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Kate Bacik On Performance And Being A Woman In MMA

26th August 2020

26th August 2020

By Robyn Schaffer

Kate Bacik is a fighter, a coach and a personal trainer. From MMA, to Brazilian jiu jitsu, to wrestling, and even yoga, Kate does it all, and she’s the ultimate example of high-level performance. We sat down with her (over Zoom, of course) to ask her all about how she ensures she’s performing her best, and how she’s made use of the past few months to get even better at her craft.

Hey Kate! So tell us, what’s your hustle?

I’m a fighter, a coach and a personal trainer. I like to mix it up. I do a bit of Brazilian jiu jitsu, some wrestling, kickboxing, boxing. I also enjoy yoga too.

Who inspires you when it comes to performance?

I don’t really have role models or particular people I look up to. I never have. But I do find quite a lot of ‘day-to-day’ people inspiring. For example, some of my clients; they might have a really hard day but they still show up, push through and feel better after.

I also feel extremely inspired by some of the fighters I've seen in Asia. I spent a few months living in the Philippines and there are children there - 10 or 11 years old - putting so much hard work and focus into their fighting, despite the fact that there aren’t really any prospects there for them. There’s not as many opportunities as we have here in the UK, and little money. But they’re putting all the hard work in just because they love it, and they have passion. They get up at like 5am and their coaches are super tough on them, but they do it all with a smile on their faces.



When was a time you felt you performed your very best?

That’s a funny one. I’ve had quite a few fights in my life and some have been quite important - for a belt or a title or something. There’s a lot of pressure with those. But some of those I would lose really badly. And actually, when I’ve felt like I’ve performed my best, it’s been in the fights I really didn’t care about. When I only had a week to prepare. I think it was the lack of pressure. When you’re the underdog, or no one expects you to do well, that’s when we tend to do better because there’s less pressure on ourselves. 

What role does mindset play when it comes to performing better?

It’s the most important thing. We can train our bodies to do whatever we want. Our bodies are amazing and they’re capable of so much, but it’s a matter of activating that power in your mind. Your attitude can change everything. 

What’s your pre-fight ritual? 

I used to have a really set routine. A whole list of things I’d do the day before. I used to think if anything broke the routine, then I wouldn’t win. But sometimes, I couldn’t do the whole routine for whatever reason - like if I had to fly there or do a weight cut. But it made me realise I didn’t need all of it. There was one time I flew in from another country at 5am and fought at 8.30am on no sleep and no food. And I still won. I realised I didn’t have to go through all these steps. I like to just absorb the energy from the people around me and the other fighters.

Which Innermost products do you use to boost your performance?

My favourite is The Health Protein. I love how it tastes. I’m not vegan but I can’t really do dairy. And I like that it’s got glutamine because it’s important when you’re training a lot. But I also like The Focus Capsules. I’ve been taking those for about a month now and they’ve definitely made a difference.

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Those of you that know me are well aware of how 'picky' I'm when it comes to nutrition and, especially, supplements which I genuinely consider not necessary. However, quality natural supplements, picked to suit individual's needs and preferences can be a great addition to one's lifestyle. Especially when you're very active and need a little boost to aid your recovery, sleep, focus and performance but without bombarding your body with loads of ingredients you can't even pronounce. I took a long time to find a brand I'd like to collaborate with but I couldn't be happier about my decision to get involved with Innermost. Bold, bright and different - Innermost provide targeted nutrition for body and mind. Natural ingredients, nootropics, and adaptogens combined to help you think, feel, and perform your best, whoever and wherever you are on your journey. 'We empower people to live a more inspired life because a world where everyone can realise the best versions of themselves is for the good of all.' Agree 💯 welcome in my corner @liveinnermost 💜 thank you for your support. ✨ Grab a 10% off 💷 with KATE-10 ✨

A post shared by Kate Bacik (@purplesupernova7) on


MMA is a stereotypically masculine world. What’s it like being a woman in that industry?

You have to have a thick skin. There’s a lot of stuff that will hurt you and not only physical stuff. When I was younger, I was the only female training and there were a lot of big, tough guys and they’d go 100% on me. Obviously that wasn’t always fair but you had to deal with it. If you flinched they’d make fun of you. 

Also, I lived in Cyprus for a couple of years and trained there full time in the MMA gym there. The coaches there were lovely and they helped me loads, but a lot of the guys who trained there had never trained with a female. We’d be sparring and the guys would be like: “I can’t hit you because you’re a girl.” But then there’s other guys who would hit you with 150% power just to prove to you that you’re not supposed to be there. But that doesn’t prove anything.

Why is fitness so important to you?

It’s what I do all day every day. It’s like my meditation - I’ve got ADHD and get easily distracted. So I can’t just sit down and do nothing. Instead, training is like active meditation where I don’t have to think about any other life stuff. Nothing else can fill that hole in my life.

So how did you find lockdown? How did you stay active and healthy, mentally and physically?

It’s been quite difficult because I normally go 100% all the time. I used to overtrain a lot, so I do think for me it’s good that it happened because it forced me to slow down a bit. I was very fortunate to have access to a gym, so I started working on whatever I could and trying to sort out old injuries. It allowed me to get much stronger so I feel like I made the most of that time. It was also a big test that made me ask myself: do I love what I’m doing? You have to distance yourself from it a bit to really assess if you still want it. But I really missed it and I can’t imagine doing anything else.

