Competitive bodybuilder Kayla Rawlins is already moving before most Michigan State students start their day.
Rawlins, a MSU Digital Storytelling major, wakes up between 3:30-4:30 a.m. every morning to complete her cardio workout before heading to class, structuring her life around a demanding schedule of going to the gym, meals and being a full-time college student.
Each day is structured down to the minute, a discipline that began long before her own journey. With her parents also being former bodybuilders, the gym’s been a constant since she was little.
“Some of my earliest memories are of being in the gym daycare,” Rawlins said. “They would bring us and that’s kind of where we grew up. It was just always a very comforting place for me because it’s so familiar.”
Growing up a competitive cheerleader, Rawlins, who stands 5-1, began lifting in high school to gain strength, and quickly realized bodybuilding was something she wanted to pursue seriously.
That decision led her to a lifestyle defined by routine and discipline – especially during competition prep, when bodybuilders increase cardio, follow strict meal plans and adhere to daily schedules to prepare for the stage at competitions.
“When you switch into that prep mode, you do everything on a schedule,” Rawlins said. “You're not skipping a single day. It doesn’t matter if you don’t feel like it, it doesn’t matter if you’re super busy, you kind of have to fit it in.”
Balancing prep with college responsibilities can be mentally and physically demanding, especially as competitions approach.
“I would say probably the hardest part is when you get to the second half and you’re super depleted,” Rawlins said. “You have a lot of brain fog and I’m still walking to class, going to class, doing projects. It’s really hard to mentally focus. I literally scheduled my days out by the minute.”
What made those challenges even more defining was what Rawlins faced outside of the gym. In Jan. 2025, she lost her childhood home in a fire, a traumatic event.
“I was going through a lot in my personal life, and so things were really hard for me,” Rawlins said. “I kind of felt like I needed some kind of structure and a goal and a purpose to get me through the year because things were so thrown off.”
Rawlins struggled, at first. Instead of stepping away from bodybuilding, she leaned further into it, using the sport to regain control. Even though Rawlins hadn’t planned to compete last year, she decided to prepare for a show in November.
“I found that bodybuilding gives me structure. It gives me a reason to keep going,” Rawlins said. “I went through my whole prep and I got on stage, and it was one of the best experiences of my life because I really proved to myself that even though these terrible things happened, I didn’t have to let that define my entire year.”
Balancing school and prep means passing up parts of the college experience .
“In college, a lot of people, their entire life revolves around going to class and going out,” Rawlins, 21, said. “When it comes to bodybuilding, it’s so much more strict. It doesn’t allow for as much flexibility. People don’t really wrap their heads around everything that goes into it.”
It came full circle in November when she competed at the NPC Western Michigan Bodybuilding Championships in Kalamazoo, putting a year of loss and resilience into perspective.
“You just feel like a princess because you did all this work for 20-plus weeks,” Rawlins said. “I was just on cloud nine the whole day because I’m like, ‘I did this through this really challenging year for this moment.”
Rawlins placed first in all three of her classes and finished second overall. She said the experience still meant more than the results.
“I didn’t need results to feel satisfied with my performance,” Rawlins said. “I knew that I brought so many improvements and it really helped me turn things around and push me through those hard points in my life.”
The moment also represented something bigger between her and her mom, who sacrificed her own bodybuilding career to start a family.
“My mom stopped competing because she wanted to have kids, so she didn’t get to go as far as she wanted to,” Rawlins said. “Seeing me get on stage and do all those things that she was doing at a young age and live out that dream [meant a lot to her.]”
The moment also extended beyond her family to the friendships she built through the sport. Lydia Grembos, her freshman year roommate and fellow bodybuilder now in her first competition prep, celebrated alongside after the show.
“We both love peanut butter and we love Reese’s [of all kinds],” Grumbos said. “So after her show, I bought Reese’s for us so we could eat them together. It was like a ‘wow, we’re best friends’ moment.”
Grembos had been interested in bodybuilding since she was 15, but began to pursue it more seriously in college, alongside the guidance of Rawlins.
“I’ve always asked her questions about diet and food or workout splits,” Grembos said. “She’s always given me those answers immediately.”
While navigating her first prep, Rawlins provides a steady source of support as Grembos navigates the challenges.
“Prep is such an up-and-down spiral. There's a lot of cardio, a lot of discipline with your food and cravings,” Grembos said. “Sometimes talking to someone that’s only a little bit ahead of you, it’s like, ‘Okay, I can breathe, take it day by day, hour by hour.’”
Having someone with experience helped Grembos navigate bodybuilding, but she also believes that Rawlins’ dedication to the sport stands out beyond the guidance she’s received. Rawlins’ discipline is something she’s consistently noticed.
“She will make sure everything is checked off before she does anything else,” Grembos said. “She has a very strong work ethic. It’s not easy being a bodybuilder, especially in prep during school, and I give her so much props for that.”
Beyond her local bodybuilding friends, Rawlins also created an online community through her TikTok account by sharing her experience.
“I wanted to have a little platform where I can just document my entire journey and hopefully inspire other people, connect with people,” Rawlins said. “I’ve met so many people online just by sharing my journey. It’s given me a huge sense of community.”
As a digital storytelling student, Rawlins hopes to further combine her passion for bodybuilding and creating media, using her filmmaking skills to share the stories behind the sport after college.
“I found that there’s this empty space that could be filled where I could share the stories of bodybuilders and educate more people who aren’t into bodybuilding on the sport,” Rawlins said. “To be able to showcase that to other people and inspire them through film, video or documentary is my dream.”
Rawlins said bodybuilding ultimately changed how she sees herself – but it’s only just the beginning. Now entering a new prep cycle, she is continuing to push herself toward her ultimate goal: getting her professional card.
“I’ve just learned that I’m capable of achieving literally anything I put my mind to,” Rawlins said. “When you’re showing up, you’re doing something hard every single day, and you’re seeing how that pays off. It just gives you the confidence to apply that to other areas of your life.”