CHARLI LILAGAN
Charli Lilagan is Australia's first IFBB Fit Model Pro, earning her professional status in her very first bodybuilding season just two weeks after losing her sister to suicide. What began as a way to cope with unimaginable grief quickly became something much greater. Bodybuilding gave Charli a place to put one foot in front of the other, develop resilience and discover a deeper sense of purpose. It became proof that even life's hardest moments can become the foundation for extraordinary growth. Since making history by competing in the first IFBB Fit Model Pro show in Japan, Charli has embraced the long game. She is currently dedicating her offseason to building more muscle density, refining her physique, and developing the mindset required to compete with the world's best. Her ultimate goal is to step onto the Olympia stage, carrying her sister's memory with her every step of the way. Beyond competition, Charli is passionate about helping others transform adversity into strength. As a mindset coach working with athletes, she empowers people to find purpose through challenge, build unwavering self-belief, and use discomfort as a catalyst for growth rather than something to fear. Through her YouTube channel, Instagram, podcast, and writing, Charli shares the unfiltered reality of her journey, from the discipline of bodybuilding to the personal lessons that happen far beyond the stage. Her mission is simple: to inspire others to realise that pain does not have to define your future. When channelled with intention, it can become the very thing that shapes the person you're capable of becoming. Although she is only at the beginning of her competitive career, Charli is committed to the lifelong pursuit of growth, excellence and impact both as an athlete and as a person.
PROLOG ENTRY #2
I catch myself pacing around my house some days... literally just walking laps around my kitchen because I haven't hit my step count yet, and some part of me still needs to tick that box before I let myself sit down. Yesterday, I spent 6+ hours on a road trip with friends for a charity event, a day that had nothing to do with bodybuilding and everything to do with what actually makes my life feel full. I didn't hit my steps by the time I made it home, so after all those hours in the car, I got up and paced until the number ticked over. It's a habit that served me well in prep. In the offseason, there are times and places where I think it starts to look a little different... That small habit is basically the whole thing I want to talk about. As bodybuilders, we're good at suffering. Tired, hungry, irritable—we show up anyway. In prep, that's not optional; it's the job. In a peak build, shovelling in food you don't want, pushing volume your body's begging you to back off from—same deal. Different discomfort, same requirement: notice the cue, override it, keep going. That's not up for debate. It's the bare minimum the sport asks of us. Eighteen weeks into this offseason, I've been sitting with a different question: what happens when the discomfort isn't required anymore, but I keep generating it anyway? Because that's what I noticed... I'm not in a phase where suffering is the price of progress right now. Yet some part of me still wants to suffer because I've internalised that struggle is what makes an outcome count. There's a real psychological pull there—we value things more when they cost us more. It's a legitimate, well-documented bias, and bodybuilding runs on it. But the thing I'm learning is that constant suffering and the ability to tolerate discomfort are not the same skill, even though this sport trains us to treat them as interchangeable. Whether you white-knuckle your way through something or find a way to enjoy it doesn't change how much you deserve the outcome. That's the part my athlete brain resists. But I don't think it's true. I think it's just the story that keeps us disciplined when discipline is genuinely required, and it sometimes overstays its welcome once the phase changes. So here's where I've landed: my ability to be a full, satisfied human outside of this sport is not a threat to my longevity in it. It's the thing that protects it. Putting the athlete hat down for a walk that has nothing to do with steps, or a night that has nothing to do with macros, doesn't undo the work. It's what makes me want to still be doing this work in five years. I still default to rigid athlete mode most days. It's wired in, and in prep it's exactly what I need. But the offseason has been teaching me that the same rigidity, left unexamined, becomes the thing standing between me and staying in this sport long-term. Consistency is still the whole game. It just doesn't require a costume all the time. I'm not fully there yet, and I'll probably continue to pace the kitchen after a wholesome day with loved ones if it means I hit my step count. But I'm starting to notice when I'm doing it out of habit rather than necessity, and that noticing is part of the work right now. X, Charli
MY NEXT STEPS AS A FIT MODEL IFBB PRO
This week marks the beginning of a short sharp mini cut (a welcome mental reset to my build phase before we continue for a big stretch ahead of my next prep) as I'm 18 weeks post show since stepping off the stage at my IFBB Fit Model Pro debut in Japan. When I walked off that stage, in my 2nd ever season of competing, I was lucky enough to be a part of creating history in that 1st Fit Model Pro show and my feedback was simple: grow. Grow more density. Build a stronger physique. Come back better. If I'm honest, hearing that initially felt disappointing. I'd not had any experience with losing in the sport since stepping into the space only a year ago, and while winning feels good I felt grateful for the loss because I know that failure is where there's most opportunity for learning, growing and evolving. While winning feels good for the ego, my reason for coming into the space was never to feel good - it was to evolve through discomfort. I think more than the loss, my disappointment came from the notion that I associated an improvement stage away from the stage with being less connected to the sport and community I have grown to love so much. Looking back now, I couldn't have been more wrong. The past 18 weeks in offseason have challenged me in ways I never expected—not just physically, but mentally. Of course, the focus has been training harder than ever. Learning to execute every exercise with intention, improving my form, pushing my intensity and trusting that the small things I do every day will eventually create the physique I can showcase the next time I take the stage early next year. But the biggest growth hasn't happened inside the gym, it's happened outside of it. Instead of being consumed by my own prep, I've had the opportunity to experience bodybuilding from a completely different perspective. I've been fortunate enough to appear at seminars, most recently in Thailand Pattaya ahead of the Pattaya show, spend time helping Fit Model athletes through their own journeys, share my experiences, as well as watch the very first year of IFBB Fit Model Pro shows unfold. I've cheered from the sidelines, celebrated other athletes' wins, watched women step into their pro careers while continuing to work quietly on my own. Somewhere along the way, I've realised something.. Being involved in this sport isn't defined by whether you're six weeks out or six months into an offseason. The community doesn't stop because you're not competing. If anything, I've fallen even more in love with bodybuilding during this season of growth. One of the things I love most about the Fit Model division is that we're all building something together. This division is still so new, which means every woman who steps onto the stage (and every woman who chooses to spend a season improving instead of rushing back) is helping shape what this category becomes. Yes, we're competitors. That's the reality when we stand under the lights - But outside of that, we're also a community. Every athlete standing beside me has sacrificed things, overcome challenges and pursued the same dream. Every woman who earns her place on that stage deserves to be there. As our division continues to evolve, we'll undoubtedly see the standards for physiques continue to rise which is an exciting part of the evolvement of this division and a big part of this sport as a whole. But I also hope we continue raising another standard - the standard for how we show up as people as much as we show up as athletes. To be relentlessly driven in our own goals while genuinely celebrating someone else's success, to pursue excellence without allowing comparison to steal our joy, to compete fiercely on stage while remaining supportive, encouraging and respectful off of it. Because I truly believe those things aren't mutually exclusive. This week may officially mark the start of my mini cut, but in many ways it also feels like the beginning of another chapter. One where I continue building not only the physique that can take me back to the Pro stage, but also the mindset, perspective and character that I hope I'll carry with me throughout my competitive bodybuilding career. I've come to realise during this time away from the stage but still working steadily towards it that growth isn't always loud. Sometimes it looks like another set in the gym, putting your head down and getting to work while patiently waiting for your time. Sometimes it looks like standing on the sidelines, cheering as loudly for someone else's dream as you will one day cheer for your own.
