Carla Smith will attend her second Canadian bodybuilding championship this weekend, but it will still have a new feel for the Estevan resident.
Smith competed in the 2003 nationals in the regular bodybuilding category, but she is switching to the figure competition this year, in the masters division.
Smith, 44, said the switch requires some adjustments.
"It's basically the same thing, you just can't come in as hard and ripped up as a bodybuilder does. You have to have the softer look, but you still have to look fit," she said.
"The posing is different, you have to put the high heels on, you have to learn to walk in five-inch heels."
The nationals are being held Saturday in Saskatoon.
Smith earned seventh place in her division in 2003.
She followed that up with a run of success in provincial events, but was planning to retire in 2005 until a new elite category was created.
The elite category is only for bodybuilders who have won provincials before, which Smith did in 2003.
She went on to won the women's elite division at provincials in 2010.
Smith said the preparation for nationals hasn't been much of a difference from her regular lifestyle.
"You're dieting for 12 weeks and working out. Nothing really changes because that's just my life, working out and eating clean. My biggest thing was I had to soften.
"I'm really, really excited and nervous and what will be will be."
