SOMERSET NEWS: Charlotte's combining firefighting and bodybuilding

FIREFIGHTER and bodybuilder, Charlotte Anderson, celebrated a trophy win for coming third in the British Natural Bodybuilding Federation in ‘Bodyfitness’ at the Welsh Open Championships.

This is the second season of competing in ‘Bodyfitness’ and Charlotte said the discipline is designed to have a “more natural look to the muscles than bodybuilding.”

“Girls are expected to have pageant appearances, so they are marked on looks and hair as well as muscle tone and size,” said Charlotte.

PHOTO – ABOVE: Charlotte is standing second from the left in the line-up.

But Charlotte, of Shepton Mallet, added: “This season has been a nightmare - I started dieting in February to try and find a sensible balance that would fit in with firefighting rather than the severe pre competition diet.

“After trying everything from high carbs to low carbs to high fat to no fat I was getting nowhere. This is the first year I competed with BNBF a natural bodybuilding federation and I wanted to try and make an impression.

“Two weeks prior to the competition I was not happy with my body fat levels at 18%, although my body conditioning this year is much better.

“After several tears and pep talks I decided to keep going and as a 110% kind of girl this meant dieting on chicken, and 10 litres of water a day whilst continuing my 6am pre breakfast cardio!

“I managed to drop 3% body fat in a week bringing me down to 15%. This was 1% less than last year, so it was good enough for me. I had a quick hair and make-up lesson, and then I found myself over in Wales with my gran as she is the best person to fake tan my back.

“The competition was the most wonderful day, meeting so many lovely new people and I even managed to get a crowd of strangers to cheer me on. It was cracking! It may have been a bit of an underdog story, but I said I would come home with a trophy and I have got one.

“I am not sure if I will compete again this season as I need to put on a load more muscle & work in the fire service has been rather intense this week, so my six pack has almost gone already, as I need to eat enough food to fuel my work. I love my job as a firefighter and competing in bodyfitness is more of a treat for me.”

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