Georgia Simmons: Bikini Competitor & Gaspari UK Sponsored Fitness Model Talks With T&T
How Did You Get Started In Health And Fitness?
I was always interested in fitness even from a young age as I was brought up in a very active household. My sister and I were always off to ballet or gymnastics, and as I got older I started showjumping competitively and had my own horses. I also joined army cadets and ran, shot and rode for the county.
It wasn’t until about mid-2012 (so about 6 months ago) that I really got interested in weight training after being given constructive criticism about how I looked from a fitness perspective – I haven’t looked back!
What Is Your Best Accomplishment So Far? Proudest Moment?
I actually have two proudest moments so far since I started competing. The first was coming second at the British National Championships in tall bikini in October. I’d worked and trained so hard for it and sacrificed so much- it was validation of everything i’d gone through and all the late nights in the gym and the tears and the dieting and the exhaustion! To stand up there and get my trophy and have other people saying to me “you know what, you did good” made every second worth it!
My most recent proud moment however was the day that Gaspari told me that they wanted me to be part of the UK team – ever since I started competing I was always enamoured with the American Gaspari girls and I kept telling myself “I will be a Gaspari girl!” to have that happen is a dream come true and I still get massive smiles thinking about it!
What Is It Like Competing?
Competing is like nothing else on the planet – it’s a massive rush and it’s addictive but it also messes with your head. The rigidity of the dieting and the extreme shape that you get your body in to is hard, and so is the criticism and constant personal evaluation that you have to do, It’s not just one day on stage, it’s months and months of preparation, dieting, meal plans, weight training, cardio and all sorts of other stresses – people think you can just rock up on stage with a few weeks preparation, but you can’t: you need to live it and breathe it!
What Workout Routine Has Worked Best For You?
I actually don’t have a workout routine and I don’t plan my training – I just do what I feel like on the day. I always rotate legs, abs, full body tone and plyometrics plus cardio, but I’m quite a reactive trainer – my body reacts very quickly to weights and tiny diet changes so i‘ll often look at myself and think “no, your quads are too pumped” and I’ll drop squats out of my plan for a week or so until they drop a bit.
Also I think most people know I’m not a massive fan of allocated “rest days” – I firmly believe if you are not tired, why are you resting and if you ARE tired why are you forcing yourself to workout? Our plan is only as good as your bodies ability to carry it out so listen to your body, don’t stick to your plan! Otherwise you’re doomed to fail! Obviously I’m not advocating that people don’t make plans at all, that’s just silly, but be prepared to be flexible!
Top 3 Favourite Exercises And Why?
Number 1: Box squat! I love it because I love feeling the power and the raw aggression of pushing out a heavy squat! It’s such a rush!
Number 2: Hamstring curls – love these because I vary the speed, length and intensity of the curl and focus on different parts of my hamstring and the tie-in.
Number 3: weighted abs raised leg over head sit-ups – I like these because they’re really hard to do and it’s taken me 8 months to be able to do them with a 20kg kettlebell and every time I do it I think “YEAH!!! Have THAT!”
Favourite Form Of Cardio?
I like to mix it up – I’m not a massive cardio participator anymore – I usually do a 15 minute warm-up every day then swim or spin once or twice a week. I like to vary it between the x-trainer, elliptical and stepper though. I try to aoid running because it pounds my knees.
What Is Your Diet Like?
My diet is really clean – I’ve tried to move away from the philosophy of an on and off season as I don’t think it’s healthy. It fosters a mentality of “starvation and binging” which I think is really unhealthy and not the sort of message I want to portray!
My philosophy around food is little and often, and also understand your macro-nutrients and make sure you are getting a healthy cross-section. I eat smoked salmon every single day for breakfast with 150g of green beans, 2 boiled eggs with the yolks left in and some cheese! That probably sounds ridiculous to some people but it’s packed full of essential fats and oils, loads of protein, calcium, fibre, folic acid and vitamins.
I also eat a lot of carbs, but I make sure that I eat “clean” carbs like low GI oats and sweet-potatoes. It’s all about making sensible food choices!
Any Staple Healthy Meals That You Always Eat? What Is Your Favourite Cheat Meal?
My favourite cheat meal has to be a Toby Carvery – for anyone who doesn’t know what that is, they’re massive restaurants that just serve self-service roast dinners!
My staple meal at home is actually really boring and it’s just haddock, peas, broccoli and a 6 egg white omelette with chilli – I have that most nights over about an hour when I get in.
What Supplements Do You Use?
All my supplements are Gaspari and even before I was sponsored by them I was using their myofusion and their superpump maxx.
Now I use their aminolast which is an amino acid combination drink and I have 2 scoops of that in my shaker and consume it during each workout and I find that it massively boosts my endurance. I use Myofusion because it’s a really good low-carb meal replacement or meal supplement shake and it allows me to get my allocation of protein in to myself!
What Is The Best Advice You Have Ever Been Given?
Before getting ready for nationals Carmen Knights said to me: “when you diet you will be tired, that’s normal, but if you are exhausted, dragging your feet and walking in to things you are burning muscle and not eating enough”. She was totally right and that really shaped the way that I prepared for the October show, I made sure I still had energy and dieted healthily.
Did You Make Any Mistakes When You First Started Out?
I think everyone makes mistakes when they first start out but I think the main thing is learning from them. I put a lot of pressure on myself when I first started and got very stressed out around competing. You have to realise that you are doing it because you love it and you’re meant to enjoy it! If you aren’t enjoying it then it’s just daft – we work so hard and so long for this that you should love every second. If it’s a chore or you don’t look at yourself and realise you are the only one putting this pressure on yourself!
What’s Your Favourite Body Part?
My favourite non-training body part is my eyes, but physically from a training perspective my favourite part is my legs. I’ve worked bloody hard on them and I think it shows. I still have some work to do on the top of the glutes and also on my hamstring-glute tie-in to get it tighter, but Im getting there!
What’s Your Gym Playlist Like? Favourite Song To Play While Running?
Haha, well I don’t really run so I don’t have a favourite running song, but I do love a bit of drum and bass when I’m working out – it gets me all angry and in the mood for a hard session!
Where Does Your Motivation Come From?
I just love what I’m doing and I really love the effect of weight training on my figure – I think the motivation comes when you look in the mirror and notice the subtle changes, The gym is the place where I feel the happiest – I can just lose myself in the moment while I’m repping out a set!
Favourite Fitness Models?
I love Indiana Paulino, Nathalia Melo, Michelle Brannan, Erin Stern and Larissa Reiss. I think they have all made something of themselves, they’re all dedicated, beautiful and their bodies are all off the hook in different ways. They’re all women who are playing to their strengths,
For More Of Georgia Please Visit:
Website: http://www.georgiasimmons.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ukbffgeorgiabsimmons
Twitter: GS_UKBFF_BIKINI
Photography Credits:
Toby Harrison Photography
Sean Evans Photography
Muscular Development
