Name: Mandi Venter
Height/Weight: 1.89m 6ft2 / 73kg
Nickname(s): Machine
Q. How long have you been training?
A. I was a professional athlete for most of my school years, so I’ve always been active.
I started weight training when I was 19. So it’s been 2 and a half years.
Q. What was your body like before you started training?
A. I was the skinny tall girl. I had an average body fat percentage with little muscular development.
Even as a competitive athlete up until I started weight training I was always a “skinny fat”. I wasn’t strong at all, and excelled in sport merely due to my height and I guess above average speed.
Q. How do you keep yourself motivated and on-track through the grueling dieting in the last few weeks?
A. I’m very strong minded. So dieting for shows isn’t hard for me at all. I get so focussed on my goals that I wouldn’t want anything to jeopardise my prep. When I step on stage, I want to know that I did everything I could to be in the best possible shape. Yes, being on a low-carb diet gets tough, but as soon as I start seeing results it just drives me to be even more committed.
Q. Do you get more attention from the people now that you are in such good shape?
A. My life has definitely changed a lot. I’m actually a very shy person so I find the attention a bit awkward sometimes. But knowing I can make a difference in people’s lives and motivate and inspire them to start looking after themselves makes it worth it.
Q. What is the one key piece of advice you could pass on to our readers?
A. Never compare yourself to anyone else but yourself. If you can improve the person that you are,
whether it is physically improving your body or the way you think about life and the way you treat people, that in itself is the biggest accomplishment you can ever achieve. As for those competing,
if you can improve your physique every time you step on stage, you don’t ever have to win a competition to feel your hard work has paid off.
Q. What is your favorite protein supplement?
A. I really like the EVOX Advanced Nutrition range (in my opinion the best brand we have in South Africa). I use the Synergy Whey Protein and Lean Pro as meal replacements and the 100% Whey post-training or in the morning with my oats. I’ve been getting excellent results using those products.
Q. How many days a week do you work out?
A. Usually about 5 days a week. When I am prepping for a show, photo shoot or event I sometimes push it up to 6 times a week. I believe in the importance of having at least 1 or 2 rest days a week.
Q: How many exercises per body part do you typically do in a workout?
A: My workouts always vary. I never ever do the same workout twice.I love supersets, trisets and giantsets. And I do about 3-4 sets of those. I usually train a body part until I burn it out (to failure).
So the amount of exercises per body part depends on how long it takes me to exhaust the muscles.
Q. What kind of workout program do you follow?
A. I love weight training. I know a lot of bikini girls do mostly cardio and aerobic type classes, but I train like a guy. The heavier the better! Like I mentioned above, I do a lot of supersets, trisets and giantsets. And then I also incorporate HIIT cardio into my training program.
Q. What competitions have you participated in and what were the results?
A. In 2009 I entered Body Beautiful South Africa and placed 2nd runner up in the Miss Body Beautiful division. A few weeks later I competed in Fitness South Africa and I made the top 10 in the bikini division. The competition was extremely tough, so I was ecstatic with my placings.
Q. Looking back on what you have accomplished so far, what is one thing you would change if you could, knowing what you do now?
A. I’m blessed to have been very successful in most things I have took on in life. And I don’t regret my mistakes as I have learned my most valuable lessons from them. So I wouldn’t really change anything.
Q. What is one of the biggest sacrifices you’ve made, and was it worth it?
A. When I was prepping for my first shows in 2009, I literally locked myself in a flat for a few months
and only left to go to work or gym. It was very tough because all my friends were always out having a good time. In the last year I have learned to find a balance though and I realized that the only thing you really need to sacrifice is what you stick in your mouth and that isolation is not necessarily the solution.
Q. What do you feel is the most important thing a bodybuilder/fitness/figure/bikini can have in order to be successful in this sport?
A. You can have the best genetics, but without a strong mind it won’t get you anywhere. This is definitely the most difficult sport out there. You need determination to keep going even when your body doesn’t want to and you need to be able to use criticism constructively.
