Name: Kashma Siana Maharaj
Date of birth: 13 February 1981
Birthplace (City, State and Country): San Fernando, Trinidad
Present Hometown (City, State and Country): San Fernando, Trinidad
Age: 43
Profession: Entrepreneur
Years of training: 18 years
Please give us a little introduction of yourself:
I have been involved in sport since I was 7 years old. I started with Martial arts and continue practicing presently. I also did gymnastics and ran track and field until I graduated from High school. I used to work out at home or guided by coaches for my various sports but did not start lifting until I was 24years old. When I first got into bodybuilding, I was around 100lbs. I stepped on stage for the first time in 2008, weighing 104lbs at my first contest and quickly grew to a contest weight of around 135 lbs within my first year of competing. I continued to grow until 2014, where I got to my maximum weight of 175lbs. I decided to downsize and switch over to Physique because I wanted to continue competing but there were no longer amateur events for female bodybuilders to earn a PRO card and the amount of competitions for PRO female bodybuilders were reducing year by year as the IFBB tried to phase out this category.
I also got into wrestling during my bodybuilding career. At first it was just for fun but in 2017 I started training at the WWN wrestling school in Largo, Florida which is the developmental school for WWE recruits.
Unfortunately, I was badly injured during training and had to stop for 9 months to undergo physical therapy and recover.
In my spare time, I volunteer with Dog shelters, work with underprivileged kids and women who are the victims of abuse.
I am a college graduate with a BSC in Financial Management and minors in Marketing, Human Resource Management and Information Technology Management. I am also a Chartered Financial Analyst and have certifications for Health, Safety and Environment Management with OSHA Compliance. I am highly qualified with work experience in various fulltime corporate jobs in fields ranging from the finance industry; consumer goods and manufacturing industry; oil, natural gas and energy industry; sport, health and fitness industry; the entertainment industry and the marketing industry. I currently own two businesses that are based in Trinidad.
Story: I have always enjoyed watching sports and admired the bodies of athletic men and women. I have been participating in different sports since I was a little girl. Starting with martial arts and running at the age of 8 years old and then getting into gymnastics as I got a bit older. I loved being active and pushing my body. I never had a workout in a gym until I was almost 25 years old. I grew up working out on cardio equipment and some other bits of equipment that were at my home, or in the high school and college gymnasium, but was never exposed to weight training since this was not something that girls were encouraged to do. I started going to the gym based on my doctor’s recommendations, because I was suffering with gastro-intestinal issues, due to my high stress job on the local stock market, that lead me to make bad lifestyle choices when it came to what I ate and how I rested. My doctor created a very strict diet and suggested I work out and practice yoga and meditation. After going to the gym for a few months, I grew frustrated because I did not know what I was doing and the people working at my gym were not very motivational or helpful. I saw an advertisement in the local newspaper for certification to become a personal and group fitness trainer. I was immediately interested and pursued this certification so that I would be able to effectively structure my diet and workouts to accomplish the results that I sought. While undergoing my certification in 2005, I started practicing what I learnt on myself and noticed results very quickly. My eagerness to learn more about health, fitness and nutrition lead me to begin teaching various group fitness classes and offer personal training at several gyms on the island. I also started working on a local fitness television show called Fit For Life. In 2006, I was separated from my husband and we finally divorced in 2007. This breakdown in the marriage was one of the reasons I started working out harder and spending more time in the gym. It was my therapy and place of refuge. I did not want to stay at home alone, I did not want the comfort of my friends and family, and I did not want to go out and socialize. So the gym became my second home. I was able to deal my thoughts and my emotions there without scrutiny. I was able to vent and eventually make myself stronger, not just physically but also emotionally and mentally. My body transformed into a shredded, lean physique with decent vascularity. Many people encouraged me to compete. At that time, I had never seen a bodybuilding show or a real bodybuilder. I started training myself to compete based on what I read in various fitness and muscle magazines. After my divorce, I became involved with a bodybuilder who had great potential to do well internationally since he had already triumphed consistently on the local stages. He encouraged me to lift heavy, eat more and add muscle. When we met, I was barely 100 lbs and he was a little heavier than 240 lbs. He used to joke that I needed to get stronger so that I would be able to pick him up and carry him out of a building in case there was a fire or he had collapsed. His encouragement and knowledge on proper training and nutrition for growing muscle, started my growth spurt and my foray into bodybuilding. I did my first contest in 2008 and won. It was a very rewarding feeling to win my first show since I was very nervous and was up against athletes that had been competing for several years. It was a triumph on many levels. One was winning the competition, the other victory was overcoming my shyness and stage fright by stepping on a stage in front of hundreds of scrutinising eyes. It was also overcoming my personal fears and insecurities about my body that were deeply rooted within me from childhood. I suffered third degree burns on the left side of my body when I was 7 years old and had always shied away from wearing shorts, skirts and swimsuits. I wanted to hide the burns and hated being asked about them. I had also always been teased about my thick thighs from a very young age and always felt that something was physically wrong with me because of my ugly burns and because my legs were larger than the other girls’ and boys’. My victory on stage was also a way of my overcoming the negativity I heard from people about my working out and wanting to compete. And lastly, it was an empowering victory because I did something that was not normal for Indian women to do; bodybuilding was not a sports for Indians or a sports for people that had a good education and high paying job. Winning was so sweet and so addicting that after stepping on stage in 2008, I was determined to compete at the highest level possible and make my tiny mark in history.
