Aleesha Younger's genetics: effort counts, however nature usually decides

People who give exercise advice often talk about exercises that change the shape of muscles. For example, some trainers claim that Pilates or yoga can help you build longer muscles compared to weight training. The problem is that this is not true. You can change the size and volume of muscles depending on your exercises, but the shape is determined by genetics.

Here is an example: Suppose you have balloons for children. You blow one up and it's a long cylinder shape. Another is very round. You can blow up and enlarge any guy further, but the cylinder-shaped balloon never turns into a round one and vice versa. The shape depends on how the balloon was made and cannot be changed.

The same goes for the muscles. Some are long, cylinder-shaped, others are full and round, and others may be somewhere in between. You can make these muscles bigger, but their genetic shape mostly says the same thing.

If you don't believe in the tyranny of genetics, try to get bigger.

If you're looking for an example of a female bodybuilder with really round and full muscles, check out Aleesha Young. She is a perfect example of that type of body type. In contrast, the legendary Sharon Bruneau, who had large and aesthetic muscles, didn't have these types of genetics. Part of her appeal was her long and elegant muscle structure, that of a former model. This body type made it almost impossible for her to beat someone in competition like Lenda Murray, whose muscles were genetically fuller and rounder.

Bill Dobbins

Of course, even the amazing Lenda didn't have the incredibly round and full muscle structure of Aleesha Young. In addition to size and abundance, Aleesha is also beautiful and very aesthetic. Qualities necessary to become a champion and pro bodybuilder.

Aleesha won the NPC USA Championships in 2014 and then turned pro. Gaining mass was never a problem for them. The largest were her biceps over 457mm and her quads over 711mm.

Aleesha says she inherited great genes because she came from an athletic family. Her father is a retired bodybuilding competitor, her brother plays American football and ice hockey, and her sister plays ice hockey. Young herself initially pursued her interest in softball, cheerleading, basketball and soccer and only began bodybuilding training with her father at the age of 15.

After turning pro, she quickly took advantage of the competitions run by Jake Wood and the Wings of Strength organization. In 2019 she finished first at the WOS Chicago Pro Championships, after which she set her sights on the Rising Phoenix World Championships.

“Building muscle is one thing,” says Aleesha, “but diet and competition prepare something completely different. The quality of the top competitors in the Wings competition is impressive. I felt like I pretty much found the formula when I won in Chicago and was very confident about my chances in Phoenix in 2019. But as they say, life happens to you when you make other plans. "

What saved Aleesha's life was a pretty bad car accident. She didn't have a permanent, permanent injury, but she was quite ailing, which seriously affected her training schedule. "I couldn't do my best anywhere," she admits. "But I was committed to Jake Wood and Wings, so I joined the Rising Phoenix anyway.

After the competition, Aleesha agreed to take me to the desert to do a photo shoot. I chose Death Valley, Ca. as a place because I wanted a place that was powerful and dramatic enough to match Aleesha's overwhelming body and physical presence. The landscape was "bigger than life" and so was Aleesha. We got out into the sand dunes at dawn. This choice of time was important. We had sun, but the temperature in DV, statistically the hottest place in the world, was very bearable. And when we wrapped up a few hours later, we saw a change in the weather. It became cloudy with a sharp, hot wind. We were really lucky to have the right weather conditions for our photo shoot.

But we had the photos we needed, some of which we're sharing with you here. In 2020, Aleesha is returning to the Rising Phoenix, this time injury-free. And maybe Frau Olympia right after that. In any case, she will be a perfect example of a full-bodied, shapely, metamorphic and aesthetic bodybuilder.

Look forward to a great future for Aleesha in sports.

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