\n<\/p>\n
The price of suc\u00adcess is high, and for Za\u00admeena Marisa Khan, it has meant ac\u00adcept\u00ading the harsh re\u00adal\u00adi\u00adties that come with chas\u00ading ex\u00adcel\u00adlence: em\u00adbrac\u00ading crit\u00adi\u00adcism, re\u00admain\u00ading per\u00adsis\u00adtent and ig\u00adnor\u00ading those who seek to un\u00adder\u00admine her jour\u00adney.<\/p>\n
Khan be\u00adlieves con\u00adtin\u00adued suc\u00adcess re\u00adquires block\u00ading out pub\u00adlic scruti\u00adny, stay\u00ading mo\u00adti\u00advat\u00aded and fo\u00adcus\u00ading on be\u00adcom\u00ading a bet\u00adter ver\u00adsion of her\u00adself.<\/p>\n
On May 17, she rep\u00adre\u00adsent\u00aded Trinidad and To\u00adba\u00adgo at the In\u00adter\u00adna\u00adtion\u00adal Fed\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion of Body\u00adBuild\u00ading and Fit\u00adness (IF\u00adBB) World Cham\u00adpi\u00adonship in Bar\u00adba\u00addos, plac\u00ading sec\u00adond in the Women\u2019s Physique cat\u00ade\u00adgo\u00adry among com\u00adpeti\u00adtors from 35 coun\u00adtries.<\/p>\n
Her achieve\u00adment placed Trinidad and To\u00adba\u00adgo firm\u00adly on the glob\u00adal body\u00adbuild\u00ading stage.<\/p>\n
How\u00adev\u00ader, Khan says one of the most dis\u00adap\u00adpoint\u00ading as\u00adpects of her jour\u00adney has been the crit\u00adi\u00adcism she has re\u00adceived from oth\u00ader women, par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly com\u00adments about her ap\u00adpear\u00adance and physique.<\/p>\n
She de\u00adscribes those at\u00adtacks as un\u00adnec\u00ades\u00adsary and be\u00adlieves they of\u00adten stem from jeal\u00adousy.<\/p>\n
A pas\u00adsion\u00adate sup\u00adport\u00ader of strength train\u00ading, Khan en\u00adtered the com\u00adpet\u00adi\u00adtive are\u00adna as an am\u00ada\u00adteur in 2015 be\u00adfore be\u00adcom\u00ading a pro\u00adfes\u00adsion\u00adal ath\u00adlete in 2022. Since then, she has con\u00adtin\u00adued to com\u00adpete in\u00adter\u00adna\u00adtion\u00adal\u00adly while push\u00ading the bound\u00adaries of her own phys\u00adi\u00adcal de\u00advel\u00adop\u00adment.<\/p>\n
Prepa\u00adra\u00adtion for com\u00adpe\u00adti\u00adtions, she says, does not in\u00adtim\u00adi\u00addate her. In\u00adstead, she em\u00adbraces the dis\u00adci\u00adpline re\u00adquired to sculpt her body through strict train\u00ading and nu\u00adtri\u00adtion.<\/p>\n
Her prepa\u00adra\u00adtion in\u00adcludes a low-car\u00adbo\u00adhy\u00addrate, no-sug\u00adar, high-pro\u00adtein di\u00adet, with wa\u00adter as her main source of hy\u00addra\u00adtion and no milk or caf\u00adfeine.<\/p>\n
Khan said: \u201cI would get a lot of neg\u00ada\u00adtiv\u00adi\u00adties, main\u00adly from women! So sad! I get it from men who are in\u00adtim\u00adi\u00addat\u00aded. It is so sad that women does want to bash oth\u00ader women. She looks like a man! And it is com\u00adments from the club; peo\u00adple would go on the club page and com\u00adment on my pho\u00adtos. She looks like a man; she has no breasts! Did I tell you I want that? At the end of the day, this is what I want; I am do\u00ading me, I am not do\u00ading this to please any\u00adbody but me. I don\u2019t care what any\u00adbody thinks.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I\u2019m prep\u00adping, di\u00adet\u00ading, and train\u00ading, I does be so tired; my bones and skin does hurt. No\u00adbody don\u2019t know that, be\u00adcause fat lev\u00adels drop\u00adping. So tired I don\u2019t want to get up, and that is not a com\u00adplaint; I like the feel\u00ading.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the be\u00adgin\u00adning, it (neg\u00ada\u00adtive com\u00adments) used to both\u00ader me, but at the end of the day I\u2019m do\u00ading this for me. I\u2019m go\u00ading through the stress of it; no\u00adbody else… To me, it\u2019s jeal\u00adousy most of the time; every\u00adbody wants, but doesn\u2019t want to do the work for it.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of women does stand up for me on so\u00adcial me\u00addia, and they would tell these oth\u00ader women it\u2019s jeal\u00adousy. I like the fact that there are a lot of women who stand up for me, and well, neg\u00ada\u00adtive is good as well as bad pub\u00adlic\u00adi\u00adty.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy son would get an\u00adgry, so I would tell him not to study it; mom\u00admy don\u2019t! Now I on\u00adly laugh.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Khan, body\u00adbuild\u00ading is not a male-dom\u00adi\u00adnat\u00aded pur\u00adsuit. She be\u00adlieves women have every right to com\u00adpete and re\u00adde\u00adfine per\u00adcep\u00adtions of strength and beau\u00adty.<\/p>\n
