via stuff.co.nz, today
While she works hard to maintain muscle mass all year round, a strict diet and training regime starts up to 12 weeks before a competition.
During this time she spends three to five hours training every day, including cardio-vascular workouts at 4am and 8pm. She fits this in around clients at Club St Heliers, where she works.
The final two weeks are spent dehydrating, when Lisa monitors her water intake.
“People don’t see the hours you put in to get the results and wonder why you do so well,” Lisa says. “It’s a very hard and strict lifestyle.”
She also relies on supplements like protein powders, fat burners and performance boosters, sometimes taking up to 60 pills of 15 varieties a day.
She maintains a high-protein diet of “the leanest of chicken, steak, egg whites, white fish and salmon every day”. Including protein shakes, she eats 10 to 12 meals a day.
“It makes it a very expensive sport,” she says.
“Preparing for a competition would cost an international athlete like myself about $5000. Tanning alone is $250 to $300.