Body building has helped Maria Dunlop live with rheumatoid arthritis.
Now 47, Dunlop was diagnosed with the disease, which causes painful inflammation in the joints and can lead to deformity and immobility, in her 30s.
At first she thought it was the end of her weight training. “I got very depressed for quite a while and then I got stubborn and I started over and I realised that the weight training decreases the cell inflammation.
“So if I wake up crippled in the morning really sore and can’t move I have a workout. I’m sweet as for hours afterwards. It’s amazing and it reverses fatigue.”
At its worst the rheumatoid arthritis stops her from doing her own hair, getting dressed or even walking.
“It jumps from joint to joint. So one month you mightn’t be able to walk, the next month it might hit your hands.”
While there’s no cure, Dunlop said learning to live with it involved not fighting the disease.
“It’s quality of life that counts and you need that happy balance of the medication and staying fit and strong.”
Most importantly it hasn’t held her back.
Late last year she travelled to Cebu in the Philippines for the National Amateur Bodybuilding Association Mr and Ms Universe bodybuilding championships.
During the flight there she got air sickness and with the support of her friend and fellow body sculptor, Nadene Chapman, managed to recuperate enough to compete.
Despite being in hospital two days before competing, she walked out in fifth place in the senior figure over-40 category.
She was inspired to weight train by her brother, who did resistance training. “I saw how he changed his body.”
Years later she walked into Fit 4 Life gym in Stratford and asked a personal trainer to give her weight training.
“He just instantly believed in me. There was no doubt in his mind and that’s when I decided I wanted to be a personal trainer. I saw how much he inspired me.”
Now she runs her business, Rockbodz Personal Training, from home. Chapman is one of Dunlop’s clients and finds her an inspiration.
“Sometimes she can’t even lift the weight because of how her rheumatoid arthritis affected her,” she said. “She overcomes an awful lot.”
For more information visit Dunlop’s website rockbodz.com.
Courtesy of: Taranaki Daily News