\u201cI al\u00adways liked the sport. I start\u00aded at 12 years old, be\u00adcause I had al\u00adways liked ex\u00ader\u00adcise. I am an ac\u00adcoun\u00adtant by pro\u00adfes\u00adsion… I al\u00adways liked the mus\u00adcu\u00adlar look; to me, a mus\u00adcu\u00adlar look on a woman is sexy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI al\u00adways imag\u00adined what it feels like to com\u00adpete. I had a train\u00ader, but they didn\u2019t know what they were do\u00ading, and then in 2012 I met Waz\u00adim Mo\u00adhammed. He trained me, and I told him what I want\u00aded for my\u00adself from it.\u201d<\/p>\n
De\u00adspite her com\u00admit\u00adment to body\u00adbuild\u00ading, Khan re\u00admains de\u00advot\u00aded to moth\u00ader\u00adhood. She bal\u00adances the de\u00admands of com\u00adpe\u00adti\u00adtion prepa\u00adra\u00adtion with rais\u00ading her 15-year-old son, Zacharia Lutch\u00adman, who she de\u00adscribes as her biggest sup\u00adport\u00ader.<\/p>\n
Her son of\u00adten ac\u00adcom\u00adpa\u00adnies her to gym ses\u00adsions and has wit\u00adnessed the ded\u00adi\u00adca\u00adtion re\u00adquired to com\u00adpete at the high\u00adest lev\u00adel.<\/p>\n
Khan\u2019s record in\u00adcludes 14 first-place fin\u00adish\u00ades in se\u00adnior com\u00adpe\u00adti\u00adtions. Yet, de\u00adspite her suc\u00adcess, she pre\u00adpares her\u00adself men\u00adtal\u00adly for dis\u00adap\u00adpoint\u00adment and us\u00ades every com\u00adpe\u00adti\u00adtion as a learn\u00ading ex\u00adpe\u00adri\u00adence.<\/p>\n
She says her fo\u00adcus re\u00admains on im\u00adprove\u00adment rather than sim\u00adply col\u00adlect\u00ading tro\u00adphies.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t mind the plac\u00ading; I know every year I am get\u00adting bet\u00adter. So, last year my world rank\u00ading was fourth, and this year it is sec\u00adond.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy goal is to get first, rank first in the world. I told Mo\u00adhammed, every year we go, we\u2019re not get\u00adting first, but even\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly we would. Get it, and once I be\u00adcome undis\u00adput\u00aded, it will hap\u00adpen for a few years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was a point away from plac\u00ading first, so we know what we have to fix. So last year we know what we had to fix, so we fix it, but we had a lit\u00adtle glitch.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just want\u00aded to bring up my world rank\u00ading, and that\u2019s what I did; I\u2019m sat\u00adis\u00adfied with that. And now we know what we have to fix; we\u2019re work\u00ading on it all now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Be\u00adyond com\u00adpet\u00ading, Khan is al\u00adso help\u00ading oth\u00ader women pur\u00adsue health\u00adi\u00ader lifestyles through her work as a mo\u00adti\u00adva\u00adtion\u00adal train\u00ader.<\/p>\n
One of her clients, Sayya\u00adda Ras\u00adsool, has en\u00adtered her third month of train\u00ading with Khan and has al\u00adready be\u00adgun de\u00advel\u00adop\u00ading mus\u00adcle tone while work\u00ading to\u00adwards her own fit\u00adness goals.<\/p>\n
Khan ad\u00advis\u00ades women in\u00adter\u00adest\u00aded in com\u00adpet\u00adi\u00adtive body\u00adbuild\u00ading to seek guid\u00adance from ex\u00adpe\u00adri\u00adenced coach\u00ades who un\u00adder\u00adstand the de\u00admands of the sport.<\/p>\n
She be\u00adlieves an ef\u00adfec\u00adtive coach should have com\u00adpet\u00aded be\u00adfore and should un\u00adder\u00adstand the phys\u00adi\u00adcal and men\u00adtal chal\u00adlenges in\u00advolved.<\/p>\n
Com\u00admit\u00adment, dis\u00adci\u00adpline and prop\u00ader rest, she says, are es\u00adsen\u00adtial.<\/p>\n
For Waz\u00adim Mo\u00adhammed, Khan rep\u00adre\u00adsents the cul\u00admi\u00adna\u00adtion of years of train\u00ading and ded\u00adi\u00adca\u00adtion.<\/p>\n
Mo\u00adhammed, a cer\u00adti\u00adfied In\u00adter\u00adna\u00adtion\u00adal Fit\u00adness and Body\u00adbuild\u00ading Fed\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion train\u00ader, de\u00adscribed Khan as his \u201cproud\u00adest ac\u00adcom\u00adplish\u00adment\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI train many to reach the na\u00adtion\u00adal lev\u00adel, but she is the first I trained and reached this lev\u00adel in an in\u00adter\u00adna\u00adtion\u00adal com\u00adpe\u00adti\u00adtion. It is like the pin\u00adna\u00adcle of hav\u00ading a client.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said Khan\u2019s achieve\u00adments have al\u00adso en\u00adhanced his own rep\u00adu\u00adta\u00adtion as a train\u00ader.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a good\u00adwill feel\u00ading, and it al\u00adso places me on the map as a train\u00ader. I felt like she won.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Khan, how\u00adev\u00ader, the jour\u00adney is far from over. The world ti\u00adtle re\u00admains the ul\u00adti\u00admate goal, and she con\u00adtin\u00adues to build\u2014one mus\u00adcle, one com\u00adpe\u00adti\u00adtion and one chal\u00adlenge at a time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n