An Interview with Vicki Anstey, SAS Who Dares Wins

To celebrate International Women’s Day, we interviewed Vicki Anstey, the UK’s leading Barre expert, founder of Barreworks.co.uk and star of the Channel 4 show SAS: Who Dares Wins.

Vicki made the final 8 on the gruelling two-week course, where 25 recruits battled through the toughest conditions to complete trials created by 5 ex-Special Forces soldiers, replicating the real life SAS’s secret selection process.

This year, the ministry of defence will be changing their selection criteria for the SAS, allowing women to apply for the first time. To coincide with this, Vicki Anstey was chosen for the first ever series that featured male and female candidates competing against one another!

We spoke to Vicki to find out all about her time on the course, her inspirational fitness journey and plans for the future…

Tell us about your love of fitness, how did it all start? 

I guess it began around 15 years ago when, as an Advertising Manager for some big brands I had become so consumed with my career that I realised I had really begun to neglect myself. My health, my happiness, my emotional well being. I was overweight and did almost no exercise at all. I ate at my desk, spent long days and nights at the office or in edit suites, partied quite hard and spent weekends sleeping.

I decided to make a change, firstly with my weight, then with exercise and soon I found that my priorities were changing. Soon I was scheduling my week around when I could exercise, curtailing long days at work to make commitments to attend exercise classes and go running. One of my strongest character traits is that when I decide to do something, I don’t stop until it is done. Soon I had lost 5 stone in weight, run 5 marathons, become an addict of the Lotte Berk method and changed my diet beyond recognition. 

The toughest aspect of that has definitely been maintaining that lifestyle. Staying firmly ON the wagon. And I have. I now train in a variety of different ways including military fitness, crossfit and rugby-style strength and conditioning. Alongside barre, ballet, running and spinning too.

How did you train for the show?

I only found out I had passed the physical assessment and subject to medic and psych tests, I would be going to Chile with two weeks to prepare. I had to rely on the fact that my fitness and strength would be enough.

My training regime is really varied, with weights, pushing, pulling, dragging, running, spinning and barre all thrown into the mix. I have done that for years and no amount of sudden, specific training was likely to give me an extra edge at that stage, so I turned my focus to things like swimming and boxing/wrestling where I didn’t have much experience or felt ‘out of my depth’.

My brilliant PT, Mel Deane took me to the pool and chucked me in a few times. Held me under and made me feel generally uncomfortable in water. As if I didn’t already panic when my head went under. He also wrestled and boxed with me. I asked him to punch me square in the face at one session. In the knowledge that might happen (which it did!) and so that I didn’t have to experience that for the first time in Chile. It hurt a bit (and he wasn’t happy about doing it) but it prepared me so well.  

What was the most challenging part of your time at SAS?

Every second, minute and hour was harder than any second, minute or hour I had ever experienced in my life. I am physically very fit, I train for several hours every day. I rarely take a day off. I also have a good level of resilience and a strong work ethic, but this pushed me further than anything I have ever known. 

The DS were brutal. There was no ’show for camera’, these men were not TV presenters, they were Special Forces veterans who knew exactly how to take us beyond our limits and show us what we really capable of. They took no prisoners, offered no reassurance but they commanded our respect immediately.

The toughest task for me was one of the water tasks where we had to swim full clothed and booted through water that carried a strong current. I’m not a strong swimmer at all and I came pretty close to drowning. The water was freezing cold and the shock to my body was like nothing I’ve ever experienced. I honestly don’t know how I got out alive.

What was your favourite part of the SAS experience? 

The camaraderie was a huge factor in pushing us through it. 25 very different individuals, from totally different backgrounds, our paths would almost never have crossed, but we had such a strong bond almost immediately. We were reliant on each other and became ‘institutionalised’ very quickly.

We learned to read each other’s faces, body language, fears and anxieties. We literally became brothers and sisters within days of meeting. That bond is still very strong. At times when you felt you couldn’t push any further, you felt you had to keep going for your fellow recruits.

Being on of the first show including Women, did you feel more pressure to succeed? And would you do it again?

I definitely wanted to be able to help move the needle in terms of women seeing what they are capable of. So in that sense I wanted to do well, but I didn’t ever have a sense that there was competition between women and men. We genuinely were just 25 individuals in there, gender played no role and there were no allowances made.

I would do it all again tomorrow, no question!

Is Foxy as good looking in real life? (Asking for a friend)

Haha, no comment (but yes).

Our readership is 70% female, what advice would you give women for motivation?

When you really push yourself, you find out who you are and what you are capable of which is an incredibly empowering thing. If you find it hard to motivate yourself with specific fitness goals, focus instead on the mental strength it will bring you. Learn to get comfortable with the uncomfortable, that’s how you build resilience.

I’m a huge believer in training for general physical preparedness, you never know what challenges you are going to face in life but having physical strength will help you to be at your best, even when you are at your worst.

What is your go-to workout track and why?

Anything 70’s disco will get me moving, but I also love Drake, Rihanna and I’m obsessed with Tom Walker right now.

What gives you motivation to succeed?

If I ever hear that something can’t be done, I immediately want to do it. So that’s like a red rag to a bull for me!

And my Dad instilled in me the fact that if you put the effort in to something (anything) good things will happen. I’m diligent and determined in my approach to most things – in business as much as my training. I’m not the smartest or the strongest or the fastest, but I believe effort counts for double.  

Who is your most inspirational woman?

I’m hugely inspired by women like Serena Williams. She never gives up, trains hard, doesn’t give a toss what others think of her – and she is prepared to stand up and be listened to. Plus, physically, she is a demi-God.

But I’m also inspired by people who just turn their mind to something, with next to no previous experience and set world records. I train with Kiko Matthews who was the first woman to solo row the Atlantic and still holds the record for the fastest time. She was a school teacher, had a brain tumour and decided to live life and see what she was capable of. Incredible.

When did you start your fitness journey?

Over 15 years ago when I quit the corporate world to train in the Lotte Berk method.

I had never been particularly sporty at school or university but I started to see the dramatic way my body changed when I started moving it and training it. I really made a lifestyle change and have never regretted it – every aspect of my life has been enhanced by it and I become more committed as I get older!

If you could only do one exercise forever what would it be?

Deadlift. The most complete exercise you can do – it gives you a solid basis of strength for so many other movements and targets the posterior chain of muscles that are often neglected.

What’s next for you?   

My business is now in its 10^th year, which is a huge milestone for me and I intend to continue that journey, always finding ways to innovate and diversify within the world of barre.

Following SAS Who Dares Wins, I have really become an advocate for women’s resilience, grit and determination, inspiring others to exploit their genetic potential (physical and mental).

I believe that achievement doesn’t have to be constrained by talent – we all have it in us to succeed if we are driven to do so. I’m really enjoying writing articles, recording podcasts and doing motivational speaker events on the subject. I’d love to do more TV work, so I’m working on treatments that explore the gap between what we think we can do and what we really can do. Watch this space!

Check out Vicki Anstey from SAS on Instagram to follow her journey @VickiAnstey