I wanted to crawl in a hole and hide:
I was embarrassed, I did not feel confident in my own skin, and I thought everyone was judging me.  I wanted to crawl in a hole and hide.  Have you ever felt that way?  I remember one of those days very well.  I was in a beauty pageant in high school.  The dress I would be wearing was dark green with sequins.  It was a beautiful long fitted dress (at least back then it was).  And it was sleeveless.

For most average size high school girls wearing this dress would be no problem.  But I was not most high school girls.  And for me it was a BIG problem.  I wasn’t afraid that day of being on-stage.  I was afraid of being on-stage in that sleeveless dress.  I was going to have to expose a weakness.  Something that made me different.

I did gymnastics when I was younger and started weight training in high school.  I had a natural knack for weight training.  I was super strong for such a small girl.  I was stronger than many of the guys actually.  I loved how empowered I felt when I lifted weights!  My body responded very quickly to toning and strength exercises.

Because of the gymnastics and weight training my arms had a quite a bit more tone than all the other girls in school.  In regular clothes I could hide this no problem.  But in that long sleeveless sequin dress those arms would be out there for the world to see.  I was terrified.

I wanted to crawl in a hole and hide.  I looked around and found no holes to crawl into.  Therefore, I sucked it up and walked out on-stage thinking about my arms the entire time.  I did not win a title that day.  I don’t even remember if I placed in the top 5.  I did stress out about it the entire time.  I did survive it.  Nobody laughed – at least not that I saw or heard.  I actually had fun when all was said and done.

I still worried about my arms until I realized they could be an asset.  I started competing in fitness competitions in 2005.  Those toned arms became a strength instead of a weakness on this stage.  In 2008 I won the Ms. Universe Figure.  I also won the Iron Eagle Pro Figure, placed second in the Northeast Figure Classic, 2nd in the Pro American, and made top 5 at the World Championships between 2008 – 2014.  I have also coached several other ladies who have become professional competitors (many that wanted more toned arms).  It is crazy how we can take a weakness and turn it into a strength once we embrace it and work with it.

In honor of embracing our weaknesses I put together this workout that keeps the arms toned and tight while also lifting the booty (a great bonus).  It is my Buns & Guns workout.

Enjoy this video workout!