Bodybuilding Testimonials and Athlete Highlights

A huge congrats to my athlete Amanda May who won True Novice, Novice, Open, AND the OVERALL champ in Bikini at the NPC Central California Championships!!

Amanda and I started together beginning of this year, with her eyes set on competing in September together with her partner. Amanda is nothing if not detail oriented and committed to the process. We did a shorter build earlier this year then started a smooth and steady prep for the September show date. Amanda is also a carb machine and we were reversing into show around nearing 300g of carbs!

Our plans now are to enter a growth phase. This was my first overall win as a coach and I couldn’t be more proud of the work Amanda put in!

Avery Schaffler took to the OCB Yorton Cup stage on 19 September and came away with a 4th-place finish 🤍 And honestly, I am just so damn proud of this girl. A few weeks earlier she had won her overall, earned her Pro status and qualified for this stage — which is already huge. But the thing that excites me most about Avery has nothing to do with placings. She is still so young, she has SO much potential, and she works unbelievably hard. She is committed, coachable, consistent and basically one massive ball of energy 😂

I don’t even see every training video, but I know for a fact that this girl trains her ass off. She has time. She has the work ethic. She has the potential. Now we build. More muscle. More strength. More experience. Avery is our very first She Lifts Academy Pro, and that will always be incredibly special to me. It has also been such an honor coaching her alongside our founder, Erin Avery , who brings so much experience and knowledge to this side of the sport. Fourth at the Yorton Cup. What a season. And we are nowhere near done yet 🤍

A huge congratulations to Ahlanna Toms in her recent competition! 🏆

Ahlanna competed in Fit Model at the NPC Night of Gladiators placing 1st in True Novice and 2nd in the open class. We have another show on the books coming up soon!

Ahlanna started as a lifestyle client, focusing on building a solid foundation of muscle while keeping body fat levels in a healthy and productive spot for growth. We worked together on building a more structured diet so that when she competed, the foundation for detailed food tracking would already be familiar. Ahlanna started this prep around 145 and stepped on stage around 120 lbs.

It has been SO rewarding to watch her progress not only through the changes in her physique, but in her mindset as well. Ahlanna worked diligently on her posing and stage presence throughout this prep and it absolutely paid off!

There are athletes who work hard… and then there’s Avery Schaffler .

I genuinely don’t think I’ve ever worked with someone who is as disciplined, consistent and relentless in the pursuit of her goals as she is. This season, Avery stepped on stage and absolutely delivered — taking first place in Novice, Debut, Juniors AND Open, and earning her PRO CARD in the process.

But what you see on stage is only the final product. You don’t see the months of training when nobody is watching. The sessions where she still showed up when she was tired. The meals prepared, the posing practice, the cardio, the constant attention to detail, the check-ins, the adjustments and the willingness to keep doing the work over and over and over again.

Nothing about this was luck. Avery earned every bit of this. And now we get to say something incredibly special: Our very first PRO athlete at She Lifts Academy. 🥹 And we’re not finished yet. Next stop: the Yorton Cup tomorrow ✨✨✨✨ From the very beginning, Avery has been an example of what happens when talent meets an unbelievable work ethic — and I could not be prouder to have been part of this journey. Congratulations, Pro. You fucking earned it. 🤍

First bodybuilding competition done and dusted🏆❤️
First place 🥇 40+ Masters
Third place 🥉 35+ Masters (Pro Qualifier)
Third Place 🥉Bikini Open Class
This experience was one for the books. I am beyond proud of the work I put in, the time posing and training, early morning wake ups and meal prepping. It lite a fire in me- showing and proving to myself that you can do hard things in life.
I had the best support crew throughout this process and also day of the event. 🫶🏻The text messages, phone calls, face time and in person encouragement and positive feedback I got this entire journey was TOP TIER!!🙌🏻 You all are the best and community is everything!
To my coaches, thank you so much for all of your guidance, feedback and push! You made this entire experience feel so special and I’m so excited for what is next!
To my fellow ladies who competed with me yesterday, your journeys and stories were inspiring and I was so honored to share the stage with you and blessed to experience my first show with all of you. (albeit an interesting one starting 3 hours later🫠) You all are resilient, brave and WE DID THAT👏🏻
Onward and upward from here friends! Thanks for letting me share this journey with you!

