This female bodybuilder wants women to get ripped without feeling judged

A female bodybuilder is helping women to realise their strength through her “Buff Babe Academy”. 24-year-old Julia Rene, from Texas, started the women’s fitness coaching business after receiving judgement from men about her muscular physique. 

Julia told her story to YouTube channel Truly, which documented her business as part of its Miami Muscle series. Julia said: “I don’t care if men think I look manly. I love how my body looks and I want to empower women to feel the same. You can be buff and you can be a babe.” 

Watch Julia's inspiring bodybuilding journey here:

She started bodybuilding over three years ago and shares the often difficult and gruelling process of preparing her body for competitions. She said: “My next show is July 2nd in Charleston. If I win, I’m going to be a pro. Bodybuilding has changed how I feel about myself as a woman.”

Julia's Buff Babe Academy is a group of like-minded women who Julia coaches, all of whom enjoy lifting and some of whom are fellow bodybuilding competitors. Julia receives a lot of criticism for her body on social media, but she's proud of how she looks and loves inspiring women to get stronger and fight against prejudice. 

"Bodybuilding has changed how I feel about myself as a woman," said Julia. "You can be muscular, you can be feminine, you can be beautiful and sexy all at the same time."

Gaining muscle is great for bodybuilders, but resistance training and additional protein can also be a worthwhile addition to any workout regime, no matter what your fitness goals. Building muscle is a great way to fight against aging, as your strength naturally wastes over time due to atrophy. 

In addition, increasing your body's muscle-to-fat ratio generally causes positive changes in heart health, blood pressure and your resting metabolic rate. Because muscle demands more oxygen than fat, building muscle in addition to losing weight means you burn more calories while standing still. 

To get started, you'll need to up the amount of protein in your diet (we recommend one of our best protein powder for weight loss entries) and hitting the weights, learning how to deadlift and squat. If you're not comfortable heading into the weights room or area at your gym, you can work out from home using the best adjustable dumbbells or best kettlebell.