Asha Hadley

Asha Hadley started weight training when she was in high school in Miami, where she also played softball and volleyball. After attending the University of Florida, she ran long distance and began competing in figure in 2011 when she was in her early thirties. But she quickly realized she was putting on too much muscle for the division, moved up to women’s physique, and turned pro at Nationals in 2012. For the next few years she competed regularly as a physique pro and, after relocating from Miami to Houston, made her Olympia debut in 2016 and placed ninth.

After that, Asha decided to take a break from competing, during which time she ran marathons. In 2020 she decided to make a comeback – but as a female bodybuilder. She realized she had now outgrown women’s physique and was excited by the way that Wings of Strength was marketing women’s bodybuilding – including, of course, bringing it back to the Olympia. She quickly put the size back on that she had lost during her four years off. At 5-foot-7 and at 171 pounds onstage, she won the Savannah Pro on her debut as a female bodybuilder and later that year placed seventh at the Ms. Olympia.

Now that she is a female bodybuilder, Asha no longer has to hold back in the gym. Known for her incredible delts and abs, she is now focused on putting on more size, especially in her quads and biceps. Looking back, she says moving up to women’s bodybuilding was “the best choice I ever made”. “I trained my ass off to fit that physique body that they wanted,” she says. “I was dieting really hard, cardio was crazy, and it was really stifling the natural progress. Now I’m a bodybuilder, I’m able to lift heavy, which I like to, and it allows me to grow naturally.”

Contest history:

2011 Florida Gold Cup, figure class E, 1st place
2011 NPC National Championship, figure
2012 Team Universe, figure
2012 Southern States, women’s physique class B, 2nd place
2012 USA Nation Championship, women’s physique class D, 3rd place
2012 NPC National Championship, women’s physique class D, 1st place
2013 IFBB Europa Show of Champions, women’s physique, 9th place
2013 New York Pro, women’s physique, 16th place
2013 Greater Gulf States Pro, women’s physique, 12th place
2014 Optimum Classic, women’s physique, 12th place
2014 Tampa Pro, women’s physique, 5th place
2014 Europa Games, Phoenix, women’s physique, 8th place
2015 Europa Super Show: Dallas, women’s physique, 6th place
2015 Wings of Strength Chicago Pro, women’s physique, 16th place
2015 Wings of Strength Tampa Pro, women’s physique, 16th place
2015 Wings of Strength Texas Pro, women’s physique, 14th place
2016 New York Pro, women’s physique, 2nd place
2016 Optimum Classic, women’s physique, 1st place
2016 Olympia Women’s Physique Showdown, 9th place
2020 Lenda Murray Savannah Pro, women’s bodybuilding, 1st place
2020 Ms. Olympia, women’s bodybuilding, 7th place

2021 Rising Phoenix – 6th place