After winning 9 trophies in figure competition after age 50, Charolette had a whole new outlook on her fitness and abilities!
When Charolette Sweeney of Riverside joined the Karla Adams Fitness Model Program, her goal was to lose some weight. What the then 50-year-old retired corrections officer didn’t know at the time was that she would soon find herself on stage, accepting trophies in figure competitions.
“I had been training for 20 years and always worked out. But just before I retired in 2010, I
noticed that what I had been doing wasn’t working anymore. My uniforms were getting a little tight. I couldn’t seem to get the weight off,” Sweeney said. “I decided to get a trainer, and that really helped me learn more about my nutrition and different ways I could train.”
It wasn’t long before Sweeney noticed results in Karla’s program, which is built on a profiling system that is customized and considers personal nutritional needs, fitness goals and physical status. Sweeney said she was surprised with her ability to quickly “lean out,” or lose body fat while building muscle mass.
“After a few months, one of the trainers suggested that I do competitions. I didn’t get a trainer to do competitions,” she said. “It took a little convincing. I didn’t want to be on stage.”
While Sweeney was hesitant, she agreed to train for figure competition, which she said falls between bodybuilding and bikini competitions. Throughout the next four years, she would find herself in about 12 different competitions, placing ahead of her competitors in many of them. In fact, she said, in her first National Physique Committee (NPC) competition for ages 45 years and older held in the Los Angeles Veterans Auditorium, she made the top five.
“I was surprised. It was a huge show and one of the biggest competitions I did. I was really nervous. I didn’t think I placed, and I started to walk off the stage to get my stuff out of the dressing room,” she said. “I didn’t know if I was posing just right. But I knew I trained hard and really stuck with the diet for it. Then a guy said, ‘Go back out.’ I stood there as they called out the winners. I couldn’t believe I got a trophy.”
After ago 50, Sweeney had won nine trophies in figure competitions and a whole new outlook on what she could accomplish.
Sweeney said training for the competitions through Karla’s program transformed her body evenmore. Her training intensified from jogging circles in the gym to jogging around the Riverside Plaza and eventually sprinting in the mountains. Her fitness routine also included a healthy dose of squats, lunges, and other body sculpting movements to prepare for competition.
In addition, Sweeney said she learned about her dietary needs and changes while training for competition. At times, she would need to eat more calories as she built more muscle mass. Other times, as the competition time would near, she would need to cut back on her food intake.
“Every few weeks the diet would change. Everything is measured and you become focused on looking at your meals. The meals on Karla’s program are all planned. You have five or six meals a day,” she noted.
Sweeney said she had never meal prepped much before she joined Karla’s program and started to train for competition, but quickly realized the importance of planning what she would eat. “When I first started working out, I just got rid of sugars. I could eat carbs and maintain weight.
Then, when I got closer to 50, I felt the weight coming on. I didn’t know how to change my
diet,” she said. “In Karla’s program, I learned that carbs were becoming a problem for me.”Sweeney said she learned to meal prep with lean meats, fish and vegetables. She said she relied on her trainer to adjust the diet for her depending on what she needed throughout her competition training.
Now, at the age of 63, Sweeney said she looks back over her time as a figure competitor and is proud of what she could accomplish. She said she has never been more in shape in her life and hopes to serve as an inspiration to others that anyone can achieve their fitness goals, no matter the age.
“If you can move, you can get in better shape,” she said. “I have seen what people can do in all kinds of health situations. I can’t take excuses from people when I have seen what people can do. You just have to want to do it and put in the work.”