NICOLA Shaw had always considered herself fit – but it wasn’t until she turned 50 that she really stepped up her game as a bodybuilder.
The now 57-year-old pursued the heavy lifting hobby ten years ago in a bid to rediscover herself after becoming a wife and a mum.
She told the Scottish Sun how she found herself becoming a regular gym-goer after her son Hugo started going to school.
She said: “I knew I wanted to do something different for ages and there was a local bootcamp.
“I had been lurking around them on Facebook, so after a glass of prosecco on January the 1st, I signed myself up for a ten week block.
“I thought if I don’t do it, I won’t do it. I’ve tried it.
“That got me started again – after 2-3 years off, I made the commitment to myself.
“I was going to go to 6am classes, four to five times a week – and one of the sessions was a weights session. It was the first time I had done anything like it.
“Weights was my favourite, I would have never gone to the gym and picked stuff up myself, it was better somebody telling you what to do.
“It was hard, once I felt better, it was much easier, more you do it.”
“I got a bit of confidence, there were loads of others in the same boat and they missed you when you weren’t there.
“They ran little workshops as well, and one day they invited a professional bodybuilder down from Glasgow and I couldn’t believe how athletic and feminine she looked.
“And she wasn’t spending her life in the gym, she looked gorgeous, and if she can do it, the seed is sown – I would love to look like that.
“I had it all wrong about lifting weights and if they made women bulkier – after listening to her story, I decided I wanted to try it for myself.”
Nicola, now a personal trainer and nutrition coach said she marched into a bodybuilding gym in her home town of Dumfries and asked a coach if he would help train her.
She continued: “I couldn’t believe it when he said ‘of course.’
“So I started to prep for a show, it was one of the scariest but best things I could have done.
“I just thought, I’m going to do it, if I sign up for it, then I’ve got to keep this up.”
“I upped my training, I would spent around an hour and a half in the gym and I would track my calories, eating protein – I kept the whole thing a secret from my friends.
“Sometimes it was hard to go out early in the morning and train but I knew I’d be standing on a stage next to someone who had.
Bodybuilding gave me a focus and was something that was mine – I wasn’t “just” a wife and mother. I was able to reclaim being me.”
She also had to buy her bikini, heels and layer up with three coats of fake tan before she set foot on the stage for the first time.
Nicola recalled: “It was such a buzz, I did look more the part as I built more muscle and as I went on my career, I got more like a body builder, look quite feminine.
“There were a lot of young people doing it, but they also had over 40s, but in 2015 it wasn’t as popular, I am so glad that I did it.”
Nicola retired from bodybuilding in 2018, but still trains for health and wellness as she supports women over 40s to feel great.
She said she can now appreciate her curves and her ‘softer’ body after losing her boobs and bum to chase the ultra lean look.
She added: “For me, everyone gets up when you feel great, days with you feel rubbish – when I am looking after myself, I have more good days than bad day.
“It is nice to look nice, but it goes hand in hand for feeling great.
“I am not as self-critical now I’m not as lean or with more muscle and not competing.
“Having the six pack, it was fantastic, I did enjoy it – but I also appreciate, a bit softer, a bit heavier, more body fat on me, I love having boobs and a bum.
“I had to sacrifice that, you are so lean when you don’t have those curves – I really appreciate my womenly curves now.
“Let’s just say, I love having Belgium buns over empire biscuits.
I experienced levels of lean where sitting or having a bath was painful with a boney bum, I was freezing all the time.
“You look good on the day of a body building show, but you are coordinating your food so you peak.
“But before that, you get scrawny, trying to get rid of body fat, under eating to do that in the short term for the competition.
“But I’ve seen what it takes, I’m glad I did it, but it was difficult, and I like knowing that I done something that was hard.”
Nicola dedicates herself to helping her clients improve their health and fitness and reclaim themselves in the process.
She added: “We don’t need to write off older women – life can begin at 50.
“I could never have imagined bodybuilding would transform my life and I hope other women will feel inspired to pursue their goals too.”
Find out more about Nicola’s coaching service here.
