The long hours training in the gym are paying off for an Aberdeen bodybuilder.
Fiona Davidson finished third at last month’s United Kingdom Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation (UKBFF) Welsh championships in Cardiff, earning her a place at the British championships in Nottingham.
While Davidson missed out on a podium finish at the UK level, she is delighted with the progress she has made this year.
The 26-year-old: “As disappointed as I was, I know I had improved immensely on my physique this season and I’m in the best shape I’ve been in, so I was very satisfied.
“Knowing I did all I could makes the uncontrollable easier to deal with.
“If I had won silver at the Welsh championships I might have focused on just missing out on the gold but to come away with the bronze made me contemplate that there was a very high likelihood that I could have returned with nothing – so that takes the edge off slightly.
“I wasn’t disappointed in the slightest to miss out on a top three at the British stage – that was expected and the main aim for this year was to be in better shape this time than when I competed last year.
“It was a buzz to be back on the British stage because of knowing all the sacrifices and challenges I went through to get there.”
Davidson’s highlight to date was becoming the Scottish bikini champion at the UKBFF Scottish championships last year.
She said: “I started weightlifting when I was 14.
“I didn’t have a clue what I was doing at that age but I really enjoyed it as I’ve always naturally been quite strong, so I took to it quickly. I started getting serious about the sport when I saw a muscle magazine with a shapely woman on it with defined abs and quads, so from the age of 20 I started lifting and eating to try to look like that.
“It’s all really come together in the last two years. I have learned how and what my body responds to and equally what it doesn’t.
“Commitment and consistency are the two key components in this sport.
“It’s my lifestyle, so I typically train five days a week but when I’m preparing for a competition, my commitment to this is twice a day, six or seven days a week.
“Becoming the Scottish bikini champion was a dream come true and undoubtedly the best day of my life to date.”
