Shanequa muscling her way to the top

In the wee hours of the morning, while most of Barbados is still asleep, Shanequa Allamby is already at the gym. The 30-year-old office assistant at Beyond Limits Fitness Centre says bodybuilding defines how she structures her life.

“Bodybuilding is my life. Everything revolves around bodybuilding,” Allamby revealed.

“I come to this same gym at 3:30 in the morning. I work out until maybe 5 a.m., then I go home, go work for 6:30-7:00; and work until 4:30 p.m.. Then I go home and prep my meals for the next day and I’m in bed by 7:30 p.m., and I just repeat that cycle every day.”

Allamby disclosed that her journey into the sport began through family.

She said the transition into bodybuilding was smooth as she was always involved in sports.

“I started from my little brother. He was in bodybuilding at first and then I just joined on after.

“When I started, I always liked the gym and physical activities. So I did track and field, basketball, all the different stuff at school, and then I just went over to bodybuilding,” Allamby recalled.

Her breakthrough came in May 2024 at the Roger Boyce Classic, where she earned her IFBB Pro card. Then, the local athlete stepped onto the international stage, competing at the IFBB Elite Pro Night of Champions in London in October.

After taking an off-season, Allamby returned to competition, including another Roger Boyce Classic and a recent show in Portugal last December where she placed in the top ten.

Her long-term goal is ambitious but clear.

Photo Credit: Shamar Blunt

“My goal is to be in the top three of the World Championships when I get there… not the top ten or even the top five, but the top three,” she said.

The path, however, is far from easy, especially for Caribbean athletes.

“So the challenges mostly are getting to [international] shows – for us in the Caribbean. Getting to shows is very hard because they’re mostly in Spain, all those far places,” Allamby stated.

She said that beyond travel, there are also physical and mental hurdles.

“So obviously sometimes your body might look top tier. Then sometimes you might have a little something that you’re not wanting to see, stress. So that also plays a part on your body,” Allamby explained. She recalls a setback earlier in the past year.

“In May, I didn’t make the top ten. I didn’t make any of the finals in May,” Allamby recalls with a giggle. However, rather than stop, she regrouped with her team. “Me and my team, we went back to the drawing board, and we did the show in December.”

Allamby explained that it was that team effort, which included her coach, Keliel Marshall, her nutritionist Dionne Clarke, known as Mummy D, and posing coach, Melissa Seaforth – that they were able to pull it together.

“We worked together, we interacted. Everybody said, ‘Well we need to work on this, we need to work on that’. When we saw the final package for this Portugal show, we were all in shock. We could not believe it.

“So then when you see everything just come together at the end, with the hair, the makeup, the oil, it was just like… [exceptional],” Allamby admitted.

The discipline behind that moment is uncompromising.

“So nutrition-wise, this time we did a low-carb, high-carb day and a refeed. So I had to weigh everything to the T. So even if I’m an ounce off, I’m going to cut something out just to get that ounce,” Allamby explained.

Photo Credit: Shamar Blunt

Training and preparation come at a personal cost so when asked about balance, Allamby is honest.

“So sacrificing your life is one of the main things. It sounds bad, but sacrificing going out, staying up late.

“If you know you want to do it, you go towards your goal. That’s how you choose to create your dreams and your goals,” Allamby said.

(TM)