Mikaila Soto

Mikaila Soto comes from a typical Puerto Rican Hispanic household. She was born prematurely with bronchial issues. Mikaila spent most of her teenage years in the Humble Park neighborhood in Chicago IL.  High blood pressure and obesity were very common in her family due to the unhealthy Latin food habits. As the mother of two boys, Mikaila knew that she wanted to live a healthier life style. Choosing to be a positive and healthy role model for her boys, she hit the books and became an AFPA (American Fitness Professional Association) Certified Personal Trainer. After several more years of studying, she also became a Certified Post-Rehab Specialist.

Balancing her own Fitness Studio, a business and family made it difficult to pursue a Fitness Competitor career due to her health issues and time constraints. As Mikaila always says, “If you don’t have the time, then make the time”. She wanted to encourage others that it’s never too late to choose a healthy life style. With pure dedication and determination, she decided to prep herself and enter a NPC show as a Figure competitor. With hard work and the support of her love ones, she earned her IFBB Pro card in 2010. Mikaila is a two-time professional OLYMPIAN competitor where only the best of the best qualify to compete in the Las Vegas Olympia Stage. She placed 7th in 2013 and 10^th in 2015. She won the prestigious Olympia 2015 Most Improved Athlete of the year award. Competing at the Arnold Classic 2015 were 54 of the top professional WPD Women Physique competitors. Mikaila competed and placed in the top 10.

In early 2011, she became a Sponsored Athlete. After competing in 2011, she was admitted to the hospital with a severe case of pneumonia. She was also diagnosed with bronchial disease which is something that she has been struggling with her entire life.  She spent a painful 2 1/2 weeks in the Intensive Care Unit and endured a grueling four month recovery. Mikaila set as her goals to get out of her wheel chair, to continue her journey to stay motivated and to get fit enough to get back on the IFBB Pro competition stage. Mikaila unfortunately continued to be hospitalized several times over the years, even to the point of having to induce coma. She ended up spending as much as three months at a time in the hospital. That didn’t stop her from always pushing forward. She truly believed in living life to the fullest, so much that she ended up tattooing it on her right bicep “Live and Love Life  

She gets asked all the time about her full sleeve tribal tattoo. She explains that it’s not just a tattoo. It’s her body art that has special meaning to her. It’s her symbol of a true “Warrior”. As she adds more to it each time, she is fighting for what she believes in and fighting for her life.  She wears it with pride and honor.

“Live and Love Live”

Mikaila Soto
SOTO-CPT Fitness Studio
sotocpt@yahoo.com
www.sotocpt.com
630-837-5507

Dying to Live

Mikalia’s journey into fitness has not been an easy one. She was born prematurely, with bronchial disease that has made it very difficult for her. She has been in and out of the hospital multiple times. However, after years of training and discipline, she was able to change her physical body. She feels compelled to motivate others to never give up and to follow their dreams.