Did you take up any new hobbies or learn something new?

I did a lot more yoga than I used to. Like up to three hours a day, going really deep into the techniques and positions. I tried running for about a month too, but I hated it. Then I decided to be a DJ and hosted a live DJ set with my friend! Hopefully I'll be doing more of that in the future.

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Back to basics

A post shared by Kate Bacik (@purplesupernova7) on


Anything you’ve read, watched or listened to lately that’s inspired you?

To be honest, no. I needed something uninspiring because usually, I like to read quite serious things about mindset, psychology, self-help, even poetry. I took the time to just watch rubbish and chill out. I’ll probably get back into the serious stuff soon.

Best words of wisdom you’ve ever received?

My coach said I should try to listen to people a bit more. I think I sometimes feel like I’m the only one who can give myself advice, but I know that’s not true. So I'm definitely working on that.

Advice you’d give?

If you want to perform well, you need to ditch comparing yourself to others. Only compare yourself to yourself. Aim to be better than the you from the past, and as good as the you from the future.

Any current goals, fitness or otherwise?

I’ve gained about 5kg over lockdown. I’d like to believe it’s all muscle but I need to drop it to go back to my fighting weight. I also want to go back to MMA as I haven’t really fought MMA since 2017. There’s no more time to keep postponing it, I just have to do it.

Who or what motivates you and why?

I don’t really think other people have the ability to motivate me. I’m quite resistant to other people’s influence so I have to motivate myself. 

To see more from Kate, follow her on Instagram @purplesupernova7. And to read other Q&As with Innermost Insiders, click here.

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Navigating Indulgence with Chloe Thomas
Chloe is a life, nutrition and fitness coach from the South East Of England. She has been a coach for 7 years now, working mainly with women. Her goal is to help women become their healthiest and become the best version of themselves, Innermost helps to achieve this.    View this post on Instagram A post shared by CHLOE THOMAS || ONLINE COACH 🦋 (@_chloeinspires_) Our topic for July is Indulgence. Tell us what indulgence means to you, and what are your favourite ways to indulge. Indulgence for me is having time away from the chaos of life - relaxing in nature, reading a book, going on a hike, seeing a friend or family. I love being outdoors and going on adventures like kayaking or surfing and I love to travel! It brings me back to “me” and allows me to re connect with myself and my values. I do also like to indulge in some yummy unhealthy food every so often too- on my holiday recently I indulged in a delicious pizza and yummy scones! How do you strike a balance between indulging in something you enjoy and overindulging to the point of excess? I think this is important as it can become unhealthy if you over indulge too much as this can lead to an addiction. If you are indulging in something excessively it may be because you are unhappy in your life elsewhere, and are using that thing to avoid the pain or discomfort you are feeling in your life. For example, I see sometimes in my clients over-eating due to emotions (emotional eating), which is where they are over-indulging to try and avoid uncomfortable feelings - which inevitably doesn't work and leaves you feeling uncomfortable and guilty. In what ways can indulging in something be beneficial to our mental health and well-being? I guess it is important to take time out from our “go-go” lives where our brains are constantly being stimulated - especially due to our phones. So taking time to indulge in having time out with your friends or alone is important. I also think it is important to indulge in nice foods from time to time - especially in social situations.   View this post on Instagram A post shared by CHLOE THOMAS || ONLINE COACH 🦋 (@_chloeinspires_) How can indulging in certain activities, such as eating or drinking, have negative impacts on our physical health? Over eating or drinking can leave us feeling low in energy, low in mood and tends to exacerbate anxiety, aka “hangxiety” when it comes to alcohol. It can also cause weight gain and inflammation within the body which can lead to auto-immune diseases and illness. It is important to be conscious of not over-indulging in these two things too much - it's about striking that balance between a healthy amount and an excessive amount. How can we practice self-control and limit indulgences in order to maintain a healthy and balanced lifestyle? I think it is important to think about our future and what damage over indulging can do to our health long term. I try and remind myself of this. And even thinking of how you will feel the next week or day if you over indulge. For example, when I drink too much alcohol I sleep bad, it effects my training, my mood, my cravings etc - so I don’t drink often or in excess. I remind clients to think of their ‘why’ and also where they want to be in 5 months and 5 years time. Can indulgence ever be considered a form of self-care, or is it always a potentially harmful behaviour? I personally think it’s about that balance I mentioned before. For example, on my recent holiday I had a big pizza to myself which was overindulgent BUT I rarely have pizza - think the last time was February! So it’s fine for me to do it once in a while. I think too much indulging in anything is a sign that you may be not content in your life and are looking for something on the outside to soothe something uncomfortable on the inside (mentally speaking). What Innermost product(s) have you been loving recently? Definitely the The Digest Capsules I love them and so do my clients! They help with my bloating and IBS massively. I also love The Relax Capsules for around my period when i have PMS and trouble relaxing. They are great! Our final question is ... What’s your innermost desire that you’re hoping comes true this year? To reach even more women across the world to join my community of women and reach their healthy and fitness goals, build a better relationship with food and learn how to love their body again! I want to get women off fad diets and know there are easier ways to be healthy and lose weight! I would really like to be at the point where I can hold retreats for them by the end of the year. That's a wrap on this months interview questions. Thank you so much Chloe for your time! it’s been a pleasure chatting with you! To keep up with Chloe be sure the follow them on _chloeinspires_ Read more
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