It's not every day that a champion bodybuilder is someone who starts later in life. Well, that is the case for one Cedar Rapids woman.

According to KCRG, Nichol Toomire was about 40-year-old when she started seriously lifting weights. Toomire started off powerlifting and after seven years switched to bodybuilding. According to healthline.com. the difference between powerlifting and bodybuilding "powerlifting focuses on maximal strength in the three big barbell lifts (squat, bench press, and deadlift) while bodybuilding is about maximizing muscle mass and reducing body fat to extreme levels."

Toomire says that bodybuilding requires a lot of discipline. She told KCRG that you have to eat, spend a lot of time in the gym, it's a lot about mindset, and you have to create habits. It's a lifestyle and one that's changed her life.

I can do things that I couldn’t do. I have more energy now, I have more confidence...It just completely changed my mindset. It kind of reignited in me a passion of my dreams,” Toomire told KCRG.

Although she had a fear of being on stage and judged by others, Toomire says that bodybuilding competitions are about bringing your best self to the stage and showing that off. It's more of a celebration.

Toomire has a lot to celebrate as she won first place in the bikini 40-plus age when she competed against the best amateur bodybuilders in Atlantic City. Nice!

The confidence Toomire has acquired through bodybuilding allowed her to quit her job as the director of operations at Alliant Energy and start her own company. She now owns Explorational Fitness, an online company where she helps women "master their body, master their minds and be the most resilient strong healthiest versions of themselves."

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