It all started when she wanted to comfortably wear a sports bra while working out, not a baggy T-shirt. Kimberlea Jones had no idea that goal would ultimately lead her to win a national bodybuilding competition, to become a personal trainer and then run her own workout classes.
“I’ve never been happier in a workplace,” Jones states. “I love the people, my clients, and my colleagues. It’s definitely my dream job.”
After a few months of boot camp, exercising and pumping weights at Fitlife Gym in Hawkesbury under the guidance coach and gym owner Marc Charles, she reached her goal. On her 50th birthday two years ago, she proudly donned the sports bra without the big shirt. She then went on to the Mike Clement Classic in Vaudreuil. She placed first in the master’s class, and third overall, giving her a ticket to Nationals. On August 5, 2023, she placed 4th in the 35-and-over category, making her a shoe-in to next year’s Nationals in Toronto where she will be judged in the Figure category.
“I have to look very muscular and feminine at the same time,” states Jones, who has no trouble walking on stage in a bikini and five-inch stilettos. “I’m basically a jacked-up-barbie,” she said, with a smile. But her sculpted body is proof of serious work and dedication to fitness and health.
Training is one thing, but what is it like to go onstage and compete?
“The energy backstage at a body building competition is lively and the camaraderie is wonderfully supportive! I was fortunate to have my coach, Marc Charles, backstage with his partner and my friend, Jodie Taylor. They both helped to calm nerves and offer encouragement and focus. The butterflies were flying hard and fast the moment before I stepped onstage… and as soon as I was in the bright lights and heard the cheers from my friends and family in the crowd, my nervousness dissipated and I was able to just be there in the moment. I feel like my background in the performing arts (music and theatre) definitely helped my stage presence and eased my nerves,” Jones says.
The mother of two sons and three stepdaughters spends her days in running shoes and shorts at the gym, training and teaching others about the joys of fitness. Her 19-year-old son Jack is her gym bro. “He understands gym culture.”
She begins her training regimen six to twelve months before upcoming competitions.
That means six meals a day of broccoli, chicken and sweet potato. “I eat all the time to prepare (for competitions). People comment that I look like I’ve been at a tanning bed. It’s really the sweet potato oozing out of my skin, 3500 calories a day and I turn orange.”
Jones goes into more detail about the preparation and training regimen.
“My prep was a bit longer than most, as I am older and Marc wanted to make sure I was stage-ready! We started my “bulk/build” 11 months before the show and my “cut” 4-5 months out. Typically, a full prep (build to cut) is closer to 6 months, depending on the conditioning of the athlete. A build consists of gradually upping your caloric intake (mine went up to around 3800 calories/day). The goal during this period is to put on muscle and fat. It is easier to lift very heavy weights when you have a good amount of fat on you – and in order to build a stage-ready body, you have to lift heavy and often. During the cut phase, cardio exercises are added to the training plan (stairclimber and elliptical in my case) twice a day. Calories are reduced, though the heavy weight lifting continues – however, I am not hitting any PR (personal records) in weight during this period. As body fat slowly goes down, your strength diminishes slightly and your energy is not as robust as when you’re eating 3,500 calories! The last six weeks of my cut for Nationals I was eating around 1600/day – six meals a day of the SAME THING (chicken, broccoli, sweet potato). There is more variety during the build and early on in the cut. Marc does a pinch test (9 different areas on the body) with calipers to determine body fat percentage every two weeks then every week – and the diet (and sometimes cardio) is modified accordingly.”
proud to be wearing a sports bra and not a baggy t-shirt.
Jones grew up in Hawkesbury, but worked in Washington, DC as an acupuncturist and massage therapist for several years. Love brought her back to Hawkesbury when she reunited with high school friend, Anthony Assaly. Her academic credentials weren’t accepted in Canada, so she made the most of her situation and became a personal trainer at the gym.
Jones comes from an athletic family. She participated in many sports in high school, did triathlons, her dad played hockey until he was 72, and her mother, at 76, continues to walk three miles a day, does yoga, and attends her daughter’s work-out classes every Tuesday and Thursday.
Keeping up appearances — and fitness!
For Jones, keeping fit is a five-days-a-week priority. She works out Monday through Friday and takes the weekends off. She teaches and actually “does” classes alongside her students. She trains with a couple of her clients. She attends Marc’s 11 a.m. heavy lifting class (M-F) and his Bootcamp Monday through Thursday and trains with Marc and Jodie privately once per week.
You can connect with Jones by contacting FitLife Gym in Hawkesbury.
