IF Amy Pirnie’s Muay Thai career so far has demonstrated one thing, it’s that hard work pays off. And boy, is she a grafter.

Earlier this month, the 24-year-old from Dalmarnock landed the ISKA world Strawweight title, the latest step of an impressive rise that has seen her represent Scotland on the international stage and go undefeated as a junior.

Achievements like these must be earned the hard way. Pirnie admits she is a perfectionist, someone who always strives to be great at everything she pursues, and that determination to succeed is perhaps best illustrated by her daily routine.

“Mondays usually consist of three training sessions,” she explains. “I start training at 5am every morning with my coach for an hour and a half or two hours, just hitting pads, sparring and conditioning.

“Then I’ll do a strength session, I work with my strength coach Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Monday through to Friday I train from 5am until about 7am and then again in the evenings from 7pm until 8.30/9pm.

“On weekends I’ll do sparring on a Saturday morning and then have a Sunday off. In between them I’ll try and fit in some interval training, like sprints and some distant runs.”

Some readers might feel exhausted simply by reading through this routine, but what Pirnie is yet to reveal is that she juggles this intense training diary with a job as a sports therapist in Rutherglen.

“I work full-time on top of my training and fighting, so I kind of hold down almost two careers,” she says. “My boss is really understanding with time for training and fights, so I’ve struck it lucky with that as well.”

Pirnie has dedicated much of the last 12 years of her life to the sport she loves, since a chance meeting between her uncle and future coach led to the discovery of a natural talent at her first session.

Through her teenage years, college, university and into adulthood, Muay Thai has always been there.

The sport has given Pirnie some unforgettable moments, including the chance to represent her country at an amateur event in Thailand in which she won three gold medals over two years – an experience she admits gave her “a lump in the throat and a tear in the eye.”

She is fully aware that the gruelling schedule her sport demands impacts her social life, but there is no trace of regret when she confronts the subject.

“(Thai boxing) generally is my life,” she says. “Between that and work I don’t have much time for social activities and when I do I just try and fit in some time with my family – I’ll visit my grandparents on the weekend and things like that.

“So I don’t spend much social time out, I can’t really veer off my diet too much either as I’m constantly clean eating. I can’t really go out and have a few drinks with friends as I’m on a strict no drinking or eating junk policy. So it does cut down social stuff.

“My coach made a very good point the other night, that I’ve been doing it half my life. I’ve been training since I was 12, I’m now 24, so 50 per cent of my life has been Thai boxing.

“So I’m kind of used to it now. My social aspect is seeing guys in the gym, going to Thai boxing events at the weekend, so I don’t really miss it that much to be honest.”

Pirnie may be a fierce force of nature when the gloves are on, but the softly spoken Scot insists she knows how to save her aggression for the ring.

“I’m quite a nice person day to day, I’m not a violent person, but I do become quite aggressive when I’m fighting,” she says.

“When you get in there it’s essentially kill or be killed. You’ve got to hit them to stop them hitting you essentially. Plus I’m very competitive so I always want to win. For me it’s the will of winning rather than wanting to hurt people.

“I’m not one of those you see in UFC, pushing each other at the weigh-in and getting really wound up, I’m generally the one wandering about with a big smile on my face and happy to be there.”