A FEMALE bodybuilder hoping to go pro this year said she actually had her sights set on becoming a barrister before she dropped out in her first year of university.
Mel Wilkinson from St Peter's in Worcester, has been competing in amateur bikini bodybuilding competitions since the nation came out of lockdown.
But this weekend the 28-year-old could be in with the chance of going pro because she is competing in an International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation (IFBB) in Portugal.
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Miss Wilkinson, female online coach and personal trainer, said: "I wanted to be a barrister and I was training for my law degree and I always thought I was going to do my fitness on the side.
"But I really started to get into fitness at around 17/18 and I lived the lifestyle of a bikini bodybuilder.
"But it wasn't until lockdown that I started to train in order to compete."
Miss Wilkinson also works as a personal trainer and aims to inspire women to feel strong and confident in their bodies.
"I think female bodybuilding is going to get more popular because more and more girls are working out, but people may think it is more glamourous than it is but the glamour is only on the show day.
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"It is a male-dominated industry, but I love how many girls are going into it and not caring anymore."
However, Miss Wilkinson said her decision to compete started to raise concerns with her family.
"My family was concerned because it can look like you're just losing weight, but if you're coming from a healthy mindset it's not that," she added.
"Sometimes we have ex eating disorder people who come into it because they realise they have to eat in order to look their best."
Bodybuilding takes a lot of discipline, training, and dedication but Miss Wilkinson said the profession has its stigmas.
"People also think it's just a beauty pageant and it's easy and you just put a bikini on.
"But it is a lot of hard work that goes into it, but people just think it's something anyone can do, but you do have to be passionate about it."
Over the years Miss Wilkinson said she has been at the receiving end of negative comments about her body due to her profession.
She said: "People just think bodybuilders are just vain because of how glamourous the pageants look, but that's just the show day, it doesn't look like that all the time.
"You need to have thick skin when people are commenting.
"As a female, you can get really caught up in what people are saying about your body and I have been upset when people have pointed out extra body fat but I know that being yourself is more than enough."
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