STATS:
”
27 • 135 LB • 5’7
TIME TO CHANGE: “I began my journey to healthier living because I lost my great-grandmother, grandmother and my mom to complications of diabetes,” Nneka Olu says. “In my sophomore year of college, I found myself weighing 200 pounds and decided it was time to take better care of myself.” Now Olu competes in bikini and works as a trainer specializing in extreme weight loss. “I help women see that they are capable of amazing things,” she says. INSPIRED BY TANJI: Olu says Tanji Johnson is her role model. “I met her in 2010 at the beginning of my competitive journey, and through the years, she has been an unrelenting source of encouragement,” she says. Olu also credits her dad with being supportive every step of the way. In the gym, she uses music to get pumped up. “Listening to female power anthems while I’m lifting makes me feel tough, strong and sexy.”
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ROUTINE MATTERS: Olu follows a workout routine that consists of three days a week training legs with a day of working upper body between each and 45 minutes of cardio a day. She explains that she loves deadlifts because they helped her regain her strength after a back injury and that she likes training in the morning. Her advice to others is to focus on signs of improvement that aren’t related to the number on the scale. “Progress can be feeling stronger, having more energy or fitting in clothes better,” she says. “Celebrate non-scale victories!”
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STATS:
20 • 112 LB • 5’2”
COLLEGE DAYS: As an undergrad studying nursing at Kent State University in Ohio, Lauren First juggles a lot of different demands on her time. “I try my hardest to balance friends, training and studying,” she says. Her background is in gymnastics and competitive dance, and she began working out with weights in her freshman year, then began entering (and winning) bikini competitions. “What drives me to keep going is the picture of me onstage at my last show,” she says. “I want to beat that girl and become better!” FOCUS ON TRAINING: First devotes two days a week to leg training and says her favorite exercise is cable kickbacks. “This move works the glutes to get them tight and firm. It’s easy but very beneficial,” she says. In addition to a full week’s schedule of weight training (with days devoted to arms, chest, back and shoulders/abs), she also does high-intensity interval training twice a week for 15 to 20 minutes. She likes the efficiency of HIIT. “I know I can break a sweat really quick with this form of cardio,” she says. SOCIAL PRESSURES: First describes Ashley Kaltwasser as a role model and aspires to have a career like hers, but she has also learned how important it is not to try to be like anyone else. “It’s easy to get caught up in how other girls look,” she says. “Everyone is unique. If you compare yourself to you, it makes the process so much easier!”
Nneka Olu
Lauren First
Gig: Personal trainer
Gig: Student
Kirkland, Washington
Kent, Ohio
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