Alma Benavidez

Connect What fuels your passion for health and fitness?

Being an example for women in the Hispanic community that we are capable of more than what our culture has taught us we are. It’s showing women with a history of domestic abuse that our strength can’t be taken and we can still thrive. It’s also the daily challenge of showing up, pushing myself, and being better than I was yesterday.

What’s your favorite way to train or stay fit?

My favorite way to stay fit is through balance. I love competing in bodybuilding—it challenges me physically and mentally and keeps me disciplined. Just as important is prioritizing my mental and emotional health. Fitness is more than appearance—it’s mental clarity, emotional strength, and feeling whole from the inside out.

What would you do with $20,000?

If I were given $20,000, I wouldn’t see it as a reward.I would see it as a responsibility to give back, to honor where I came from, and to multiply its impact through others. I would invest directly into my community by donating to my gym to sponsor a fully paid membership for someone who otherwise wouldn’t have access. Fitness didn’t just change my body—it saved my mental health, rebuilt my confidence, and gave me purpose during some of the hardest seasons of my life.