Armless mum wants bodybuilding win

In a sport which requires immense physical strength, not many can match her inner strength.

A mother of two, who lost both her arms as a toddler, is now reaching for the top in women's bodybuilding.

Mrs Barbie Thomas, 37, from Phoenix, in the US state of Arizona, has participated with ablebodied women in dance, football and swimming competitions, the Mail Online reported.

Then she decided to take up bodybuilding.

She told US news website Huffington Post: "I talked with an organiser who told me I'd never win. When someone says I can't do something, it lights a fire under me."

Her greatest victory came in March last year, when she finished fifth out of six competitors. "That was the first time I finished ahead of another person," she was quoted as saying.

Previously, there had been times when she won but she was the only one competing.

Not one to rest on her laurels, she wanted to push the limits.

Personal setbacks - she separated from her husband last October - is not going to hold her back, she said.

She is even working on a new routine to impress the judges - a complete flip.

She said: "I want to add that, but I haven't done that in competition because I freak out when I'm on new surfaces."

Every day, the stay-at-home mother goes to the gym to train. She does cardio exercises in the morning followed by a routine of either weights, dance, track training, lunges and leg exercises and of course, practising her competition routine.

When she is not training, she looks after her teenage sons, 13 and 17.

She also dabbles in modelling and hopes to get into Hollywood.


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