Whoever thought bodybuilding was a man’s game has another thing coming. Or at least, they are yet to meet Ashwini Waskar – India’s first competitive bodybuilder who’s been creating ripples across the fitness scene (no pun intended).
The 32-year-old, who quit her full-time job as a senior fellow at the Central Institute of Fisheries Education, has debunked stereotypes and every kind of myth surrounding the bodybuilding stage. What’s particularly remarkable is, that a year ago, Aswhini was reportedly highly unhappy about her body. A transition from an overweight body to this toned physique therefore, is needless to say, highly praiseworthy.
In fact, according to the Mirror, it was after following a gruelling weight-lifting routine and high-protein diet that she lost the excess fat and started to develop muscle.
How Aswhini Muscled her Way Into the Bodybuilding Arena
Yes, Ashwini’s gone all out – quitting her job with an eye trained on international bodybuilding competitions – but her move has raised quite a few eyebrows in her home city of Mumbai. Her “attire” is what is causing all the stir.
Ashwini, who now works as a personal trainer, waxes eloquent about why she took up the sport in the first place:
While working I was becoming really overweight, so to maintain my fitness level I joined a gym. Out of enthusiasm I used to lift heavy weights and I followed a rich protein diet. That’s how my body became really strong.
February 2013 marked the pinnacle of her career choice when she attended a male bodybuilding competition and was absolutely enthralled with the sport.
An announcement was being made there about the upcoming first national level female bodybuilding competition and they were asking if anybody wants to participate. So I thought ‘why not give it a try?’
Of Unconventional Beginnings and ‘Controversial Attire’
It is rare perhaps, even in this day and age, for a woman to embark on an ‘unconventional’, uncharted route – if you may – and not invite at least one enquiry. Wonderfully, that’s not what happened with the spunky Ashwini.
Nobody said ‘why are you doing it? This is not meant for females’ - neither my family nor my friends and colleagues. The only problem was to get into the sportswear, which was very revealing.
The Mirror in fact, quotes her brother Niranjan as saying that the family had had reservations about the clothing – admitting to have been a “little worried”. “We are a middle-class family”, he added.
With Ashwini’s father stepping on board soon after, with his daughter’s decision, that hurdle too was overcome.
According to Bhachandra Waskar,
The clothing is a part of the sport, a part of exercise. This is not something random, you are not selling your body, you are showing the world what you have earned.
A New Dawn for Women in the Sport?
Yes, the encouragement from her father is heartening – so is the fact that much of an enthusiastic sports community in her city is willing to support her. However, female bodybuilding still remains a niche sport, and that is an understatement.
Ashwini though remains hopeful that one day things will turn for her beloved sport – just like they did for her.
Girls are coming into bodybuilding and some women are being inclined towards fitness. I would really love to train a girl who comes up to me with a wish of participating in competitions.
We, for one, cannot to wait to see this come to fruition.
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