Siv Ngesi transforms his body in just 11 weeks. Picture: Instagram @sivngesi
Actor and comedian Siv Ngesi is never shy about where he stands on pressing matters and when the star sets a goal for himself, he sure knows how to push himself to the limit.
Celebrities have access to dieticians and trainers to transform their bodies and Ngesi’s workout routine is tailored for gym fanatics.
Giving himself 11 weeks for a body transformation that brought him “pain and suffering”, the Still Breathing actor not only lifted heavyweights but incorporated pole dancing to help his weight-loss journey.
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This is not the first weight-loss and fitness goal for Ngesi. He has set similar challenges for himself before, providing tricks for people to lose weight faster.
Earlier this year, he turned heads in full drag under the name Sivanna as a way to get himself out of his comfort zones and do ballet and pole dancing.
At the time, Ngesi also refused to entertain questions about his sexuality, saying it is “irrelevant”.
Several months of pole dancing later, Ngesi is now a semi-professional in the male category. He came first in the National Pole Aerial Championships this September. Ngesi says the sport is challenging and painful at times.
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Pole dancing needs a lot of core strength and flexibility. Ngesi took some flexibility classes to get his body right for the different types of splits and movements.
Once an activity that was taboo, pole dancing as a sport has changed over the years and taken off as a workout option.
Pole dancing is a complete body workout. It requires you to lift and hold your own body weight, making it perfect for building strength in your back muscles, biceps, triceps and forearms, Insure4Sport reports.
Pole dancing increases your flexibility, helps improve your cardiovascular health, weight loss and mental health.
Exercise in general releases endorphins, which have been proven to decrease stress and anxiety.
With the help of Fitness SA, in a period of 11 weeks he collectively spent six full 24-hour days (154 hours or 9,240 minutes) exercising and doing cardio.
He ate 55.4kg of hake, 18.48kg of chicken breasts and 2,541 egg whites during that period. Definitely not for the faint-hearted, he also drank eight raw eggs for muscle gain.
Ngesi says he didn’t eat a single carb in 77 days.
“Trust me, it was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done. But with my people on my side, through sheer force of will, and belief in myself, I reached my goal,” he said.
Ngesi literally transformed his body into one of his icons, Superman, as he placed first in the Men’s Fitness Model competition, and second in Mr Fitness (pole and body).
Ngesi also trained like a beast, doing a mixture of boxing, deadlifts and cardio with dumbells.
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