Hailey Hester | ASAYL Fitness

Major in Psychology

studying law

NPC athlete

About Hailey.

If you ever considered a stage competitor to have a basic background and just be a ‘gym rat’, then keep reading!

As a young student, Hailey knew she wanted to do more than just graduate. She was a determined individual who saw where she wanted her life to go and needed to ensure she did everything she could to make it happen. The problem was – she didn’t think about how she would discover the gym one day and how her choice of career would be directly influenced by a new found love, and vice versa.

She recieved her 1st gym membership at the age of 12 (which was helped out by her mum claiming she was 13 in order to skirt around the policies). This wasn’t an accidental fall into the athletic world of strength, fitness and training. Her dad was a wrestling coach and she had grown up around the discipline of training and healthier diet choices. Her background of being around and competing in more physical sports, including competitive cheerleading, she made her first steps on the gym floor an easier transistion than some and quickly found her competitive nature allowing her to train alongside boys her own (supposed) age at the time. Training alongside some male friends she was encouraged to look into the stage and competing, which she found some of her school friends weren’t so keen on. Suffering scrutiny from her classmates as she downed water and her low carb, high protein foods instead of the typical diets of most kids at the time, she was ready to step on the stage during her sophomore year! A decision she had made a year earlier.

The desire to see what a 16 year old physique could accomplish was followed with comments and questions from those who didn’t understand a more muscular and feminine physique, but, 2016 was a different time from today in many ways. The need to be in-shape and have a more powerful physique is commonplace for many now. 7 years ago – not so much.

Even moreso for someone who has graduated with a Major in Psychology in food and nutrition!

Law of the Stage

Hailey’s foray into the world of the stage competitor was aided by her parents and led to varying levels of success, including a win in the NPC IRON MUSCLE CHAMPIONSHIPS Teen division from 2016. She used that experience to continue her career with step ups in competition levels and decided to take on a whole new challenge. Her schooling had to come first and that meant deciding where to dedicate herself and to choose a direction.

That came when she decided to enroll in The University of Alabama, based in Tuscaloosa. She had wanted to be an anesthesiologist but found biology to be not to her liking and decided to pursue a new option. She gained a Major in psychology with a Minor in food and nutrition before moving onto her next challenge – Law School. The way she was currently living her life was a key factor in her successes with the exploration and analytics of learning and utilising her mind being able to cross from the gym to education to the stage, and back. Hailey’s belief in keeping journals, making notes and having a strong structure to her day and working enviroments has helped her turned her mental goals into realistic goals.

Whilst training as a young teen – Hailey was encouraged onto the stage and was introduced to Brittany Taylor, the 1st ever Bikini Pro from Missisippi to make it to the world famous ‘Olympia™ stage. She was instrumental in Hailey understanding the differences between on-season and off-season and maintaining a healthier weight between stage appearances and not getting more than 15-20lbs above her preferred stage weight. She keeps her training and nutrition similar regardless of timings, because she doesnt like how it affects her own body by having, essentially, two physiques to deal with depending on her current goals.

The mental aspect of training and dieting has a massive affect of her own body issues when she watches her physique changing, but she was so unaware just how much it would affect her between stage showings to a full growth stage. She doesn’t believe you should be made to feel better or worse in yourself regarding your own physique when both stages are based on growth and are always a means to an end on both ends of the spectrum. Body images are predominently other peoples problems, they shouldn’t be yours. A reason for the weight gain between shows is also a health related decision as the leanness of a stage figure can lend itself to a range of hormonal issues and reproductive stresses that aren’t healthy for a female body. Hailey lives her life with a view to long-term health rather than short term gains.

With the pursuit of her Pro-Card, Hailey understands their are huge differences in the quality of the physiques as well as the monetary costs having a massive increase. With an eye to growing into her fuller, more mature, physique – she doesn’t believe she needs to rush the process.

In conclusion – Hailey understands that many men and women grab their Pro-Card with the determination and belief of a hungry Amateur – but many fail to achieve the successes of the promise they showed. She would rather be a competitive Pro, than a top level Amateur and will always strive to compete at the high end of the sport, but recognises to get there, you may find yourself toiling away for a while at the low end of the scale.