Story Highlights • McBain resident Kayla Shaarda earlier this month took home first place honors in a bodybuilding competition in Dayton, Ohio. • It was only her second time competing and one of the categories she placed in earned her a pro card. • Now classified as a professional athlete, Shaarda can no longer enter amateur contests. She’d like to compete again after giving her body some time to recover.
CADILLAC — Kayla Shaarda set out to prove to her children that it’s possible to set a goal and follow through with it, no matter how difficult it might seem at first.
In the process of teaching her kids a valuable life lesson, Shaarda achieved more than she ever thought possible.
About five years ago, Shaarda began strength training in her spare time.
With all the kids’ activities and co-running a business in Cadillac — Navari Hair Studio and Spa — Shaarda’s schedule already was jam-packed but she figured out a routine that worked for her.
On gym days, she wakes up around 4 a.m. when the kids are still asleep, works out, then has the rest of the day to take care of everything else she needs to do.
“I wanted to prove to myself and my kids that mom can do hard things, too,” Shaarda said.
Eventually, Shaarda decided that she wanted to enter a bodybuilding competition.
“I thought, ‘OK, I’m going to do one,’” said Shaarda, who competed in her first event in June.
“I knew I wasn’t ready for it,” said Shaarda, who didn’t place in her first event but wasn’t discouraged by the experience.
“I wasn’t lean enough but I wanted to give it one more shot,” Shaarda said.
About six weeks later, Shaarda entered the natural bodybuilding competition hosted by the Organization of Competition Bodies in Dayton, Ohio.
According to the organization’s website, OCB is the world’s largest all-natural bodybuilding federation, sanctioning more than 130 drug-tested natural bodybuilding events annually.
All competitors are screened before competing and all amateur and pro winners are drug tested.
“Combined with year-round drug testing, OCB ensures a level playing field and has earned its place as the leading all natural bodybuilding organization,” the website states.
Prepping for the event is a grueling experience involving intense training several days a week, alongside a very strict diet.
“All the hard work is done prepping for the show,” said Shaarda, who meticulously counted each calorie and always carried around a food scale to weigh the items she ate.
Staff at Navari sometimes would tease Shaarda at lunchtime.
“You’re measuring an apple right now?” Shaarda recalls one co-worker poking fun at her. “Yes, I am,” Shaarda replied with a laugh. “Now leave me alone.”
“It’s a mindset thing,” Shaarda added. “You have to buy into yourself and be locked into it … It takes a lot, mentally and physically.”
In the 38-39 weeks leading up to the competition, Shaarda said her routine involved working out an average of five days a week. In the month before the competition, Shaarda upped the routine to six days a week.
The workouts generally last an hour and a half and involve deadlifts, squats, bench press, leg extensions and cardio, among other exercises.
It’s not a routine that can be kept up for long, as it takes a toll on the body, Shaarda said.
“It’s not healthy to be that lean all the time,” Shaarda said.
Shaarda also had broken her foot prior to the start of training and for a time, had to exercise with a boot on.
“I figured out how to adjust,” Shaarda said.
While Shaarda wanted to compete at least one more time, she wasn’t expecting to place among the top athletes in her second try.
Earlier this month, Shaarda took home top honors in both the open and novice categories — a shocking result that she’s still trying to process.
“I thought to myself, ‘what is happening?’ I don’t have the right words for it, I guess,” said Shaarda, who earned her pro card by winning first place in the open category.
When she earned her pro card, Shaarda said her 9-year-old son asked her a question that still makes her laugh: “So, you’re like Tom Brady?” he asked.
Shaarda’s co-workers at Navari also were inspired by her determination.
“Her hard work and dedication is impeccable,” said Nickol Krawciw, who works for Shaarda and reached out to the Cadillac News to share her story.
“She is a mom of three and she is just my hero and I think her story needs to be told,” Krawciw added.
As a pro card-carrying bodybuilder, Shaarda is now considered a professional athlete and can no longer enter amateur events.
In future events, she’ll be up against elite athletes, including some who compete for a living.
Shaarda said she’d like to compete again but for now, she needs to give her body a break.
She’s targeting 2028 as the year of her next competition.
