11/10/2025
This past weekend, Cheetah gym member Megan competed in her first bodybuilding contest, coached and led along the way by personal trainer Jerisa Upton!
Results:
Masters 35+: 1st 🥇
Novice: 2nd 🥈
Open: 4th 🏅
Jerisa: “Of course, that Megan exceeded herself and pushed beyond what I’ve ever personally seen with a coaching client is worth highlighting. For those who are less familiar, it’s a different way to train and eat and sleep and think… And now Megan can count herself amongst a very small, self selecting group of individuals who actually understand what it means to push and to suffer in the name of aesthetic, artistic physique, as a sport. That I am proud of the biggest understatement.
Indeed, coaching her is definitely a bodybuilding career highlight… I took just as much pleasure in coaching her as I do and prepping myself for contests. I would go in further state that the weight of that responsibility is heavy. I feel honored, and I feel humbled by the fact that this incredible athlete, who on her very worst day still trains like an Apex predator, trusted me with this journey. I told her I didn’t know her body well enough to know exactly what preparation would look like as we got closer to the show, and I told her I had never done this before for another athlete… And her response?
“ when do we start?”
That’s when I knew that, regardless of the outcome of the show, that she was going to win the day. And indeed she did. She conquered the tough questions, the exhaustion, and the uncertainty. And she conquered the parts of herself that created barriers for her success. And to allow me to be a part of that process, well that’s no small thing… As a competitor myself, I will say that it’s really hard to allow people to see that rawest of raw struggle… And that’s why to me, she is one of the winners of the day.As a coach, we always see the potential in people, but it’s another level when we see it become actualized. Special thanks to our home gym Cheetah Gym!”
