{"id":20621,"date":"2026-05-21T01:30:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T01:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=20621"},"modified":"2026-05-21T01:30:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T01:30:17","slug":"elizabeth-smart-reveals-real-reason-she-became-a-bodybuilder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=20621","title":{"rendered":"Elizabeth Smart Reveals Real Reason She Became a Bodybuilder"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Originally appeared on E! Online<\/a><\/p>\n

Elizabeth Smart<\/strong> is ready to embrace her body.<\/span><\/p>\n

Though the activist was admittedly hesitant to <\/span>share pictures of herself<\/span><\/a> competing in a bodybuilding competition last month, she said the \u201cheartwarming\u201d response from her followers affirmed the reason she ultimately let the world in on her newest hobby.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI can be sexy, and I can be an advocate. I am more than just one thing,\u201d Elizabeth told <\/span>Us Weekly<\/span><\/em><\/a> in an interview published May 20. \u201cI understand why I was scared to share, but those are the same exact reasons why victims don\u2019t share.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The 38-year-old added, \u201cI [decided] I should do this because it\u2019s empowering for me, but also maybe it\u2019s empowering for other victims to be like, \u2018If Elizabeth Smart can step up on stage in a bikini, I can go report to the police.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But while Elizabeth\u2014who was abducted in 2002 and subjected to physical and sexual abuse by her captors before her rescue nine months later\u2014recognizes the confidence that her bodybuilding gives others, she admitted the exercise also has \u201ca vanity aspect to it\u201d after realizing her other hobby of long-distance running was taking a toll on her body. <\/span><\/p>\n

More from E! Online<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI had been running for a long time, and I loved it. But one of my knees was starting to hurt,\u201d she explained, \u201cand on the weekends, when I did my [marathon] training runs, it got to a point where they were just so long that once I finished them, I didn\u2019t want to do anything the rest of the day.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

However, her and husband <\/span>Matthew Gilmour<\/strong>\u2019s kids <\/span>Chloe<\/strong>, 11, <\/span>James<\/strong>, 9, and <\/span>Olivia<\/strong>, 7, kept her from staying put. As she described it, \u201cI\u2019ve got three little kids who don\u2019t want to just lie on the sofa and eat chips.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

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Robyn Maher\/Instagram<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Plus, bodybuilding has given Elizabeth more agency over her own body.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI always felt like there was a way I needed to present myself,\u201d she said. \u201cBodybuilding has helped free me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

And among the surprises she\u2019s found along her journey, she\u2019s discovered \u201chow incredible the human body actually is.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI had three kids, I\u2019ve done so much running, can my body still change?\u201d Elizabeth asked herself. \u201cAnd to see it happen, wow, it really can.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Like Elizabeth, read on for more notable names who have undergone huge body transformations. <\/span><\/p>\n

Trevor Larcom<\/p>\n

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\"<p>Trevor