'Bodybuilding changed my life at 50'

Wife and mother Nicola Shaw had lost her identity and self-esteem until she took up weight training and started entering competitions

- KATE SKELTON

When Nicola Shaw, now 57, from Dumfries, Scotland ventured into a gym as a middle-aged wife and mum, , she never imagined that lifting weights would give her the confidence to branch out on her own and reinvent her life after her marriage crumbled.

As my husband Peter got ready to go on a bike ride, I suddenly felt annoyed. "Do you know how easy you have it?" I said.

He turned to look at me. "Don't moan," he retorted. "If you really wanted to do something, you'd make the time."

I was fuming. I thought, "You have no idea. I was juggling work, raising our son Hugo, a home renovation project, and trying to do everything society expects of mothers. I had no identity beside being a wife and mother. I'd put myself last and let my health and fitness slip because I didn't feel I had the motivation or time to do anything about it.

While I loved being a mother, my self-esteem had plummeted. I felt like chief cook and washerupper. I thought, "I'll make the time... I'll show you."

I joined a bootcamp and made a regular commitment for a few months. I started getting up at 5.30am every morning so I could train between 6am and 7am every day. I did boxing and weightlifting and loved getting stronger. I found the motivational talks inspiring too.

One particular speaker really piqued my interest an amateur competitive female bodybuilder in her thirties. She was very fit, very athletic and she looked fantastic. I thought to myself, "I'd love to be more athletic-looking. I can do that too."

But she was 32 and I was 47. What mother, " approaching her fifties, would dream of getting into bodybuilding? Was I being ridiculous? And I didn't want to embarrass my husband and my son, then eight.