Body-building identical twins Jenny and Lucy West have their sights firmly set on the world stage.
The stunning sisters, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffs., have worked together in shops, pubs and hotels but are now training side-by-side ahead of their biggest test yet.
The 29-year-olds will compete in the same event for the first time when they flaunt their impressive bodies at the National Amateur Body-Builders’ Association (NABBA) North West show.
If successful, the sisters will both go on to the national finals and then NABBA Universe 2016.
But they already have the distinction of being the world’s only female twin fitness professionals.
But while they were born just seven minutes apart, Jenny has had a two-year head start in bodybuilding on Lucy who began training just a a year ago.
Jenny also competed in NABBA Universe show before, but with matching physiques, flowing brown hair and dazzling smiles, the twosome make an impression that’s as strong as their muscles.
Jenny, a personal trainer now living in Wigan, said: ‘People think of twins as being weedy, we come from half an egg after all, but we’ve always been athletic and good at sport.
‘We liked cross country and volleyball and always saw ourselves as a team, supporting each other.
‘It’s the same today. We encourage each other, I am just as happy to see Lucy do well as I am to succeed myself and I know she feels the same.’
The sisters, ambassadors of My Protein sports nutrition products, are training 12 hours a week as they prepare for the Miss Toned category at the NABBA show in May.
The twins split their training up to concentrate on a different area of the body each day.
They will do shoulders on Monday, legs on Tuesday, back on Wednesday, arms on Thursday and then back to shoulders on Friday, for example.
Jenny explained: ‘If you didn’t have the few days’ rest between and worked on all your body parts at every workout, they would still ache and you would really struggle.
‘This way, by rotating them, we give our bodies a chance to rest and recover.’
When the twins get within four weeks of a show, the diet really begins.
Breakfast consists of 40g of oats and protein shake and is then followed by seven meals of a white fish fillet and six to eight sticks of asparagus.
The last of these meals is eaten around 9pm.
The sisters also enjoys cups of tea with a reduced-sugar milk and protein shakes after training.
Jenny said: ‘I am extremely competitive, I want to win and if I don’t, I am immediately at looking at how I can improve.
‘I have always wanted to go on the TV show Total Wipeout but I know if I didn’t win, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.
‘If I come away from a competition and I haven’t won, I really beat myself up.’
She added: ‘When it comes to Lucy though, I am happy if I came second and she came first, and I know she feels the same way.
‘If I had to pick though, I would obviously want myself to win.’
The twins are also taking to social media, having launched their Instagram account less than two months ago and already boast 5,000 followers.
Lucy, who lives in Stoke-on-Trent, said: ‘We get plenty of attention when we are out.
‘The guys are usually a bit shy, a little intimidated perhaps. They get a bit nervous when you challenged them to an arm wrestle.
‘My party trick is probably the piston squat, when you squat down with one leg. I can do it in a tight fitting dress, high heels and my handbag.’
She added: ‘When we were growing up, girls on the whole were not muscular or sporty; it was as if they thought they had to look a specific way.
‘But things are changing and more and more women are getting into body-building – I hope we can inspire some of them.’
| THE TWINS’ WORKOUT ROUTINE |
| After a general warm up, the twins concentrate on specific muscles with four sets of weight repartitions, increasing the amount they lift each time.
The first set consists of 10 to 20 reps of around half the target weight. By the fourth and final set, the twins will be doing up to four reps of their top weight. Jenny can lift 160g with her legs doing squat lifts and 60kg with her arms on the barbells. These reps are mainly done with free weights. The training sessions also include 20 minutes cardio by way of interval training – 30 seconds sprinting following by 30 seconds walking. |
Courtesy of: Daily Mail
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