... Laura Basta! You and our judging panel voted her our Next Fitness Star for 2017. And it’s not hard to see why
Drum roll please… or perhaps “roll up, roll up” would be more appropriate, since Laura Basta, the winner of our annual Puma WH Next Fitness Star comp, honed her fitness skills in the circus.
“I started exercise really young, at two-and-a-half: gymnastics, dancing. But I injured myself, I broke my arm doing gymnastics, so I ‘recycled’ myself into circus as a circus performer/acrobat,” says French-born Basta, 26.
Her fit childhood ignited a passion for movement – so when it came to finishing school and enrolling in study, the choice was obvious to Basta. “I always loved being active – sport is my passion, so I decided to study fitness.” It helped that her parents were supportive of this call. “My parents were artists so they pushed me to not become an artist, because it’s quite [a hard life]. Parents want the best for their kids. So they were like, ‘Great, you really love training, keep going and then you can become an instructor.’ So in France I went to uni for three years, studied sports. I have a Bachelor degree and a diploma in both fitness and bodybuilding.” Impressive!
SWEAT, WITH A SMILE
But it was after arriving to live in Australia just over three years ago with her French boyfriend that Basta got the opportunity to combine her two great loves: fitness instruction and circus. “Fitness Playground [a Sydney gym] opened a location in Surry Hills and I got a job as a trainer. Because my background is in circus and fitness – and since my boss is so open-minded – two years ago I created a new type of class, a mix of circus and fitness that we called Circus Fit.”
This story is from the September 2017 edition of Women's Health Australia.
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This story is from the September 2017 edition of Women's Health Australia.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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