 Congratulations to SLA athlete @sandra_smsm who competed earlier this month at the Natural Canada Pro Qualifier.
For those of you who don't know Sandra, let me tell you a little bit about her. Sandra is an insanely hard worker. She actually did her second to last show just 9 months postpartum. If that's not a testament to her hard work idk what is .
When I think of consistency she is someone who immediately comes to mind. No matter what the circumstances are (traveling for work, being a mom, waking up at 4am to workout) Sandra is an athlete who always shows up and checks off the boxes. It doesn't matter how tired she is or what the conditions are, she shows up and gets her work done.
This was Sandra's first show of the 2025 season so we treated it more as a warmup/train through show.
We were able to get really solid feedback and are currently working hard to bring the improvements necessary in conditioning and shape into her next show in October. I'm very excited to see what we can bring to the next show with almost 3 full months to improve in between

Through consistent training and nutrition Shayna was able to drop over 75Ibs while keeping food high, cardio low and also keep the weight off longer.

Melissa just did her first bikini show. She dropped 30Ibs while maintaining strength and muscle mass. She took home first place in all her classes along with a national qualification at her very first show.

For Chantal’s transformation we were almost able to completely double her intake into prep, and added considerable size and muscle density to legs. Stage weight was 10Ibs heavier

Congratulations to Lauren Fergusen who competed in her very first bodybuilding show this past weekend
Lauren did an amazing job with her first prep adhering to the protocol each day to a tee.
She is an incredibly hard worker. We were able to keep calories high and cardio low for the majority of prep never dropping below 1400cal or exceeding 45min of cardio Fa as a result strength numbers were able to stay very high and muscle retention was very solid. Even the last week before the show Lauren was still repping 225lbs on hip thrust, shoulder pressing the 45s and doing Bulgarian split squats with 110lbs C
Lauren worked extremely hard and her hard work paid off taking home 1st place in both true novice and novice, an overall in novice, along with 2nd place in open and a national qualification in her very first show.
Lauren will now be moving into an off season with the goal of putting more size on glutes and shoulders with the goal of competing again in 2027.

Idalia Higuera who competed end of June in her fit model debut
Since fit model is a new division, Idalia was our very first @she_lifts_academy fit model athlete c
The introduction of the fit model division has been really cool to watch because it provides an entry level category with a look that is really feminine and very naturally attainable which leads me into Idalia's transformation and story about her journey to the stage.
When Idalia first came into our program she was 127lbs, hip thrusting 160lbs for her heaviest weight, and it was a struggle for me to get her to eat more than 1200cals (5 I'm sure she will laugh when she reads this story because I am smiling just writing it
After many pep talks we were able to reframe her mindset that smaller isn't always better, being strong is badass and we have to eat to fuel our body from a place of nourishment in order to grow and shape our physique.
If you walked into a gym today and met Idalia you would never know this is where she started out because now she maintains above 2000cals, hip thrusts 425lbs (for reps g3)), and had the confidence
to showcase her hard work on the bodybuilding stage
Walking away with a national qualification her first show was no accident. A lot of work and rebuilding of a very solid foundation went into this. It's been amazing to watch the glow up (inside and outside).

Congratulations to Shayna Grissom for competing in her very first show the Summer Shredding Transformation division.
The transformation division is very unique when it comes to the world of bodybuilding. It's a celebration of weight loss and the journey it took to get there.
Athletes not only have to give a posing routine on stage but they also have to submit a video showcasing their journey and everything they went through to get there.
During Shayna's transformation she went from 230lbs to 155lbs and although the physical changes are quite impressive I would argue the biggest transformation happened on the inside. Shayna learned to train hard and to fuel her body with food.
It was amazing watching her dedication during this time. She dialed in her habits and stuck to the plan.
There were good days and bad days but she executed no matter what she felt like. It was incredible to watch her strength and confidence grow.
Shayna will be doing her first reverse phase into the holidays to give her a mental/physical break from the deficit and we will be back at it in 2025 to prep for her next show
Congratulations on an amazing debut

“I would not be where I am today without Erin! I had wanted to compete in a bikini bodybuilding show since college but I had never met the right coach for me. Before working with Erin I tried working with a few coaches with very unsustainable and non-evidence based approaches. It wasn't until I met Erin and saw what being an elite athlete with balance could look like. Before working with Erin I did not know anything about nutrition. I had never tracked macros or learned how to fuel myself properly. I did not know the difference between what seemed healthy and how I actually needed to eat to reach my goals. Erin walked me through it all. From my first posing lesson ever (eek) to the entire prep and finally stepping on stage. Beyond the physical results we got, she helped me overcome my all-or-nothing mindset around food, and was always there to listen and ask the hard questions that helped me grow as an athlete. Erin cares so dang much and I am so happy with the way she prioritized my health along the entire prep. You could not be in better hands with Erin as your coach."