20 Questions with Cover Model Carolina Quiñones

1) Please introduce yourself? What makes you special? Who is Carolina Quiñones?

Well, my name is Carolina Quiñones and I am currently 30 years old. I am from San Juan, Puerto Rico and I moved to Miami with my parents in 1998. I am unique because I am not afraid of failure. In fact, I think it's an essential part of the process that gets you to success.

2) Please tell us a bit about your family, friends and surroundings?

I don't have such a big family. My father's side of the family are from Puerto Rico. I have 2 uncle's and 1 aunt, 2 beautiful cousins and my grandmother who is still with us. My grandfather passed away a few years ago. One of my uncles still lives in Puerto Rico, the other one currently resides in Miami and my aunt in Texas. One of my cousins lives in New York and the other one is in Spain for school. 
My mother's side of the family is from Buenos Aires, Argentina. I have 3 beautiful aunts, 2 who live in Orlando, FL as well as my mother and grandmother. My grandfather passes away in Puerto Rico when I was a little girl. My third aunt currently lives in South Beach. I have a sister who is 12 years older than me and lives in Melbourne, Fl. My sister blessed me with a niece and nephew, who are 5 and 10 years old. 

3) How did you start competing in bikini?

It all started when I wanted to get a personal trainer to gain muscle. I used to be 98 lbs and ebarrased of wearing shorts because of how skinny my legs were. In fact, I was always made fun of in middle school for it. One day, my boyfriend introduced me to a friend of his who owns a gym and only trained clients 1 on 1. After some time, my coach told me I would be a great bikini competitor. I had never heard of competing but as soon as I was introduced to it, I fell in love. 

4) What is your personal policy (not what the judges want) about conditioning and muscularity when coming into a show? Soft or hard?

For myself, coming in leaner and slightly more muscular than my past, has worked the best. I believe I am proportionate which I feel that also plays a big role for any competitor stepping on stage.

5)  What is your idea of what judges want in a Bikini competitor? Do you think judges are clear enough with competitors about how they want you on stage? It seems in Europe they are very clear unlike in the USA and now in Canada things are confusing.

I do not feel judges are clear with competitors as to what they want. At least not in the USA. Every show you go into, the competitors who win have a different look. At times they are hard and muscular and other times they are soft with no muscle maturity. 

6) For the next shows what do you think you need to work on physique-wise/conditioning-wise? If anything!

One of my weaknesses is leaning down my legs and getting more glutes. That is definitely something I have been working on. I will definitely have a better look in 2018. 

7) What is your typical training routine in the gym (per day, include sets and reps!) How much cardio do you do before a show?

I start with 45 minutes of fasted cardio. I then usually go about my day until about 4PM sometimes 6PM, depending if my daughter has an extracurricular activity that day. Mondays I do quads and glutes, Tuesday's I do shoulders and triceps, Wednesday's I rest from training but I still get my cardio in, Thursday's I train back, Fridays I train hamstrings and glutes and Saturday mornings I train chest and biceps. I do 30 minutes cardio post training. I do 3-4 sets 10-20 reps, depending what the workout is that day. I train at Idolmaker and the routines are always different. 

8) What is your pre-contest diet? (per day, 1 week before the show)

I don't really have a pre-contest diet. That is changed weekly depending on my body fat.

9) How do you go about dropping your water before the day of the show? How much water do you drink the day of the show. Please be specific.

I cut my water by the morning before the day of the show. Show day I sip on water as needed.

10) What motivates you to train/diet and compete? Are there any competitors you looked up to? 

I motivate myself. I keep track of my body fat and I set goals for myself. Also, getting better at training makes me want to work harder. I just think about it this way, when you love something you take great care of it so I do the same with my body. 
I look up to Vanessa Avila who has actually been my posing coach. Vanessa and I have similar body types. She is such an amazing and sweet person! I also look up to Romina Basuldo. Her work ethic in the gym is inspiring and she's stunning.

11) Please tell us an interesting experience you had at a show recently, be it a fun thing or something rather not so fun?

An interesting experience, hmmm... I have had quite a few lol. I would say that the best one to share would be at the CJ Classsic in March of 2015 where I took 2nd place in the Open Bikini division and my daughter stepped on stage with my coach to hand me the trophy. That was an unforgettable and one of the most amazing moments I have been able to share with my daughter. 

12) What is your personal opinion about the figure, fitness, bodybuilding industry we are in? Anything you would like to see changed? 

I would like to see more competitors come together and enjoy sharing the same interests. So many competitors now are so busy focusing on what their competition is doing that is ridiculous. I have friends who compete and whether we share the same stage or not, I always wish them well and want to see them do well. Everyone's time comes when it needs to. 

13) What has been your hardest challenge to overcome either in your personal life or competing career?

