Karina Baymiller

Fitness Model, Personal Trainer, Sponsored Athlete, Powerlifter

Karina Baymiller’s sporting beginnings date back to her childhood, where she would take part in soccer and cheerleading from an early age. During her days in high school, Karina continued to play soccer, until one day, she sustained a serious injury – breaking her ankle during a soccer game. Ultimately, she was forced to give up soccer once and for all.

By the time she reached college, her heavily active lifestyle had all but faded away – fitness was no longer a priority. As well as this, she began to pay little attention to her diet, which caused her weight to increase right up until graduation.

During this period, Karina had not only gained weight, but she also lost weight too – suffering from a serious illness which caused her health to deteriorate rapidly. It was at this point, Karina’s weight dropped by 10 lbs in just one week. But once she fully recovered, Karina realized that losing weight was perhaps the best thing for her. As Karina says:

“After my recovery, I realized I liked the new, slimmed down version of myself, and I decided I wanted to continue the weight loss”.

Ever since then, she’s become widely known for her incredible body transformation, where she went from 190 lbs to losing 60 lbs within the space of two years. As a result of her remarkable turnaround, Karina has now firmly established herself within the fitness industry – becoming a personal trainer, sponsored athlete, and fitness model along the way.

This is her story:

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Athlete Statistics

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Accomplishments

• Fitness Model
• Personal Trainer
• Sponsored Athlete
• Powerlifter

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Biography

Active as a Child

Growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, Karina Baymiller became enthralled within the fitness lifestyle from an early age – taking part in soccer and cheerleading throughout her childhood.

She continued to participate in soccer going into high school, until an injury abruptly ended her career. During a soccer game, Karina went into a tackle – shattering her ankle in the process. Unfortunately, this forced her to give up the sport for good.

Unhealthy Lifestyle

Further down the line, Karina’s love for fitness slowly began to fade away. During her college years, she started to eat unhealthy foods and drink alcohol on a regular basis. At this point, fitness was the last thing on her mind – which caused her to gain weight rapidly. At her heaviest, Karina weighed a huge 190 lbs.

Throughout this period of ups and downs, Karina’s weight not only increased, but she also lost weight rapidly due to a serious illness. This became a turning point in Karina’s life, when she realized that she wanted to improve her health once and for all.

As Karina says: “A couple months before I graduated college, I caught the flu and wasn’t able to keep food down. By the end of the week I had lost a few pounds, and after I had recovered, I liked the way the weight loss looked and felt, so I kept it going”.

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Karina Baymiller before compared to how she looks now.

Weight Loss Journey

Karina took it upon herself to continue losing weight, as she became fully aware that her unhealthy lifestyle was doing her more harm than good. It was at this point, she completely overhauled her diet – switching from fast food to healthy, home cooked meals.

Slowly but surely, Karina began to lose weight. This greatly improved her overall well-being, as well as her self-confidence. But soon enough, Karina realized that she needed to go one step further – she then stepped foot into the gym for the very first time.

At the start, Karina thought the best way to lose weight was to only perform cardio. She’d spend her time running on a treadmill, or training on an elliptical machine. This was until she met her now ex-boyfriend, who just so happened to be a personal trainer.

From then on, Karina was taught everything she needed to know about training and nutrition, which allowed her to get the most out of her workouts in the gym. She soon began to make substantial progress, after she started to lift weights alongside her cardio training. As Karina says: “I got into lifting weights… and once I did, I was hooked. The rest is history!”.

Earning her Place in the Fitness Industry

Two years on from the moment she began to train in the gym, Karina lost an incredible 60 lbs. Because of her consistent training, she was able to completely transform her body – earning herself a lean, sculpted physique.

Later in her career, Karina earned her Batchelor’s degree in Kinesiology from Arizona State University. Ever since then, she has dedicated her life to fitness – reaching her weight loss goals along the way. Because of her love for the healthy lifestyle, Karina has made her mark on the fitness industry – becoming a personal trainer, sponsored athlete, and fitness model.

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Training

Supersets

Karina utilizes ‘supersets’ during her training sessions in the gym, as she’s found this is the most effective way for her to build lean muscle. She trains in the gym at least 5-6 days per week, using the following training split:

Chest and Abs

Superset

• Flat Bench Press: 4 sets of 15 reps
• Hanging Leg Raise: 4 sets of 20 reps

Superset

• Cable Flyes: 4 sets of 12 reps
• Decline Sit-Up: 4 sets of 20 reps

Superset

• Incline Dumbbell Flyes: 4 sets of 15 reps
• V-Ups: 4 sets of 20 reps

Superset

• Push-Ups: 4 sets to failure
• Swiss Ball Pike: 4 sets of 15 reps

Legs

• Squat: 5 sets of 8-12 reps
• Deadlift: 5 sets of 8-12 reps

Superset

• Walking Lunge: 4 sets of 20 steps (10 per side)
• Leg Press: 4 sets of 10 reps

Superset

• Leg Extensions: 4 sets of 12 reps
• Leg Curl: 4 sets of 12 reps

Shoulders

• Barbell Push Press: 4 sets of 10 reps
• Dumbbell Snatch: 4 sets of 12 reps
• Kettlebell Clean and Jerk: 4 sets of 15 reps

