A Scunthorpe bodybuilder, who only took up the sport to tick it off her bucket list, is celebrating after scooping the British Championship.
Karen Gunson, scooped first prize in the National Physique Association, the only natural bodybuilding association in the UK with all members drug tested before competition.
Karen, 52, said she joined the association as she was going up against other girls that were natural.
She won the regional competition for Yorkshire, which saw her go through to the national finals.
She was judged on general look, shape, symmetry, balance, condition and leanness and had to do a series of mandatory poses, before doing a routine to music.
“I don’t think it really sunk in and I was a bit shell-shocked the next day when I woke up and people were writing on my Facebook page British Champion,” she told the Telegraph.
“I am proud of it but it is a sport where you are constantly not happy with your overall look. You feel there is always a weakness and something you can improve on. You are always highly self critical.”
Karen, who trains at IronWorks Muscle and Fitness Gym, has always been into sport but has only took up bodybuilding in the last couple of years.
She decided to enter a competition in 2013 to tick it off her bucket list when she 50 and said it snowballed from there.
“I started athletics at 10 and in university I did badminton and rowing,” she said.
“I dibbled and dabbled in weights but I didn’t really know what I was doing. It was after that I decided to go for it, put a programme together and focus on a competition.
“I got top six in that in a different category and then finished third last year in the category I won this year.
“However, leading up to the competition it is not the training that is going to help you win but it is the diet and that is one of the hardest things I have ever done.”
The strict diet Karen had to follow consisted of chicken, fish, porridge, rice, green
vegetables and protein shakes which she had for every meal.
“How much you eat depends on the composition of your body and you have to break down you protein, carbohydrates and fats depending on your weight and build.
“You play around with those depending on what stage of the diet you are at. It is hard and you allow yourself a treat once a week to give your metabolism a boost but if you are waiting to see the results it can be demoralising and frustrating.
“You can’t have a social life and go out with friends to eat and it took my family a while to switch on but I was surrounded by people who understood it and they have been brilliant and are pleased for me.
“It does take over your life and it is not something you can do half heartedly. When you start seeing results, that motivates you to keep going.”
Karen also said she is looking to defend her trophy next year and will continue with it as long as she enjoys it.
“The older it gets, the harder it is but enjoying it is the main thing,” she added. It will be nice defending my trophy.
“Everybody at the gym has been absolutely superb and if I can do it anyone can. It depends how dedicated you want to be and anybody can do it as long as you give 100 per cent.”
Courtesy of: Scunthorpe Telegraph