How long will it take you? Kayla’s story.
If you’ve followed my journey from a newbie to a professional strongwoman, you might have overlooked it because I am a strength coach. So, I asked one of my clients—who I’ve guided from her very first strongman competition to becoming a national competitor—to share her story.
However, her journey actually began long before we started working together in 2022, following the birth of her second child in 2018. I think you will relate to her story a lot because, like many of us, her starting point was, in her own words, “didn’t know the difference between a dumbbell and barbell.” She defaulted to disordered eating and excessive cardio in order to lose 65lbs.
I chose to highlight Kayla because of her determination and resilience, even when things got tough. She had to put herself in challenging situations and face failure several times before she gained experience, built momentum, and became stronger. Ultimately, she proved herself to be a fierce competitor, finishing in the top 10 at nationals. She truly embodies what it means to be a fighter.
You can see in her timeline she competed 6 times before she placed 1st. In between all of those competitions, she grew so much but also had moments of doubt and almost quitting. Here is her story in her own words:
2018
freshly postpartum and ready for a change! Started dieting & doing insane amounts of cardio. Lost 65lbs the not so smart way. Disordered eating, bingeing, starving. Just wanted to be skinny!
2020
fixed my relationship with food, fixed my hormones from the damage I did, wanted to start lifting weights & building muscle. Still a cardio bunny but added in the most random gym routine you’ve ever seen. Just doing whatever Instagram told me to do!
2022
I watched my husband compete in his first strongman comp & saw all of the strong women put on a show, and I instantly knew I wanted to be one of them! So I stalked Christy on Instagram and reached out for coaching. Was still unsure about competing but had high hopes lol.
May 2022
first comp! Came in 3rd in the novice women’s MW. (I can’t remember if this was sanctioned. I think it was just for fun. Also can’t remember what it was called 🥴)
Nov 2022
Socastees Strongest. The whole contest was novice. I competed in the 160s and I ended up 4th.
April 2023
SC strongest. My last novice comp & the one that made me question it all 😂 thought about giving up. Can’t remember my placement but it wasn’t even close to podium lol. In my mind everyone was so much stronger than me but I failed to look at the progress I had made since my first comp. Decided I’m not giving up.
November 2023
socastees strongest. My first open class comp and I also was bumped up to 180 weight class. Finished in 2nd place!
April 2024
SC strongest. Open MW class. Ended in very last place. Upset I didn’t get my nationals invite but PRs/improvements were still made. Still hungry for a national’s invite though so I went back to work!
june 2024
Tennessee’s strongest. Open MW class. Not a long time to prep for this one and ended in FIRST PLACE & got my nationals invite!
September 2024
my first nationals! MW class and I placed top 10!
Moral of the story…just keep going!
How long will it take you? You might compete twice before you win, or you might compete a hundred times. Regardless, it is your journey, and you can learn from every step along the way.
If you are looking to get into strength training, I would start with Team Unchained or one of our programs (take the program matching quiz). If you are interested in training to compete in Strongman, then please inquire for 1:1 coaching.