Being a female athlete, and a female bodybuilder was not a normal thing in Trinidad. I did not have huge amount support of anyone when I got started. My friends and family did not like it and did not understand why someone with a college degree and great job experience, wanted to be a bodybuilder. Bodybuilders were seen as dumb. Also, because I was from an Indian family, it was not normal for Indian girls to be into sports or to be seen on stages in bikinis. It was a big social faux pas and taboo to do what I was doing. I have always been an independent thinker and somewhat of a rebel. I always questioned the societal norms, convention, stereotypes and the rules and I always did that I wanted to do in the end. I continued to compete from 2008 to 2016, winning titles throughout Trinidad, the Caribbean, USA and Europe and transforming my body from a shredded 102 lbs in June 2008 to a muscular 175 lbs by the end of 2012. I further challenged myself to downsize to a smaller physique when women’s bodybuilding was eliminated from most competitions starting from 2013. I competed for the last time in 2016 at the Europa in Orlando and have been maintaining at a lean 160 lbs ever since. Since 2016, I have ventured into the world of Pro Wrestling and was training for an opportunity to work for the WWE. Unfortunately, I suffered a major neck and shoulder injury in early 2018 and took several months to recover while undergoing physical therapy. Presently I am injury free and back to lifting as heavy as I can, most days of the week. I am hoping to get back on stage and in the wrestling ring later in 2019.
Contest History:
2008
TTBBF National Juniors 1st Place and Overall Figure
Super Fit International 1st Place and Overall Figure
TTTBBF National Seniors 3rd Place - Figure category; short class
Mr. & Ms. South Competition 1st Place and Overall Figure
CJ Sammy Classic 1st Place and Overall Figure
2009
TTBBF National Juniors 1st Place and overall Female bodybuilder
TTBBF National Seniors 1st Place and overall Female bodybuilder
North vs. South Bodybuilding Classic 1st Place and overall Female bodybuilder
2010
Muscle Mania 1st Place and overall Female bodybuilder
2011
TTBBF National Seniors 1st Place and overall Female bodubuilder
2013
Arnold Classic USA Amateur Women’s Bodybuilding Heavyweight category 1st place
Arnold Classic Europe Amateur Women’s Bodybuilding Open Category 4th place
2016
Europa Bodybuilding Championships in Orlando Florida 1st place Masters; 1st Place Open Women’s Bodybuilding
Training Routine:
DAY 1 Quads and calves
DAY 2 Chest
DAY 3 Shoulders
DAY 4 Hamstrings and glutes
DAY 5 Back
DAY 6 Biceps and Triceps
DAY 7 Full body and abdominals
20-30 minutes cardio daily, 10 minutes stretching or foam rolling daily, some abdominal exercises daily.
Best bodypart: I think all but I get a lot of comments on my Legs and Biceps.
Favorite exercise: Squats.
Favorite music: I love all music but I workout to Reggaeton, Moombahton, EDM, Rap and Pop music.
Favorite color: I like all colours but I do wear a lot of pink and black.
Favorite Quote: What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger.
