INSPIRED TO GO FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH
SINGLE mum Lisa Saygun says her son’s strength is what inspired her to become Geelong’s first female professional bodybuilder with the International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness.
Ms Saygun’s six-year-old son, Kye, was born with half a heart and has endured seven major open-heart operations and has gone into cardiac arrest as well as suffered a stroke.
At the time he was given a 1 per cent chance of survival.
“When you’re going through a traumatic experience, I personally find a way to manage is by having an outlet to put all that pain, hurt and trauma into,” she said.
“Bodybuilding has been one of those things that has allowed me to throw all my emotions and energy into, and consequently has allowed me to manage my sick child and be the best mum I can be mentally and emotionally.”
Ms Saygun first started competing in 2006 but has taken a number of years off while she cared for her son.
She said over Kye’s lifetime, the pair have spent more than 630 days in hospital.
“The first two years of him being in hospital, I didn’t have an outlet, respectfully speaking, it drove me batty, there was no way to selfregulate my emotions. I was a single mum doing it on my own,” she said.
“I went back to what I knew was my happy place for an hour a day, focusing on my passion project – which was me.”
Last month Ms Saygun took out the Victorian bodybuilding titles, making her a professional athlete now vying to become Australia’s first female competitor to win the Olympia.
Previously competing as an amateur, Ms Saygun will need to win a professional competition in order to gain access to the Olympia.
“I’m working towards it now, I have a 12-month goal for that,” she said.
“It has been 17 years and 51 shows in my lifetime to get me to this point of becoming a professional athlete.
“When it comes to pressure, with Kye’s health, my personal business and my own training, I work well. “I believe I am capable of doing this and I have an amazing team around me.” Running her holistic body transformation business called Lisa Saygun Body Fit, she said her focus was on the five pillars of health – mental, emotional, spiritual, nutritional and physical.
“My ultimate goal is to redefine how women see health and helping them become the best version of themselves,” she said.