Superset

• Arnold Press: 4 sets of 10-12 reps
• Lateral Raise: 4 sets of 10-12 reps
• Handstand Push-Ups: 4 sets to failure

Back / HIIT

• Jumping Pull-Ups: 5 sets of 30 reps

Superset

• Dumbbell Row: 4 sets of 20 reps
• Wide-Grip Lat Pull-Down: 4 sets of 12 reps

Superset

• Close-Grip Cable Row: 4 sets of 12 reps
• Face Pulls: 4 sets of 12 reps

Superset

• Reverse-Grip Barbell Row: 4 sets of 10 reps
• Rear Delt Cable Flyes: 4 sets of 12 reps

Legs / Plyometrics

Superset

• Front Squat: 4 sets of 15 reps
• Box Jump: 4 sets of 30 reps

Superset

• Reverse Lunge: 4 sets of 30 reps (15 per side)
• Squat Jump: 4 sets of 25 reps

Superset

• Wide-Stance Leg Press: 4 sets of 20 reps
• Jumping Lunge: 4 sets of 50 reps (25 per side)
• Burpee Box Jump: 4 sets of 25 reps

Arms

Superset

• Dumbbell Biceps Curl: 4 sets of 12 reps
• Dips: 4 sets of 25 reps

Superset

• EZ-Bar Curl: 4 sets of 12 reps
• Triceps Kickback: 4 sets of 10 reps

Superset

• Rope Curl: 4 sets of 10 reps
• Single-Arm Push-Down: 4 sets of 12 reps

Superset

• Single-Arm Preacher Curl: 4 sets to failure
• Triceps Push-Ups: 4 sets to failure

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Nutrition

Varied Diet

Karina enjoys adding variety into her diet, which includes treating herself to ‘cheat’ foods as a reward for her intense training sessions in the gym. Although the majority of her food choices are ‘clean’, Karina doesn’t limit her food choices to typical bodybuilding foods. As Karina says:

“My diet changes every single day. I’m on a journey to restore balance in my life and counting calories, weighing my food, and eating only chicken and broccoli, is not part of that journey. I eat when I’m hungry, stop when I’m full”. 

Here’s a meal plan which Karina follows – consisting of healthy fats, lean proteins, and complex carbohydrates:

Meal One – 7 am

• Oats – 1/2 cup
• 5 Egg Whites
• Coconut Oil – 1 tsp
• Blueberries – 1/4 cup
• 5 Walnuts
• Cinnamon
• Stevia

Meal Two – 11 am

• Whey Protein – 1 scoop
• 1 Banana
• Milk – 1 glass
• Spinach – 2 cups
• Ice

Meal Three – 1 pm

• Romaine Lettuce – 3 cups
• Chicken – 3-4 oz.
• Macademia Oil – 1/2 tbsp
• Half a Sweet Potato
• Balsamic Vinegar

Meal Four – 4 pm

• Wild Salmon – 3-4 oz.
• Zucchini – 2 cups
• 1/4 of an Avocado
• Half a Sweet Potato

Meal Five – 7 pm

• Flank Steak – 5-6 oz.
• Kale – 2 cups
• Butternut Squash – 2 cups
• Coconut Oil – 1 tsp

Meal Six – 10 pm

• Greek Yoghurt – 1 cup
• Almond Butter – 1 tbsp
• Coconut Flakes – 1 tsp
• Cinnamon
• Stevia

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Idols and Influences

After she became a sponsored athlete, Karina was surrounded by several like-minded people who motivated her to become the best possible version of herself. By taking full advantage of their support, Karina has been able to continually reach greater heights in her fitness career. In regard to this, Karina had this to say:

“Being the newbie in the industry I’ve received so much direction, insight, and encouragement from my amazing team members. I love every single one of them and will be forever grateful for their support and guidance”.

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What we can learn from Karina Baymiller

If there’s one thing we can take from Karina Baymiller’s story, it would be this: it takes a patient yet determined mindset to achieve your full potential within fitness. It took Karina over two years to obtain her weight loss goals, but she stayed motivated every step of the way to achieve greatness.

Ultimately, she was able to build her dream physique through hard work and dedication. In the words of Karina Baymiller: “Don’t be afraid to give up the good and go for the great!”