Anna Heinrich gave birth to her daughter Elle just 10 months before she filmed SAS Australia, but she wouldn’t let that stop her from being in peak physical condition for the show.
Speaking exclusively to Now To Love, the 33-year-old reveals she underwent an intense regime to transform her body so she could endure all the challenges the course would throw at her.
“The exercise that I was doing before I got the call up was pretty much just walking around our back streets with the pram,” Anna says.
“I had to transform like my body, my mind, all within four weeks.”
Fortunately, she had ultra-fit husband Tim Robards to help whip her into shape with an insane training routine that included everything from frigid ice baths, to jogging in wet clothes and plenty of weights.
If you think that sounds full on, wait until you see what it looked like.
Anna took to Instagram on Monday night to share a peek at what her crazy workouts really entailed before filming began on SAS.
Footage captured inside her and Tim’s home show the determined mum fully submerging herself in an ice-cold bath before answering a series of questions from Tim as her body reacted to the shock of the water.
WATCH: Anna Heinrich endures brutal ice bath training for SAS Australia. Story continues after video.
“It’s just cold water,” Tim can be heard telling his wife, before asking: “What is Elle’s birthday?”
Anna responds that their daughter was born on December 11, 2020, but Tim was quick to point out her mistake; Elle was actually born on November 12!
He ordered Anna to dunk herself in the freezing water again for every wrong answer as he interrogated her about simple things in their home life.
After that, it was off to the gym where Anna was filmed lifting her muscular husband in a very impressive fireman’s carry and walking around the room with him tossed over her back.
Tim offered some playful encouragement with a few smacks on her bum, prompting Anna to shriek “Ow! Don’t Tim, you little s—t!”
Other clips showed Anna swimming at the beach in her workout gear and heavy boots, then running home in her wet outfit as rain poured down on her.
The tough mum also did plenty of resistance training, Tim filming her lifting heavy weights and even giving him a bit of a walloping while he trained her in boxing.
But the brutal training wasn’t the hardest part of Anna’s SAS prep; it was getting ready to leave daughter Elle behind for up to two weeks.
At that time Anna had never been away from her little girl for more than one night and knew she’d miss Elle terribly while on the course.
Fortunately, Tim is just as dedicated to his role as a dad as Anna is to hers as a mum and was happy to hold down the fort while Anna was off filming.
“I wasn’t worried about Tim at all. It was actually quite nice for him because he got to spend that quality time with Elle, he probably would never really get two full weeks looking after her [on his own],” Anna told us.
The little family of three reunited after filming last year and have been enjoying plenty of time together since, though we have a feeling Anna has removed the ice baths from her regular exercise routine.
Want all the details on the latest season of SAS: Australia? Check out these stories:
Is SAS Australia really “as fake as MAFS”? Here’s the truth
The most brutal injuries in SAS Australia history
Do we already know who wins SAS Australia 2022?
Where is SAS Australia filmed? Inside the brutal location
Who is SAS Australia’s ruthless leader Ant Middleton?
SAS Australia star Anna Heinrich’s baby stole our hearts
Inside Locky Gilbert and Irena Srbinovska’s relationship
Meet the family waiting for Barry Hall at home after SAS
Inside Orpheus Pledger’s past as a Home And Away hunk