Last month, I did a photoshoot with Mirjam van Sambeek at Back2Basic in Purmerend. I typically spend a day on a shoot and the post-processing. However, my models often work for months towards that one moment. Mirjam tells here how she was able to achieve this result.
Mirjam van Sambeek
Age: 27
Height: 1.56m
Weight: Currently around 45 kg
Gym: Mainly Basic Fit Amsterdam Osdorp
Could you describe your sporting background? Which sports have you done and when did you start with (serious) strength training? Why did you start with it?
Up until high school, I was quite active and always did some sport or physical activity. I started with jazz ballet a long time ago. Later, I switched to judo, because my little brother had been doing it for a while, and I thought it looked pretty cool. In between, I also did some gymnastics.
Then, there was a big gap of inactivity that lasted until my 4th year of study. During my high school years, this wasn’t a problem. My school was 10 km away, which I diligently cycled every day. In addition, physical education at school twice a week was more than enough for me. When I then went on to university, I was initially busy enough with that, and parties were a higher priority. Besides, I didn’t pay attention to my diet at all. You could slowly start to see it. I never really had overweight, but I was beginning to get a little belly. Also, my condition was to cry for. That was eventually the reason why I picked up sports again. I enrolled in the nearest gym, and from there, it slowly grew.
At the beginning, I did a bit of whatever I felt like. Sometimes it was group classes, and sometimes it was just me training a bit with the machines and free weights. My condition improved, but real results were absent. Back then, I didn’t know that good nutrition is an important part. That slowly came when I met my boyfriend. He had been into sports and nutrition for a few years and showed me how you could apply both bit by bit to work towards a certain goal. From that moment on, my interest and enthusiasm have grown more and more, and I spent over 2 years experimenting with both training and nutrition.
I certainly made progress, but I knew it could be better, so after a lot of hesitation, I decided to work with a personal trainer for six months. I wanted to learn more, have a bigger challenge both physically and mentally, and make visible physical progress. After a short introductory talk, my trainer, Danny van Hijum, and I decided that I would first bulk for 3 months and then cut for 3 months with the ultimate goal of achieving a certain ‘dryness’ needed for bikini fitness competitions. In short: I went into a bikini fitness trajectory but without the actual competition at the end. Instead, we agreed that I would schedule a photoshoot to have a concrete goal. And so I did.
What kind of support/guidance do you receive?
At the moment, I no longer receive guidance, but during my training trajectory, I mainly received distance guidance. After an initial physical measurement, I received my personal training and eating schedules via email, after that, we only met when I had to do a new measurement. Based on the measurement results, my schedules were adjusted. The first few training sessions were done together so he could see if I was performing the exercises correctly, but most of the time, I trained independently. I could WhatsApp 24/7 if I had questions/comments/doubts/insecurities, and I would usually get a detailed answer within a few minutes.
What are the most significant changes you’ve experienced, both physically and mentally, through strength training?
The most important thing I’ve taken away is more insight into how my body works. I now know much better what and how to eat and train.
Physically, I’ve definitely improved. During my bulk, my muscle mass increased by 2 kg, and during my cut, I achieved a body fat percentage and physique that I hadn’t thought possible beforehand. This body fat percentage is now a bit higher, as maintaining such a low level is simply not healthy for an extended period, but it was certainly cool to see myself that lean!
Mentally, especially the cut was a challenge, particularly towards the end. I was somewhat prepared for this before I started this whole trajectory, but it’s always a bit uncertain how you’ll react when you get there. To be honest, I didn’t expect it to be so hard. You’re hungry, constantly tired, and get massive cravings, but you try to convince yourself to keep going and push through. That’s why it helps to have a concrete goal.
What is your favorite muscle group to train.
Shoulders! I really love training my shoulders; I get such a visibly nice pump from it haha. I see it a bit less when I train other muscle groups. Also, I can still push out a few repetitions while feeling the burn, which I sometimes find difficult with other muscle groups.
Which exercises do you enjoy doing and which ones do you do purely out of discipline?
There are many exercises that I enjoy doing. Especially everything for my shoulders, pull downs, rows, Romanian deadlifts, sumo squats, and cable pull throughs are favorites. I’ve come to dislike regular squats, walking lunges, and hip thrusts. I generally prefer training my upper body, but well-defined, muscular legs and a tight butt are enough motivation to blast through those leg days.
Do you have any specific goals? Are there particular things you have in mind when you train?
The most important thing for me is that I can train comfortably. I still follow the training schedule from my personal trainer. I train about 4x per week and train a different muscle group each day. That works best for me and keeps it from getting boring too quickly.
As for a goal, I always try to make some progress with my exercises. Then, I try to perform a certain exercise progressively heavier over a few weeks, for example. Or I try to improve my technique. At the moment, I mainly train and eat for maintenance. I want to have enough energy to train well but stay somewhat lean until the summer is over. However, I am now less strict with my diet. During my training trajectory, I almost exclusively ate rice, chicken, and vegetables. I still eat that regularly, but now I vary my diet more often when I feel like it.
After the summer, I want to slowly start building more muscle mass again, but exactly how, I’ll see at that time.
What do you find most challenging about nutrition?
Hm, that’s a tough one. I have a real sweet tooth, but I try to maintain a balance between regularity and enjoyment. So, I prep healthy meals but also vary them, or eat something else if I feel more like it. I try to keep it quite strict for 5 days, sticking as much as possible to my macros and trying not to snack too much. I find this easier to combine with training. The other 2 days, usually the weekend, I’m less strict and don’t keep track of anything.
Recently, we did a photoshoot at Back2Basic in Purmerend. Did you think a year ago you would ever walk into such a gym for a photoshoot?
No, absolutely not. Of course, I often saw such photoshoots on social media, but I never thought I would dare to stand like that myself, especially not within a year.
How do people react to your physique when they see you working out in the gym or see your photos?
Many are quite impressed, especially the people who haven’t closely followed the journey. But also my friends who know how much time and discipline it has taken… they rarely see what’s hidden under my clothes and the progress that has been made.
In the gym, they know me by now, at least the regulars do. The people (mostly men) who don’t know me sometimes look a bit strange at first, I’m one of the few girls who really trains in the weight room, but as soon as they see that I train seriously, they are visibly impressed. Sometimes I get a compliment or a spontaneous fist bump, which I find nice.
What advice would you give to women who want to start training?
The most important thing is that you do something you enjoy. Training reluctantly doesn’t help in the long run.
Also, try to set goals for yourself. This not only makes training more focused but also more challenging. So, if you squat 40kg for 10 repetitions this week, try to do 45kg next time or aim for 12 repetitions.
And if you don’t know where to start, invest temporarily in a personal trainer. I learned so much from it in a short time, which I can now continue with independently.