I have gone through preps while going through very rough personal issues but I managed to always keep it together and see the light at the end of the tunnel. Life doesn't stop just because there is a bump on the road. Just put that aside and keep going with everything else. 

14) Did you make any changes to your contest prep for your last show? Water intake, carbing up, etc...

Every prep has been different for me. There are times I have higher carbs than others. Water intake pretty much stays the same. I have a gallon of water daily sometimes more. 

15) What do you think of bikini division?

I love being part of the bikini division. I get to share the stage with many other beautiful ladies whom I share the same interests with. The stories that they all have are quite unique and it is very interesting to learn the obstacles they have all gone through to get to where we are.

16) What are your favorite foods to eat right after you compete on a Saturday night?

I can never wait to have my Bam Body Nutrition brownies!! 

17) Please tell us about how you were raised and did you have any interesting experiences while growing up?

As a child I went to a Catholic school in Puerto Rico. A school full of nuns, which was quite the experience! However, I wouldn't change it for anything in this world. My parents owned a well known cookie factory back then until we moved to Miami. In Puerto Rico my family was pretty close and I was also very close to both of my cousins. Our grandmother would always pick us up to take us places and just spoil us. Our holidays were absolutely amazing with the whole family from both sides together. My friends and I would bake giant cookies and eat all the cookie dough we desired! My mom then became a flight attendant when we moved to Miami and my parents got divorced during my middle school years. 

18) Do you have an athletic background? Gymnastics, soccer, volleyball or what? 

My grandmother on my mom's side of the family, owned a gym in Puerto Rico for many years. I would be that baby in diapers taking my mom's aerobics classes. I was also in cheerleading throughout my middle school days.

19) What is a typical day in the life of Carolina Quiñones? From waking up to until going to bed? 

Currently, my days consist of the following:

Monday through Friday I wake up at 6AM. Brush my teeth and wash my face. I wake up my daughter so that she can start getting ready for school while I make breakfast and prepare meals for the day for both my boyfriend and I as well as preparing my daughter's lunchbox. I feed our dog and take her out. Around 6:40AM I get dressed and leave the house by 7AM. Sometimes we may stop at Starbucks for some coffee and to get my daughter her favorite frapp, the Vanila Bean Frapp. I drop off my daughter at school by 7:45AM and head to the gym for 45min fasted cardio. I then go to my boyfriend's office to help him. I have my breakfast as soon as I get there before I start helping him with work. Of course, I watch the time to eat every 2 1/2 hours :) I stay helping him until about 1PM or 2PM and go pick up my daughter at school. On Mondays, she has CCD at 5PM so between 3PM and 5PM I take her to eat and do homework before CCD. My daughter finishes at 6PM so I get to the gym around 6:40PM to train and do post 30min cardio. Tuesday's, my daughter has karate at 6:45PM so after I pick her up from school, we go home to do homework and change to her karate uniform and be at the gym by 4:30PM to be out by 6:15PM and make it to karate on time. On Wednesdays is my rest day from training so when I pick up my daughter at school, we go home to have some lunch and do homework. After doing homework we spend quality time together such as sometimes we make slime or I let her do my hair and makeup or we do some shopping, sometimes we take our dog somewhere or do groceries, etc. Thursday's, karate is at 5:15PM so we go home to change and do homework before karate class and I train around 6:30PM. Fridays karate is at 4PM so we go straight there from school and I train around 5PM. Every day after karate and my training, we then go home and I eat while I cook for the kids. My daughter showers in the meantime and also does school work on the computer, if needed, or plays with her step sister. The kids eat and I then freshen up before I put my daughter to sleep. Her bed time is between 8:30PM and 9PM, depending how that day is going. I feed our dog and take her out. It's then time to clean up and spend with my boyfriend before we actually get to go to sleep. We use music or rain sounds to sleep and I also put a humidifier with essential oils. Saturday mornings I wake up between 7:45-8AM, depending how tired I am. I prepare my breakfast and head to the gym. That's when I get my body fat done. If my daughter is with me that Saturday, she heads to the gym with me too. After the gym, we meet with my boyfriend at his favorite breakfast spot. I always have one of their salads :) then my boyfriend goes to work and we go about our day running errands or take the kids to do something. At night we usually go to dinner, Dave & Busters, Lincoln Rd. on South Beach with our dog, do movie nights, etc. Sundays it's cleaning day while my boyfriend goes to work and then time to relax and get ready for a new week! 

That is basically the norm in my life lol There are times that we go on trips or take the kids to Disney or just spontaneously do something different! There are also the normal life doctors appointments and stuff that happen from time to time. 

20) What is your current occupation? Please tell us more about it, what do you specifically do in your job?

This year I have decided to leave my 9-5 and concentrate more on what I am truly passionate for. At the moment, my job is to take care of our house and be the greatest mother and girlfriend I could be :) along with chasing my dreams and turning them into reality.

Back to Issues