Q&A: Olivia Vinson

As if business ownership and a PhD weren’t enough, this Launceston athlete just took out a Guinness World Record for the most pull-ups by a woman in 24 hours.

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These days, you call Launceston home. Where did you grow up up, and how did you end up in northern Tassie?

I was born in New Zealand, but spent most of my childhood and teenage years growing up on a dairy farm near Deloraine. I lived in the Scotch Oakburn College boarding house in Launceston from the age of 11, so I spent many years enjoying the city during the week and farm life on weekends.

After I finished Year 12, I moved to England for a year, where I worked at a boarding school as a tutor, and travelled Europe and Africa during the holidays. When I moved back to Australia, I headed to Melbourne for three years to do university.

Post-uni, I applied for jobs all around Australia and New Zealand, and was open to moving wherever I landed a job. That ended up being the Gold Coast, which I absolutely loved! I lived in Queensland for about three years, and came back to Tassie in 2016.

You co-own Launceston’s True Potential Training, a gym focused on functional fitness through small group classes and personal training. What has been your career journey to this point?

I studied media and communications at university, and my first job from there was in Queensland with Fitmedia, a company that published health and fitness magazines. I went on to get my Certificates III & IV in Fitness, which allowed me to help others improve their health and fitness even more, and I worked my way up to becoming Deputy Editor at Oxygen and FitnessPro magazines. 

When I moved back to Tasmania eight years ago, I made a career change into graphic design. Today, I'm doing a PhD on human-tech interactions, alongside owning True Potential Training with my husband Mike. My fitness, graphic design, media and communication skills are all merging into one!

Can you tell us more about your PhD?

I'm specifically looking at cognitive absorption on social media, where we become so absorbed that we lose track of time and awareness of what's happening around us. The importance of this research lies in the link between absorption on social media and problematic social media use, which is linked to anxiety, depression and sleeping issues, to name a few. 

My interest in this stemmed from my work in graphic design. We create content to try to engage people as much as possible, which leads to longer time on social media. I wanted to look at the flip side: how is the content and level of engagement impacting consumers? What triggers absorption on social media, how do users experience it, and how does it impact them afterwards?

You recently took out a Guinness World Record for the most pull-ups in 24 hours for a female. Can you tell us about how you trained for this enormous achievement? 

I trained 4-5 days per week, with some double-session days. Initially, it was about testing my threshold: figuring out the maximum pull-ups I could get in one, two and three hours, and building my program from there. My training involved a lot of back and biceps strengthening, and we also focused on building my shoulder and core muscles to ensure everything was firing correctly. 

It goes without saying that there were also alot of pull-ups in there! Some days I used bands, some were just bodyweight, and others involved adding weight. I had an endurance session every Saturday, which was typically anywhere from four to seven hours of pull-ups. These sessions involved testing different rep ranges and rest periods to continually assess my threshold, and to determine where I was maxing out and where I could go harder. Rest days were key. The better my recovery, the faster my strength gains.

What about the record attempt day itself? How did you approach that?

I had a clear plan from the start and front-loaded my reps. Every few hours, the reps would drop, so I went from sets of six to five to four, and eventually down to three in the final hours. I had a timer on my phone, which beeped every time I needed to do a set. All the thinking was taken out of it: the beep went off, I stood up and did my reps.

I'd already done a 12-hour session in training, so everything up to then was familiar territory. I was never worried about whether I'd make the 24 hours mentally - my main concern was whether my body would hold out. In the 12-hour training session, my hands had started to swell and I could feel my biceps tendon pulling. When it came to 24 hours, I needed to focus on consuming enough food, fluid and electrolytes, to prevent too much muscle tightness, and avoid my hands swelling and tearing.

Nausea hit me in the last 5-6 hours. It was 3am when the nausea began, and we had nothing that could help. At that point, I was 18 hours in. I'd come way too far to drop back or give up, so the only way out was through. It was definitely the most uncomfortable part of the 24 hours.

I held my set rep scheme for 22 hours, but the fatigue and nausea were hitting me hard in the last two hours and I dropped off slightly. When the final hour arrived, I picked up. I was so close to 7,000 and heaps of people were rolling in to support me, so the energy in the gym shifted. When the 24-hour timer went off, I mostly felt relief that I could stop, disbelief at what I'd achieved, and gratitude for a husband and community who supported me from day one right up to the last minute and beyond. 

Why was this a challenge that you wanted to take on?

When my husband first suggested I do 24 hours of pull-ups, I literally laughed out loud. The old record was 4,081 pull-ups, and I thought there that was no way I was capable of that.

Our gym is big on encouraging members to take on challenges that can help them to grow both mentally and physically. The fear of failure often prevents us from even trying, and the reality was that I had no idea if I could or couldn't achieve the record - I just assumed I couldn't. After thinking about it for a bit and crunching some numbers, I decided that if we push our members to lean into discomfort, then I should do the same. No matter the outcome, there was a lot of growth to be had from simply trying.

After eight months of training, I hit the old 24-hour record of 4,081 in under 11 hours, and went on to add another 3,000 reps to the tally for an official total of 7,079 pull-ups.

Moving forward, it forces me to question everything I don't believe I can do. It also proves just how important it is to be surrounded by people who believe in and support you. Mike and the True Potential community helped me achieve far more than I ever thought possible.

Why is physical movement so important to you?

Sport was a big part of my life growing up, with athletics and soccer being my favourites. I started in the gym when I was 16 years old, doing a combination of Les Mills and standard weight training, before I discovered CrossFit in my twenties. CrossFit was a welcome shift away from aesthetics to performance.

Today, I would describe my programming base as functional training, but it has elements of CrossFit-style movements. I couldn't recommend functional fitness more for creating a well-rounded athlete with a solid strength and conditioning base.

Where do you go in northern Tassie for great eats and drinks?

Buddha Thai and Saigon Kitchen are go-tos for some quick and healthy take-aways. We also love going for a drive to enjoy some wine and platters, with Clover Hill being a favourite.

Where do you get away to for a Tassie staycation?

Binalong Bay has been our regular staycation since I was a kid. If my husband and I really feel like getting away, we'll book anywhere remote and peaceful where we can take our dog and spend some time in the great Tassie outdoors.

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