Tommy Conley, 46, and April Conley, 42, each found bodybuilding to be an outlet for grief and life changes, and they fell in love along the way. Years later, both their passion for the sport and their relationship are stronger than ever, and they have no plans to slow down their training.
Tommy enjoyed lifting weights in high school, but after becoming a father in his 20s with five children, he soon didn’t have time to devote to fitness. He gradually realized how out of shape he had become, struggling to walk upstairs to put his children to bed without becoming out of breath. By the time he was 40, Tommy was divorced and had turned to alcohol to cope. “I reached a point where I realized I didn’t want my life to look this way, and I needed a goal,” Tommy remembers. He set his sights on a local bodybuilding competition and fell in love with the sport.
Meanwhile, April, who lived in Birmingham at the time, started lifting weights in her late 20s to feel and look stronger. After her late husband passed away, April was grieving and felt she needed a goal to see her through this hard time, and she began training to compete in her first bodybuilding competition. Later, while browsing Instagram for other bodybuilding competitors, April came across Tommy’s page and followed him. Soon, they were connecting over shared experiences as parents and a shared love for bodybuilding, and the rest is history. April became a pro bodybuilder within her first year of competing, and with her hard work and Tommy’s support, she continues to catapult as a leader in the sport. “April is on a rocket ship and is progressing through the sport at an insanely fast pace,” Tommy says. “She is a powerhouse and motivates me to be better.”
April, who is a bodybuilding coach, finds that consistency is the key to her success in the sport. Due to their primary roles as parents, Tommy and April’s schedules rarely allow for them to train together, but they love checking in with gym selfies during their independent training sessions. “Training for a big competition can be challenging, but we know what the other one is going through, which makes it easier to relate and check on each other during the hard days,” April says.
Additionally, the Conleys enjoy taking every opportunity to travel together for bodybuilding competitions and have recently competed in Miami, Denver, Scottsdale, and Las Vegas, among other locations. In August, Tommy and April will travel to Tokyo, where April will compete in the International Federation of Bodybuilding & Fitness (IFBB) Masters Olympia, a significant milestone in her professional bodybuilding career. Though Tommy is not competing, he will be there to cheer April along every step of the way.
Learn more about Tommy, April, and bodybuilding by following them on Instagram @tommy.b.conley and @aprilconley_ifbbpro, or check out their podcast “Just a Little T&A” on YouTube.
By Zoe Harrison
Photo by Tindall Stephens