Q. Is it not very hard to exercise and lift on such a low calorie diet? I am talking about the pre-contest diet. I know you follow a very low calorie pre-contest diet. Don’t you get hungry?
A. I eat a lot! I eat about every 2-3 hours. It’s all about making the right food choices. So I never get hungry, I’ll just get cravings for food I am not supposed to have. As for exercising on a pre-contest diet, I supplement my training with pre-workouts. My strength might decrease the closer it gets to show time, but that never really bothers me. I’ll get tired while training, but my mind never loses focus and that makes it easy.
Q. For someone who is currently a non-competitor, but wants to be as healthy and fit as possible, what would you recommend as far as diet ratios and workout plan (i.e. combination of weights and cardio, how many days, etc.)?
A. I usually recommend at least 3 weight training sessions a week with about 20min cardio after each session and then 2 straight cardio sessions. A training sessions should last anything between 45 and 60 min. I can talk about nutrition for hours, but what it basically comes down to is having 5-6 meals a day that are high in protein (from lean sources like chicken, fish and eggs), moderate in carbohydrates (some oats, sweet potato and a lot of veggies!) and moderate in healthy fats (things like nuts and olive oil).
Q. Does your social life include others that are not into fitness or competition?
A. A lot of my friends have never touched a dumbbell in their life! I work pretty hard during the week with little time for social activities, but during the off-season or when I am not preparing for a photo shoot or event I spend weekends doing “normal” stuff with the “normal” crowd. I like dining out and clubbing every now and then.
Q. What is your favorite healthy meal?
A. I’ll never get tired of oats! There’s nothing like oats with egg whites and a dash of cinnamon in the morning!
Q. What is your favorite cheat meal?
A. I have a very sweet tooth so I would have to say chocolate!
Q. What is your favorite exercise?
A. I’m addicted to incline dumbbell pressing, alternating dumbbell bicep curls and standing calve raises! A weird combination, but I find those very enjoyable. ( I despise squats!)
Q. What is that one body part that you just can’t seem to bring up or make it look like you want?
A. Last year I wasn’t really happy with my shoulders and calve development. But in the last year I have managed to improve them quite a bit. Also, I don’t get particularly lean in my arms. My abs will be shredded, but I’ll lack definition in my arms. But I know it’ll get better the more conditioned I get over the years.
Q. What made you get into Fitness and Competition?
A. After injuring my back, I couldn’t compete in athletics or play hockey anymore. I was doing a rehab program for my back at the gym, ended up spending a lot of time there and ultimately studying personal training after school. I’ve always been very competitive, so after religiously training almost every day for a year, competing was just the next step.
Q. What is the best asset of your physique/body?
A. I am definitely blessed in the AB department !
Q. What are your methods for breaking through a plateau?
A. Change. And that’s one of the reason why I never follow a program or do the same workout twice. If you continue shocking your body, it will never get used to what you are doing. Alternatively, I add different supplements or change my diet around a bit and cycle my carb intake.
Q. Do you like the whole competition process? And how does it feel to be on the stage in the front of the hundreds and thousand people?
A. To be completely honest, I only enjoy competing because it’s such a challenge and because I’m addicted to “sculpting” my body. There are two things I thrive on: being thrown out of my comfort zone and being able to do something that takes a lot of hard work. As I mentioned earlier, I am really shy so having thousands of people judge me while I am parading on stage is a bit terrifying! But at a very young age I used to play piano and sing in front of large crowds so I guess I sort of got used to. I just try not to think about the people looking at me, be proud of what I present to them and get the job done!
Q. What are your future plans?
A. I’m still young. I’m only 21, so I have quite a few years left in me to compete! I didn’t compete this year because I wanted to work on some of my lacking body parts. Depending on my progress, I might compete again next year or in 2012. In the meantime I’ve got a few photo shoots and other events lined up. I’ve also been working really hard to establish myself as a personal trainer and sports nutritionist. But with regards to competing, I believe I’ll still bring a different standard to bikini athletes in the future. And if you can find another girl that is 6 ft. 2 (and that’s without heals on), then maybe I have competition 
Please visit Mandi’s personal website:
