Bodybuilding has traditionally been dominated by men in the sporting arena in Fiji and the Pacific.
However, women are slowly showing an interest in the sport, and one of them is 27-year-old Jamie-Lee Mitchell.
After the birth of her daughter four years ago, Mitchell started focusing more on her health.
And she has not looked back since.
The Suva-born former Jasper Williams High School student said her partner, Fiji bodybuilding sensation Jordan Pillay, was the reason she got into bodybuilding.
“I had no idea what bodybuilding was until Jordan explained it to me because he had some background in it,” Mitchell says.
“Before I met Jordan, I used to do other sports such as swimming and athletics. Then I got pregnant.”
She says that over the four years, she made many sacrifices due to financial constraints but supported Jordan so he could carry on training for competitions.
“When I got pregnant, Jordan and I decided that he would continue with the sport.
“I saw that it didn’t only make him progress in the sport, but also mentally it was a boost for him, so I got motivated to do that.
“The main challenge that we face in bodybuilding is really just the finance because if you love the sport, there really wouldn’t be any finance.
“That’s because it is very expensive to buy meat because you have a certain amount of protein that you take a day, and so it’s very expensive because we have a baby as well.”
She says that soon after giving birth, she started going to the gym.
“I decided to learn more about bodybuilding, and since not many people in Fiji teach it, we had to learn online.
“So, Jordan had a coach and we learnt from the coach about training, diet and everything.”
Mitchell entered her first competition in the Mrs Fiji Bikini category in 2020 and took first place.
“That was in 2020 before COVID and I was in the bikini category.
“After COVID, we both competed in the New Zealand Auckland championships where I also entered the bikini category.
“We then decided to take some time off to really focus on getting the correct muscle and mind connection and training.
“This was so we could move to the next category, which was the wellness category for women and the classic physique category for men.
“I decided to step back a year and let him take two, three more steps closer to his goal before I decided to get to the next category.”
Looking back at all her bodybuilding achievements, Mitchell is happy she took the step to move out of her comfort zone and try something new.
She urges women to take up bodybuilding to build their confidence in the gym and slowly work one step closer to a healthy, happy lifestyle.
“I really would like women to do this sport because it mentally helps, especially women my age who have given birth early and are going through maybe post traumatic stress after pregnancy.
“You can go in with the worst mode or you can have the worst fight with anybody but when you go into the gym, you forget all about it.
“Don’t think too much about it. If you know that you love it, just do it.
“Just step into a gym and do it and try to have no excuses.”
