The Tribune

By ALESHA CADET

Tribune Features Reporter

acadet@tribunemedia.net

FOR the average person on the outside looking in, the world of bodybuilding and weight-lifting can appear a strange and daunting one. However, for Bahamian Carina Ferguson, the hard work, focus and sacrifices involved in the sport have simply become a way of a life.

Although she is new to the arena of fitness competition, Carina walked away with top awards at her very first official event.

At the recent Northern Bahamas Bodybuilding and Fitness Championships, held on July 18 in Grand Bahama, she won her category, Bikini Tall, and was named the overall Bikini Champion.

On August 8, she competed in the Bahamas Nationals where she placed second in the Bikini Tall division behind reigning champion Naomi Fatale. Carina has now chosen to represent the Bahamas at the 43rd Central American Caribbean (CAC) Bodybuilding Fitness Championships, set for October in Nassau.

Carina said she is still “only an athlete”; she has not yet taken the steps to make health and fitness her career. However, a future in the field of competitive bodybuilding is in the works, she said.

Her reason for taking up the sport is an unusual one – she needed to gain weight. Growing up she was always active and ate a lot because her body needed fuel. The more active she was, the more she ate.

“Due to circumstances beyond my control, I stopped all physical activity and as a result I started shedding weight. Once I got down to about 110lbs I knew that my only option was to get back into some form of physical activity,” she told Tribune Health.

“The option at the time was a gym. Prior to this, I rode horses, played soccer, swam – you name the sport and I played it. So given that the gym was certainly unfamiliar territory, I hired a personal trainer, Charles Burmside. The first six months were hard. I was on a strict diet and I trained for about an hour and a half every day, Monday to Friday. It sounds easy, right? Every Sunday I spent cooking my meals for the week. Every morning before work I would have to prepare each meal for the day and make time, while working, to eat them.”

After a full day’s work, she would go home to change and then exert herself for an hour and a half, only to come home and have to eat again, which she explained was not an easy task.

“As I mentioned, I played sports all my life. No sport required the dedication and commitment that gaining weight and going to the gym required. Then I began to see results; I was about 120lbs. I started getting cuts in my arms, my clothes started to get tight again. I began to reap the fruits of my labour. This was the point at which I became hooked. It was at this point where the gym became my life and everything else revolved around that. For the next three years I simply wanted more, so I trained harder and harder and harder. Then I became more of what I envisioned, then I wanted even more. This was when I was approached by Orick Nesbitt (of the Grand Bahama Bodybuilding and Fitness Association) about competing,” said Carina.

Initially she denied the invitation, as the thought of competition was overwhelming to her. A few weeks passed and Carina realised that competing was the next step in her fitness lifestyle and she decided to take on the challenge. It was about six weeks out from the Northern Bahamas Championships in Grand Bahama that she finally agreed to compete.

“I began the journey of a competitor – rigorous diets, double training sessions and learning a stage routine. For the next six weeks I remained disciplined and committed to the goal and it paid off,” she said.

“I was champion at my first competition ever. Three weeks later I competed in the Bahamas National Bodybuilding competition, placing second behind Ms Naomi Fatale, who was the overall 2014 National Champion. What more could a girl ask for? Champion at her first show, second in the national show, chosen for the Bahamas national bodybuilding team, I am very honoured to say the least. Hard work truly does pay off.”

For Carina, competition preparation is multi-faceted, but comes down to two things: diet and exercise. She said it is different for every athlete and there is no single competition preparation strategy. Her diet is key, and her workouts come second.

Currently, Carina is training for her upcoming competition, eating four to six meals a day, each with specified amounts of each of the food groups.

Giving the best advice she can offer to women interested in weight-lifting and bodybuilding, Carina said stick to a goal and be willing to do whatever it takes to achieve it.

“Your success will be determined by your willpower and dedication. It is not enough to only want it, everyone wants to be healthy. However, the difference between the person that wants it and the person that achieves it are three things: discipline, determination and dedication. I call these the dirty Ds,” said Carina.

As long as God continues to bless her with the gift of life, Carina said her plan is to remain a part of the fitness world.

“Again, I have always been an athlete, so I sincerely enjoy the challenge that the fitness world presents. More importantly, I love the way it makes me feel inside and out. And for this I put no timeline on my career within the fitness world,” she said.