Keeping ourselves fit is very important to keep our body and soul feeling comfortable. For most of us, this means simple things like a walk or light daily exercise.
However, for 33-year-old bodybuilder Natalia Kuznetsova, keeping in shape looks a little different. The professional Russian bodybuilder is said to hold world titles in armlifting, bench press and deadlift – one look at her and it’s hard to believe otherwise.
Personally, I believe that everyone reserves the right to look the way they want to look. People should never be teased for their appearance – how they dress and shape their figure is, of course, entirely up to them.
In Newsner magazine, we’ve previously told you about the amazing and charming people who are strong enough to do things their own way. They ignore society’s preconceived notions about beauty, preferring to follow their own dreams.
I, for one, think this is very important. We should never forget that all people are equal and the cultural differences between us are what makes our world so colourful and vibrant. Anyway, this is my strong opinion.
Natalia Kuznetsova, a 29-year-old Russian, holds world titles in armlifting, bench press and deadlift, and her entire lifestyle is geared towards perfecting her muscular and impressive body.
Everything in her life was geared towards constantly getting stronger in an effort to lift more. Even at a young age, Natalia knew what she wanted to do in life. At the age of 14, she started powerlifting and decided to become a bodybuilder, according to British website LadBible. When she began her journey, her weight was only 80 pounds.
Today, her scale usually shows 246-275 pounds.
Path to celebrity
Not much is known about Natalia’s childhood and upbringing. It is only known that Natalia Trukhina was born on the first of July 1991 in Chita, Southeast Siberia, Russia.
As a child, she was very active. She loved training and combat sports in particular. Therefore, when she turned 14 years old, Natalia started bodybuilding, visiting the gym almost every day.
Under the guidance of coach Alexei Ivanov, a well-known and respected trainer in the region, Natalia went on a strict diet.
Natalia’s goal was not to build a mountain of muscles and participate in competitions. Instead, the main goal of her gym sessions was to get stronger, and as a bonus, to gain mass.
But people didn’t immediately notice that the girl was putting on weight and building muscle every day. After a few years, she started signing up for competitions. Natalia was fully focused on becoming a bodybuilder, and at one of her first championships she performed very successfully.
At 17, she weighed only 150 pounds but could bench press 220 pounds. According to Natalia, this was at the very beginning of her career, when she was still living in Chita. She didn’t know about protein shakes yet and didn’t realise how important they were for building muscle. Nevertheless, she managed to achieve amazing results.
Whether it was simply because she discovered protein or not can be debated, but so far Natalia has won several championships and set many records.
According to The Famous People, in 2014, the Russian colossus won the Eurasia Cup in Vologda, Russia. In 2015, she became the Eastern Europe Cup (GPA) champion.
Nicknamed the world’s most muscular woman, Natalia holds multiple records in powerlifting, bench press and deadlift. Her record in the bench press is over 374lbs and her record in the deadlift is 530lbs.
In her own words, Natalia holds the titles of European champion in bench press and deadlift. The Russian gym enthusiast is 5’7″ tall and weighs in at just over 220lbs in the off-season.
‘It’s not about being perfect, it’s about showing up, putting in the effort and working on yourself to become who you think you are. Every day is another opportunity to push yourself a little bit further,’ she wrote on her Facebook page.
But Natalia is not just a powerful bodybuilder with attractive looks and biceps measuring 18.5 inches.
In 2013, she graduated from the Moscow State Academy of Physical Culture. She also took part in a production of Manon Lescaut at the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia.
Today she lives in the Russian capital with her husband, bodybuilder Vladislav Kuznetsov. The couple met in 2009, and in 2015 tied themselves in marriage. Natalia often publishes cute messages to her husband, who supports her in any life trials. At the moment, the couple has no children, but Natalia would like to have them in the future.
‘Our love story is quite modern. We met on the Internet, more precisely, in Odnoklassniki (a social network in Russia). For a while, we communicated only as friends,’ Natalia told 2019.
Over the years, Natalia has struggled to be able to live on her passion. In the early years of her career, she was almost always short of money.
It was hard to find sponsors and she had to take money from her own pocket to train and compete. It wasn’t easy to get donations or help in Russia, but things have changed for the better since Natalia gained a lot of attention and went viral.
She now has several sponsors and works with nutrition brands such as Oxytropin and RPS Nutrition.
All of this probably wouldn’t be possible if she wasn’t active on social media – photos of her muscular body have been spreading like wildfire for years. Many have seen her face online – but probably few know who this goliath woman is.
‘People definitely recognise me. The athletic body is visible under my clothes. A lot of people recognise me, asking me to take a picture with them. Many even know my name,’ she told LadBible.
Natalia has talked about the prejudice of those around her before. Some people call her ugly and address her with hurtful names, but she treats them like children who cry when they meet someone much stronger than them.
‘Classic standards and norms are long gone. Even the modelling industry is ‘very different’ now. My best counsellor is a mirror,’ she says.
However, she treasures all the love she receives from her many fans around the world.
‘Most of my Instagram followers are men. There are about 75 per cent of them, and about the same percentage on other social media. They post a lot. Compliments to an athlete are no different than compliments to a non-athlete,’ she says.
Today, she has a million followers on Instagram. Natalia, a unique Amazon woman, as she calls herself, constantly pleases her fans with snapshots from her everyday life. And, of course, her feed is filled with tips and exercises for the gym.
She claims she was tempted to try growth hormones at one time, but ultimately decided they weren’t for her. However, she has admitted to using estrogen blockers and other performance enhancing drugs, which are banned by most major sports organisations.
In early 2017, Natalia announced that she was leaving the limelight and retiring from powerlifting, but just a year and a half later she returned for her next major competition in Moscow. She also revealed that she was going into coaching and wanted to help others ‘fulfil their potential’.
What is your opinion about Natalia’s life choice? Is she doing the right thing by following her dream or is it pure madness?
Feel free to share your opinion, but stay polite in the comments section!
