Lisa Cross (born 4 April 1978) is a professional

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

female bodybuilder Female bodybuilding is the female component of competitive bodybuilding. It began in the late 1970s, when women began to take part in bodybuilding competitions.

Early life and education

Lisa was born in

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

in 1978. She had eating problems that began while studying for her

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...

s. Around the age of 15 she became

anorexic Anorexia nervosa, often referred to simply as anorexia, is an eating disorder characterized by low weight, food restriction, body image disturbance, fear of gaining weight, and an overpowering desire to be thin. ''Anorexia'' is a term of Gre ...

. She gained all As and A*s in her GCSEs and then achieved four A-Levels which allowed her to take a degree in Russian and Politics at

Birmingham University , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

Bodybuilding career

Amateur

Lisa has been weight training since 2003 and has been conditioning for competitive entry since 2008. She first really got into bodybuilding in 2006 while she was living in Japan while she was teaching

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. Her boyfriend at the time was a Japanese bodybuilding champion and she started reading up on bodybuilding, such as Negrita Jayde, and started training with weights. In 2007, after she got married, she went to see the 2007 Ms. Olympia competition for their honeymoon and was impressed when she saw female bodybuilders for the first time. Former UK junior champion Lewis Breed oversees her training and pre-contest preparation for bodybuilding. She competed in her debut competition at the 2009 NABBA England, placing second place behind Jennie Ellam. She then competed at the 2009 NABBA

Universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy. The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological description of the development of the universe. Acc ...

achieving second place to Larissa Cunha. Her best win was first place at the UKBFF British Championships, where she won the Ladies Physique class. On 19 March 2014, she announced that she had been awarded her IFBB pro card and can now compete as a pro.

Professional

Lisa attended her first IFBB professional competition at the 2014 Tampa Pro, where she placed 16th place. In 2015,

Alina Popa Alina Popa (born October 12, 1978) is a Romanian-born professional female bodybuilder currently living in the USA. Early life and education Popa grew up Brăila, Romania. From the age of 12, she competed in track and field, initially to lose w ...

became her coach and started training at the Armbrust PRO Gym. Her training paid off when she went on to win the 2015 Omaha Pro, the first time a professional British female bodybuilder won an overall professional competition since 1999.

Contest history

*2009 NABBA England - 2nd *2009 NABBA Universe - 2nd *2009 UKBFF Hercules - 1st *2010 UKBFF British Championships - 1st *2011 Arnold Amateur Europe - 4th *2011 Women's World Amateur Championships - 4th (HW) *2013 Arnold Amateur Europe - 2nd *2014 IFBB Tampa Pro - 16th *2015 IFBB Omaha Pro - 1st *2015 IFBB Wings of Strength Rising Phoenix World Championships - 9th *2016 IFBB Tampa Pro - 2nd * 2016 IFBB Wings of Strength Rising Phoenix World Championships – 7th *2017 IFBB Tampa Pro - 2nd * 2017 IFBB WOS Rising Phoenix World Championships – 9th

Personal life

Lisa is

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

and currently single. She currently lives in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

. She is a former police officer and

teacher. She speaks

, French,

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

and

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

. This is due to her time living in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. In 2014, she published her first book, ''Devil and Disciple – The Temptation''. Her sponsors are CNP Professional, Melanotan Europe, and Powerzone Gym Equipment. She runs her own community gym. She is also a hardcore pornographic performer.

References

External links

Lisa Cross Official BiographyLisa Cross Biography2009 UKBFF Hercules Competition Photographs
- Miss Physique, 2nd

- Miss Physique, 2nd
2010 UKBFF British Championships Results
- Ladies Physique, 1st
FLEX Magazine (British Edition, April 2010)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cross, Lisa 1978 births Alumni of the University of Birmingham English expatriate sportspeople in Japan English expatriate sportspeople in the United States English female bodybuilders English LGBT sportspeople English bisexual people Living people Sportspeople from Rochdale Professional bodybuilders Bisexual sportswomen LGBT bodybuilders