the quads so much and overall the entire body gets a workout, even my arms. I like it because I want to grow a big booty and this is the best way for me to do it without growing my quads.

Which do you think are the 3 most underrated exercises people avoid?

1.Bent over flies

Rear delts are often neglected by people, especially me and rear delts are honestly so important for the body.

2. Calf raises

Calves are the hardest muscle to grow! They need to be given a lot of attention, especially if you do not have the genetics and need to be trained more often than not in order to stimulate growth.

3. Hyper extensions

So many people leave lower back out for back day. Lower back is so critical for prep when you are trying to tighten up and get that perfectly lean ab/glute pop 😛

What are some of the myths many people fall prey to when it comes to trying to get a flat tummy and abs?

I am not sure on this one, but for some reason girls seem to believe that abs are made in the gym, when they are actually entirely made in the kitchen.

Also some girls seem to think that six packs are only for guys, we all have ab muscles underneath our skin and subcutaneous fat. When you are lean, you will have some form of abs show no matter how hard or not you train abs. So they are not just for men.

Favorite male Fitness models or bodybuilders?

Steve Cook, Ross Dickerson, his accent is just enough for me.

Favorite female fitness icon(s):

So many.
Narmin Assria, Justine munro, Jessica Arevalo, Yarishna Ayla

What is the most common question you get asked?

Q: Won’t weight training make me bulky or manly?

My answer: Do I look like a man? Weights can’t make you bulky, diet makes you bulky. Weights tone and shape you. When you tone you burn fat and build muscle. That is the process of exercise.

What is the one thing you see people do in the gym or when training that really annoys you?

Curling in the squat rack!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Where can people get hold of you?

• Facebook: kirstallnuttfitness
• Instagram: kirstallnutt