I recently competed in a fitness competition for the first time and loved every minute of it. It made me feel so empowered to be surrounded by so many amazing and beautiful women. You can find out more about what it’s like to compete in bikini competitions and why it’s so motivational in this blog post.

But it got me thinking… these women were so far from what our society usually presents as the norm and yet, they looked so great! I don’t understand why physical strength in women is so often branded as masculine when, in my opinion, well-developed muscles are the epitome of strength and sexiness.

(Source: http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18ahgch6h0o2ejpg/original.jpg)

I love this cosmetics advert from MAC because the model (Jelena Abbou, a competitive bodybuilder and fitness model and a real icon) has been styled in a way that emphasises her incredibly muscular but also makes her look glamorous and beautiful. This campaign shows perfectly that it doesn’t have to be one or the other, you can be muscular and feminine at the same time!

So I thought I’d do a blog post to help all you fitness junkies, with the toned and muscular physique that goes along with this, look your very best.

When I was looking for a bikini to compete in, I wanted something really eye-catching which adhered to any competition rules (some are pretty strict on how brief the bottoms can be or how low the front of the top goes) and emphasised my best areas. Lots of the women competing have their suits specially made to fit and but this can get pretty expensive if you’re competing all the time.

For off-the-rack, you can’t go wrong with The American Bikini Shop, which has an insane range of flattering shapes and bold styles to choose from. It also gives you the option to mix and match sizes of tops and bottoms which is perfect if you’ve been working on a certain area. For any of my UK readers – I know women’s bodybuilding is really blowing up over there – why not try Pink Boutique, who do a great celeb inspired range, to really up the glam factor.

For my next competition I want to try something really different and stand out from the crowd – I was thinking about ordering a one of these bralets to wear as a top, as I’ve tried them before and they make my abs look AMAZING. What do you all think, would I get away with it?