Kenja Shankles goes from cheerleading to bodybuilding.

After attending college on a cheerleading scholarship, Kenja Shankles was unsure if she could find a competitive physical outlet in the professional world. Ten she attended a Tulsa Grand Prix bodybuilding show in 2013, and set herself the new goal of being a Figure competitor

“I saw those women up there and set a goal and then I just went for it,“ she told News-Star.

Kenja moved back in with her parents. She split her time between training and working a job for an attorney. After a year and a half of relentless grinding, Kenja won her class and overall in the Ultimate Bodybuilding Competition In Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Kenja devoted another year of training before she competed at her her first NPC National Championship in Miami. She placed 11th, but returned to the same competition this year in November and placed 5th. This improvement she attributes to extra time training, and online coaching from Matt Porter in Las Vegas. He put Kenja on a strict 22 week diet.

“You just can’t afford to just mess up when you’re like ‘Man I really want some cheesecake.’ You stay strict for the whole 22 weeks,” she said.

Kenja also got a job as a personal trainer at Peak Fitness. This job is more accommodating of her training and lifestyle as a competitive athlete.

“Working in the gym environment, being a personal trainer, made it so much easier to compete. And I think that’s why I placed a lot higher this time. Just because this is my lifestyle now. It’s super, super easy to be in this environment all the time, be around positive people that push you towards working harder every single day that you’re here. Definitely the environment makes it a big deal while you’re competing.”

Kenja also does cardio seven days a week and takes direction on weight training directly from Porter.

“He will tell me what to do or what extra I need to work on or anything like that.”

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