On a nice Saturday, on the 14th of May in Brno, we chose new members of our NEBBIA Girls team which is a group of sportswomen that inspire and help our fans reach their fitness goals. Thanks to them we can bring even more motivation and training and diet tips. NEBBIA Girls project is also part of our long-term concept aimed at supporting young talented individuals in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. This is one of our new NEBBIA Girls whom we help achieve her dreams Viktoria Filipi.
What does fitness mean to you?
Fitness is my passion. I am so lucky that I have found something that I really enjoy and love, and it gives me a sense of fulfillment. I have found my identity in this sport, and I can see my future in it. Fitness has saved me. I haven’t just gotten into shape, which isn’t so important to me, I have gotten skills for a better life: discipline, humility, faith, hunger for self-improvement, and not wanting everything right away. I have a long way ahead of myself, but I know I am on the right path.
How did you start with fitness?
I started doing sports when I was a child thanks to my parents. In the past, I tried ballet and hip-hop. Thanks to my dad I started doing canoe slalom competitively. This created the base of my shoulders and back. 😀 When I was a teenager, I was doing mainly pole dancing. The first time I entered the gym, I was 16. I wanted to look better. I didn’t feel good in my body, and I wanted a better butt. 😀 I should emphasize that by then I have been doing pole dancing several times a week for three years. I definitely wasn’t fat. When I started with fitness, I had no intention of becoming a bikini fitness athlete. My love of fitness grew over time.
What’s your current workout plan?
Currently, I am getting ready for the autumn competition. My workout plan consists of five workouts and two days off a week. This is what it looks like:
- Monday: Glutes and hamstrings
- Tuesday: Deep back muscles and abdominals
- Wednesday: Shoulders and arms
- Thursday: Active rest: Swimming
- Friday: Front thighs
- Saturday: Lats and abdominals
- Sunday: Active rest
I also try to do 10 000 steps every day.
Tell us how you stay in shape, your meal plan, and nutrition tips.
Currently, I am following a bulking diet that consists mostly of clean foods. Thanks to my current plan I can gain muscle with little fat. I would advise others to eat enough protein and vegetables. If I get enough calories from protein for my body weight and height, I don’t want anything else. My advice is as follows: If you want to lose weight and stop eating junk food, paradoxically, you have to eat more nutritionally dense foods. You need to enjoy and like the food you eat.
We learn from our mistakes. What mistakes have you made on your fitness journey? What would you do differently?
I wouldn’t change anything; my mistakes have formed me. If I were to give any advice to other people, I would tell them to not compare themselves to others. We are all on a different journey, there isn’t a single right one. I always felt like I am doing something wrong. I wanted to know what other people are doing at school, in their free time, in holiday job, with friends, and in relationships. I realized who I am and where I am going later. Everyone finds their confidence with time.
I would also tell them to not want everything right away. Great things need time and patience, you shouldn’t give up after a first mistake. Don’t try to please everyone, no one has ever achieved that.
Sometimes we have to be very brave. What was the biggest challenge in your life?
That’s an interesting question. To be specific, the change from secondary school to university was hard for me. I moved to a new town, changed schools, found new friends, started working and preparing for my first competition, and I also broke up with my boyfriend at the time. It all happened in a few months. Mentally, I also had to stop caring what other people think about me, start doing things that I want, and learn how to say no.
Tell us a bit about your life outside of fitness. What do you study? What is your job?
I am studying at the First Faculty of Medicine at Charles University in Prague. I am in my first year. I work as a receptionist in a gym, and I have become a team member of NEBBIA. I like to visit my hometown Ceska Lipa sometimes during the weekends. Before I started competition preparation, I loved travelling and adventure, I don’t have much time for it now, but I have big travelling dreams. I still have time for my friends whom I enjoy seeing.
What are your plans for the future?
My plans for next year and a half are to get to the second year of medicine and get ready for the autumn and spring season, work for NEBBIA, and get the most out of our collaboration in the best way possible. Next Christmas and summer I would like to go abroad and maybe take a break from competing.
My long-term plans are to become a doctor and connect medicine with bikini fitness experience and create something that I could do for a living. I am curious myself.
What was your fitness journey with NEBBIA like? Do you remember your first piece?
I remember that from the beginning of my fitness journey I have seen your clothing at home because my mom loves shopping. I can honestly say that NEBBIA has been with me from the start, and I have a special relationship with it. The very first piece that I remember was leggings from your older collection.
What does being a NEBBIA Girl mean to you?
Becoming a NEBBIA Girl was a huge milestone for me. I felt that I needed a new stimulus. It came at the right time. It gives me satisfaction from all that effort I put into fitness. I experienced the famous saying: “Hard work pays off.“ I am so grateful to NEBBIA for this opportunity. It’s an honour because I don’t think there’s a sports clothes brand I would like to work with more.
What’s your favourite “cheat meal”?
My favourite cheat meal is probably Mcdonald’s’. I also love Bun Bo Nam Bo; I could eat it five times a day.
Can you tell us something about yourself that only your friends know?
Remarks about how much I can eat and where it goes. I also imitate the dialect from the north part of the Czech Republic :D.
The last thing, I am always fifteen minutes late. Everybody knows it. I am working on it and I am getting better since I am not proud of it. Once I accidentally said that if I should be somewhere at two o’clock, I get going at three. We are still joking about this with my mom because it’s supposedly true.
What was the best advice you have ever received?
When my dad was training while I was doing canoe slalom, he would always shout this: “Keep your eyes on the gate, you need your eyes, the rest is peripheral.” Or he would just say: “Eyes!” It meant I should raise my head, straighten up, and watch the next gate. I didn’t think much of it then, it was driving me mad :D. Recently, I had a conversation with him about the school, sport, business, and goals and we were saying goodbye, he said: “Keep your eyes on the gate, you need your eyes, the rest is peripheral.” He was talking about my life. I remember being struck by the realization of how all my past experiences connect, I stood there for a little while. My dad knows what to say and when.
What’s your favourite show or a film?
My favourite show is probably Euphoria, and my favourite film is the fifth Harry Potter film, definitely!
What’s favourite exercise?
My favourite exercise is hip thrust even though we have a love-hate relationship.
Tell us about your pole dancing journey and your accomplishments in this sport.
After years of doing team competitions in hip-hop, I wanted to do an individual sport. My two older classmates started going to our town’s pole dancing studio was founded by now a friend of mine Bara Szabova. When I was fifteen, I chose pole dancing and I said goodbye to hip-hop. At first, I was working with kids and later with adults too and I had private lessons too.
Looking back, what do you think about your experience as an instructor of pole dancing at such a young age?
When I was fifteen, I was scared and I wasn’t the best dancer or instructor, but I have found my style of teaching gradually and I enjoyed it very much. Looking back, it’s interesting that the girls respected me. Being a pole dance instructor taught me so much at that age. I learned to communicate better, and be more organized, responsible, and empathetic. I would like to say I became more punctual as well, but I still have to work on that 😀 I am grateful for this experience. I always said that doing pole dance was the best decision I could have made. Now, I think the best decision was to go to the gym for the first time.
