Swell Digs: Ariel Gail

I have been an athlete for as long as I can remember, says Ariel Gail. Her first sport was swimming. She started "at a very young age" and continued to race until she finished college. I was a sprinter (50 & 100 yard freestyle) as well as 100 butterfly, she says. She also competed in and won "local and state classes" in equestrianism.



Born in California, she grew up in Michigan, where she first started to lift weights. I did some "power-lifting" and was one of the strongest girls [in High School], which was hard because I wanted to be strong but the boys would make fun of me.

I continued to lift during my swim seasons in college and I looked forward to those days more than I did swimming. When I stopped swimming I really missed competing and found myself with a lot of extra time on my hands, so I began spending hours reading and looking at pictures on Bodybuilding.com.



By this time Ariel had her degree in Psychology and had moved to Colorado, where she still lives. At this point, I decided to give up being afraid and intimidated of the weight room, she says. I started to build my physique on a regular basis.



In her first two contests, local Colorado shows during 2011, she competed as a middleweight/light-heavyweight bodybuilder, winning her first ever show and placing third in her second. But as 2011 became 2012, Ariel "waited eagerly" to enter the new physique division. She finished 2nd at a regional show, and two weeks later came 7th in her class at her first national contest, the 2012 NPC North Americans.



Last year, she finished 3rd at the NPC Colorado State show, and also competed at the USAs. So far this year she has gained a runners-up spot at state level, and been awarded 9th in her class at the Jr USAs. In the past year, I have learned more than I could have ever imagined, she says. Looking ahead, I see many more years of building a physique that I've always wanted but never believed I could achieve.



The gym in Colorado where she trains is the one owned by Heather Policky/Armburst and her (former?) husband. It's a gym frequented by more than its fair share of top pros, and the very same gym where a certain Alina Popa prepares for her yearly assault on Iris Kyle's Olympia title. It's little wonder, then, that Ariel feels she's learning there. I have worked out in the gym next to pros that I used to admire from the safe space of my home in front of my computer screen, she says.




When she's not training herself or her clients (or hiking in the Rockies) Ariel is working on writing projects. The series I am working on is a collection of women's stories. All of them have set out to achieve self-confidence and personal power over their life through physical fitness and nutrition. Their stories are meant to provide hope, motivation and education so others may embark on a self-loving, self-caring journey. You can read the first two of Ariel's pieces on her blog, Becoming Complete.



You can follow Ariel on her Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages, and via her YouTube channel. And if I haven't managed to persuade you you want more of her yet, I imagine this recent preview clip from HDPhysiques might just do the trick...



Enjoy!