Kashma Maharaj Spotlight

I was born in San Fernando, Trinidad and brought up with a strong Roman Catholic background due to my grandmother"s spirituality. I was surrounded by little boys my age so I was sort of a tom boy, and enjoyed riding my bicycle, skateboarding, rollerblading and climbing trees, among other things. I always looked up to my uncle Ravi and marveled as he and his friends played cricket and football and later on when I saw him lifting weights.

At the age of 8, I begged my parents to let me do karate. I was shy and quite nervous at first, but as the months passed by, I grew to love the exercises and the classes and developed into quite a quick learner. I easily progressed through the ranks and was able to earn my blue belt at the age of 12. I also became involved in gymnastics, aerobics and track and field, and was able to represent my school at various levels of competition throughout the country.

At the University of the West Indies (UWI), I started working out a gym, making use of the campus gym 3 days a week. Later, I started doing various certifications through the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America (AFAA). After becoming trained and certified, I started teaching Aerobics and Pilates classes during the latter part of 2005. I started incorporating weight training into my workouts in order to maintain some muscle mass and tone.

I was encouraged to get into competing and finally was able to step on stage in June 2008 and won my first competition as a figure competitor in the TTBBF National Junior Bodybuilding Championships. After my first competition, I relentlessly scrutinized the photos and needed to make significant changes and improvements to my body. I had gone from competing at 105lbs in June to competing at 135lbs in November, with a fuller and more powerful looking physique.

In February 2009, my mind was set on bodybuilding. I was thrilled at the idea of really pushing the limits of my body to see how much I could grow and change in terms of muscularity. I was successful at securing the first place and overall titles in all of my competitions and was pleased with my appearance and presentation as a new comer to bodybuilding. In 2011, I won the the overall title at the TTBBF Senior Bodybuilding Championships.

2012 was full of change, more growth and lots of exciting surprises. I decided to relocate to the US and have been training for my competitions there. I am eager to step on stage at the Arnold Sport Festival 2013 and am excited to see what the future holds.

See more of Kashma at kashmamaharaj.com, Facebook & Twitter