Aleesha Young is the ‘World’s Strongest Mom’
“I couldn’t give this sport everything, until I had my little girl,” 35-year-old bodybuilder Aleesha Young told In The Know. She says that being a mom had to happen in order to truly embrace the bodybuilding lifestyle.
Salt Lake City’s, Aleesha Young, is a mom, wife, and mother. Following in her father’s footsteps, Young became a bodybuilding champion. When Young was 15, she began training with him. All of her training paid off in 2014 when she won the National Physique Committee’s USA Championships.
“Most of the people close to me are used to the reaction we get in public,” Young says. “Some people will just stare or, like, secretly video me or some people will come up and ask questions, which I would prefer.”
According to Young, the lifestyle of being a bodybuilder is not easy. She says that she follows a restrictive diet and a thorough exercise regimen. Young is 5 foot 3 inches and her biceps are just over 18 inches, while her quads are 28 inches. Talk about gains for a small frame!
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We are strongher together… dream big Baby Girl…. #internationalwomensday
Young is willing to make sacrifices and put her strict lifestyle on hold when necessary. When she had her daughter Olivia, that’s exactly what she did.
“I knew that being a mom was a number one priority for me — it had to happen” Young said. “I think people in the fitness world are surprised that I’m a mom because it’s pretty rare at my level of female bodybuilding.”
“Getting on stage when she was 10 months was a huge accomplishment for me,” Young said about Olivia.
She knew she would snap back and feel more fulfilled. Aleesha considers her daughter’s birth to be what propelled her deeper into the bodybuilding world.
A common misconception and assumption about female bodybuilders is that they are not feminine because of their muscles. Young says that being a female bodybuilder sets her up for not being normal. She also says that life would be boring if we all looked exactly the same.
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