A 10-year-old Facebook memory reignited a passion in Amy Robinson to challenge herself once again in the sport of bodybuilding.

And what followed has been pleasantly unexpected for the Parkes woman.

Amy competed in the ICN ACT Regional Titles in September in Batemans Bay, walking away with a gold in the Bikini Momma division (for women who have had children) and a silver in the Bikini +30 years.

“I previously competed in 2015 and had a memory pop up on Facebook in May 2024,” the now 42-year-old said.

“I decided it would be great to do a 10-year comparison comp to see what I could do.” Though it’s not a sport for the faint hearted and one doesn’t simply enter.

It takes lots of discipline, consistent effort and the ability to say ‘no’, Amy said.

And her 22 years as a personal trainer and three as a nutritionist certainly aided her in her training.

“My first competition was in May 2015, I had a 12-month-old baby and wanted to see what my body could do postpartum,” Amy said.

“It was daunting to walk on stage back then as I had no idea what to expect.”

The prep was easier then too she said, as she was teaching a lot of fitness classes, playing hockey and doing other activities.

This time around her weeks consisted of waking up at 3am everyday, doing 60-90 minutes of cardio before work.

After work it was going to the gym for strength training four days per week.

“I did two days of food prepping, on Sundays and Wednesdays, all of my lunches and dinners, weighing and measuring out to meet my calorie targets,” Amy said.

“Breakfasts were measured and weighed, though done each day as I love a fresh smoothie.

“A very disciplined and structured nutritional approach is essential in comp prep.

“I have two muscle gain phases in my 15 months lead-up, where I was eating 3150 calories per day, then working into the weeks before prep, going down to 800 calories.

“There’s a lot of calculations and tracking progress.

“Strength sessions are similar to regular training, making sure I was working close to

failure with good technique, every time.

“Regular cardio I would do 30-45 minutes, prep was double and then some.”

After placing fourth and sixth in her first competition in 2015, Amy wasn’t really expecting to place this time around.

“I learnt so much in this prep compared to my previous one,” she said.

“To put in all of the work, and the commitment, I was ecstatic to come away with a first and a second.

“The journey is definitely the biggest win though, it was incredible to have my hard work recognised.

“The highlight was definitely being on stage and being able to display my hard work.

“Meeting the other competitors is my favourite part - everyone has worked so hard to get to the stage and it’s humbling to share with each other.”

The regional competition served as a qualifier for the Australian National Titles in Canberra, with Amy securing her place among the region’s best.

“And I was invited to compete in the Oceania Championships in New Zealand and The World Natural Games in Dubai,” she said.

“Though I hadn’t planned to compete in further competitions this year.

“2026 is about growth and training to put on more muscle tissue to compete again in 2027.

“Bodybuilding is certainly an incredible journey to undertake.

“The journey and what you learn about yourself is priceless and very worth it - the discipline, the focus, the commitment, the challenges and the resilience.”