Favorite bodybuilder (man and woman): Kai Greene because he has the best posing skills, a very philosophical way of thinking and is such a wonderful person overall. Natalya Kuznetsova because she is HUGE, Margie Martin because she looks great, Aleesha Young because she is super sexy, Colette Guimond and Heather Armbrust because they inspired me to get into bodybuilding when I say pictures of their legs and butt.
Hobbies: Traveling, watching movies, listening to music, cooking, going to the beach, reading, playing with my dog.
A typical day in your life: Wake up at 5am, prepare for the day, work from 8am to 4:30pm, train 5-7pm, in bed by 11pm, eat every 3hours.
Sponsors: Chaos Nutrition.
What do you enjoy most about the bodybuilding/fitness lifestyle?
I enjoy everything about the bodybuilding/ fitness lifestyle. I prefer the diet and I love working out. I love being muscular and stronger than the average man/ woman. I love how my body looks in and out of clothes and how healthy, strong and powerful I feel every day. It has helped with my self-confidence and my independence.
What do you enjoy about training for competition?
I enjoy the daily challenge of sticking to the diet and training with intensity. I enjoy seeing my body transform day by day as I get closer to the contest date. I enjoy challenging myself to be better than I was in the previous contest and to strive for a win when I step on stage against the other competitors.
Curiosities about yourself: I have an obbsessive personality so I can be a workaholic, a clean freak and a fitness addict (that last one is obvious). Mice, Rats, Snakes, and Frogs scare me.
What has left in your life the practice of the sport?
I have sacrificed being at home with my family, friends and loved ones in order to pursue sport. I have missed out on special occasions and forgone celebrating my birthday, Christmas and other festive days in order to stick to my diet, hit the gym and prepare for an event. I left my home country Trinidad for 7 years in pursuit of sport and in order to make a living doing what I loved. This has also affected my social and private life since I did not have late nights out, date much and do the usual things people do in their 20s and 30s. I was very focused on getting sufficient rest, getting to the gym, eating every three hours and being a full time athlete.
Which are your most appraised values like athlete and person?
I am honest, caring, giving, hardworking, committed, loyal, compassionate, friendly and spiritual. I see things as challenges to be overcome, not road blocks or stumbling stones. I am a very positive and goal-oriented person and I know the importance of discipline, focus and sacrifice when it comes to accomplishing goals. I do not quit on things or people.
Which is the difference between the Offseason and On Season in your own words?
During the offseason, workouts are shorter and less intense, cardio is a lot less and the diet is a bit more relaxed. My physique looks less muscular and softer because during the offseason you focus more on muscle building while in the contest prep mode, you are focused on fat burning and dropping water. I have gone up to 175lbs in my off season and competed at 147lbs in the on season.
Which is the greater satisfaction in your sport career?
Competing in the USA and Europe at the Arnolds and placing well has been the greatest accomplishment but the ability to travel to many countries, meet new people, experience different cultures and step on stage with great athletes has been a dream come true for me. I have also been fortunate enough to meet many of the greatest bodybuilding athletes and train with them or just speak with them briefly. That has been quite an honour. The greatest satisfaction has been reshaping my body year after year and challenging myself to go through a contest prep, add muscle in the offseason or change my aesthetic over the years.
The woman in the present world has shown their capacity for take challenges in all society fields and the sport is not the exception. What do you think about the female sport on the future?
I think we are going to see more women participating in sporting events that already exist and we are going to see the introduction of categories for women in sports that do not have this category already. Athletic women are being more common and marketable so there are going to be bigger events, audiences and pay-outs for female athletes in the future. No longer is sport seen as a male dominated activity.
Website and e-mail contact:
Kashma Maharaj on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Youtube
Do you want to say something else to the Female Muscle Fans, as well as the female amateur athletes?
I love and appreciate all my fans, followers and friends. I have made so many close connections to people all over the world and have been able to meet many great people who love what I do. My fans keep me going and are an endless source of love, positivity and encouragement every day.
For aspiring female athletes, I encourage you to keep going and to be the best version of you that you can be. You only have one life to live so live it to the fullest and take the trials in stride because there will be trials and setbacks, challenges and disappointments. Do not think that the pretty pictures are a complete version of anybody’s true life. Anything that you want to accomplish will open with your hard work and dedication. Your attitude and your work ethic will accomplish the goals you set. Dream big!!!