Ani Polydorou: Body Work-out Coach

I am 52 years old, have a full and active life, surrounded by great friends and family and have reached a point where I find myself extremely happy and energetic each and every day. I am a dedicated Christian and the mother of four successful children aged between 20 and 30. I was born in Hungary and lived in several countries before settling in South Africa in 1985.

My professional life was in the Hospitality industry where I owned and ran three restaurants spanning 25 years.

I have run 43 marathons, over 200 half-marathons, 9 Two Ocean marathons of 56km, 4 Comrades Marathons (which are 90km), four Ironmans and numerous adventure races and achieved various podium finishes at these events. As well as these endurance events I have a passion for all round fitness which includes functional training which uses your own body-weight and basic gym equipment to develop all round strengthening and weight loss. Additionally I am a qualified Spinning Instructor and have been a Personal Trainer since 2014.

I am passionate about nutrition and the benefits this provides to perform at my optimum.

However in my 20s I weighed 100kgs and had no interest in fitness or health at all! The struggle with my weight affected every part of my life – my mental health, my self-esteem, my relationships – and I found it difficult to perform basic daily tasks, having very low energy levels and feeling an overall unhappiness in all aspects of my life.

I reached a point where I did not want to live like this anymore and decided I would start somewhere and joined a friend running around the block of my local neighborhood. Talk about taking this first step! From this initial point, my journey started and from this small, but simple run, my life began to change.

After several weeks people started complimenting me and suddenly my motivation grew and the distances I could run increased. Then I decided to look at nutrition and added a healthy diet to my daily life. This catapulted me forward and over a period of two years I lost over 40kgs!

My first marathon was 8 months after my jog around the block, where I came second in a time of 3 hours and 35 minutes and the rest is history.

Qualifications & Expertise:

Completed 43 marathons
9 Two Oceans Marathons
4 Comrades Ultra Marathons
4 Ironman 70.3
5 Cape Argus cycling Race
3 Midmar Mile Swimming Race

Personal Training of private clients – 2016 to current

Spinning Instructor at Pedal Studio, Cape Town 2021

Personal Trainer at Bold Body Gym: 2016-2019

Spinning instructor at Ignite Fitness: 2014-2016

Owner of New York Restaurant 1989 -2009 Bloemfontein, Owner of Cafe Eunice 2010-2012 Bloemfontein
Owner of Awestruck Bistro 2012-2014

Accredited in training & fitness nutrition

 

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