A FEMALE bodybuilder from Worcester has qualified for a national championship.

Xyleese Richards finished second in the heavyweight division for over 57kgs at the southern finals of the English Bodybuilding Federation in Portsmouth.

She also wowed the judges to claim the top prize for her self-choreographed 60-second routine to music.

As a result, she will now compete at the national finals in Nottingham in October.

Richards, who trains at the Pro-Fitness gym in The Butts, had originally entered the figure category, designed for the best physique, but was told she had too much muscle.

The 36-year-old said: "I couldn't carry on so I tried the body building category. I came second and I missed out on first by one point.

"Because it was so close and they were so pleased with my shape, they actually chose me to go to the British finals, which was extra special."

She added: "A lot of the girls and guys just pose to the music and it doesn't really flow but because I've got a dancing background I did a dance routine but added the posing.

"When I went there, I didn't think I'd finish second. It was just amazing that I was there. It is totally different being in a figure competition to doing a body building category."

Richards, trained by partner Martin Burford, also a body builder and owner of Pro-Fitness, endured a gruelling regime of cardio-vascular exercise, weights and strict dieting to put herself among the country's elite.

"I have been doing cardio twice a day," she said. "I get up at five in the morning and I do cardio at six every morning, which is basically 45 minutes of running or on the bike.

"In the evening, Martin will train me with the weights and then I'll do 20 minutes of cardio to finish off. I have been doing it for seven days a week for the last eight weeks.

"Now I'll ease off a bit and have most of the weekend off as far as cardio goes but the weights stay the same.

"I'll just do 40 minutes of cardio in the morning because I just love doing it."

Richards now has her sights set on impressing at the national finals.

She said: "It would be great if I won but, as the body building side of it is new to me, hopefully I can make the top five."