Koreena King (aka Koko) has been in the bodybuilding world for less than a decade, but has made a name for herself in her native Ontario with her in-depth knowledge of the bodybuilding world, as well as her posing coaching and competition makeup skills. She’s worked as a posing coach and makeup artist in the industry for years.  

We’re all a part of the social media community, consuming and observing trends, online behavior, and interaction. The fitness community online can be especially harsh, with plenty of judgement to go around (from your form, to the way you look, to the validity of your accomplishments, and more). But have you ever stopped to think about how you would feel if a picture of you went viral, shared on dozens of accounts with tens of thousands of people commenting on your appearance? My guest today, Koreena King, is a bodybuilder who dealt with this very thing. We discuss what it’s like to get hundreds of comments and messages a day (many of them kind, but many of them extremely abusive), what it’s like to look different from the “typical norm” even within the bodybuilding community and how to maintain a strong sense of self in an increasingly superficial online world, and we deep dive into women’s bodybuilding in general: the different categories, what it’s like to train and compete, drug use, and much more.

Enjoy!

-Ashleigh

Minute Breakdown:

6 – 29 A chat about competitive women’s bodybuilding: different categories, conditioning, competition, judging, and posing

29 – 42 – Koko’s personal journey with competition prep, diet, experience with contest prep drugs or “gear” like Anavar, Winstrol and others, including side effects

42 – 56 – Koko’s story about her picture going viral, and how she dealt with it being shared dozens of times and commented on by tens of thousands of people; a larger discussion about the psychology behind social media

56 – How we can develop a strong sense of self offline in an industry (and world) where we live so much of our lives on social media; and how to develop empathy for people on social media, even the ones leaving nasty comments!