One strong woman redefining female beauty for new millennium
This Malaysian international fitness champ working out in high heels says toned women are beautiful, and who’d dare argue?
PETALING JAYA: If you are a couch potato, the name Ammetta Malhotra Bergin is unlikely to ring any bells. But in the world of pumping iron in high heels she’s a star.
This awesomely toned model and successful business woman is on a mission to redefine what a beautiful female physique is.
She champions fit and healthy bodies over the sometimes fashionable starving waif look many women strive for.
At 46, this ripped Punjabi Malaysian mother of three already has sports modelling wins under her belt at World Fitness Federation competitions in Australia and Singapore.
In 2018 she was also Mrs Malaysia Globe Classic, part of Mrs Globe, the biggest and most prestigious beauty pageant for older married women in the world.
FMT chatted with her at Target Fitness PJ, the gym she founded and still runs.
“I was always athletic. At school I enjoyed judo, and games like badminton, which involve a lot of stamina,” she told us.
She studied English literature and performing arts at university but after gaining her Master’s degree in rehabilitation science she realised promoting fitness was her real vocation.
She opened her gym in Petaling Jaya and grew it into a successful business. Together with her personal training staff she has raised fitness levels in hundreds of clients.
Along the way, she married, raised three kids and felt fulfilled in that respect. But she had a nagging feeling that something was still missing.
“I was doing so many things and looking really good, but I felt I hadn’t achieved all I could do with my life. So I wondered what new challenge I could aim for.”
She had always been interested in fitness competitions.
“But all the time I was building my business and concentrating on making money, I never had enough time to actually enter any competitions.
“When I turned 40, I thought: it’s not too late. I decided to take part in the World Fitness Federation Universe event as a sports model.”
She came last.
She put this down to competing in the all-ages category, so next she entered the over-30 competition at the WFF Kahma Classic in Melbourne.
This time she won gold.
Ammetta noticed that the international idea of feminine beauty does not generally go hand in hand with extreme fitness and strength.
She wanted to change the narrative that being moderately muscular was not beautiful, so she entered the Mrs Universe 2019 pageant.
Mrs Universe, not to be confused with Miss Universe, is an international competition open to women between 18 and 55 who have a family and career.
The finals were held in Sofia, Bulgaria, and Ammetta stood out for being one of the few dark-skinned Asians in a crowd of mostly white Europeans.
She became the first Malaysian ever to win a top three place in the competition.
In so doing, she proved that there is no shame in being a fit, muscular woman, especially at her age. “I was not pretending to be something I was not. I was genuine”.
She has plenty of admirers on her social media pages. Over 93,000 followers on Instagram alone. But she also has detractors.
“On stage I wear a thong bikini, so I’ve accepted I’m going to get negative remarks from certain quarters,” she said. “I try to educate the haters or block them out.”
She has better things to do than worry about caustic comments.
Her business is booming and she and her team are busy drawing up customised fitness programs with full psychological support for Target Fitness clients.
“Getting fit isn’t easy,” she cautioned. “For many people it may seem great at first, but those who don’t love exercising will soon say this is no fun and lose interest.
“Some people are too busy to attend regularly and so don’t achieve their targets. They may drop out altogether. We try to make things fun to get them to come back.
Her trainers are all 100% committed to helping each client achieve the targets they set.
These days she often represents Malaysia in international competitions. “It’s a struggle, she joked. “I always have to be out there in the limelight.”
Her high profile and winning ways are part of the reason she has been offered the post of Malaysian national director of the Super Model Universe competition, based in Bulgaria.
In this new role, Ammetta is on a mission to create a different type of younger supermodel. “I’ve already started all-girl workouts for those who are fitness conscious and who also want to become models.”
“I will be their mentor, there for them whether they win or not,” she said. “When I was competing, I was usually alone. I won’t let that happen to them.”
Light on her toes as ever, she also has her sights set on other fashion and fitness projects.
It’s a challenge even for someone as strong and focused as Ammetta.
“I brought this positive change to the beauty world,” she said, beaming with pride.
So aspiring fitness models know who to call if they fancy treading the boards at international pageants.
But it’ll be hard work following in Ammetta’s high-heeled footsteps in the spotlight.
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This is one lady who seriously punches above her weight in the world of beauty.