A 24-year-old woman dubbed as Russia’s “Muscle Barbie”, has revealed how she went from a high-achieving student on her way to law school to becoming a national powerlifting champion.
Julia Vins, @julia_vins on Instagram, 24 from Saratov, Russia started going to the gym at the age of 15, saying she wanted to become more confident in herself and improve her fitness level.
Julia spent an hour travelling on the bus to get to the gym and was the only girl there – but that didn’t stop her from pursuing her passion.
Julia, who was born in Kazakhstan, was raised in Russia but had a difficult childhood growing up.
When Julia was young, her father turned to alcohol to cope after facing difficulty finding work to support his family.
As his addiction to alcohol took a toll, Julia’s parents divorced when she was 12-years-old.
The divorce took a toll on her mental and physical health, but Julia decided to focus on her education and powerlifting with ambitions to go to law school.
However, Julia’s love for powerlifting took over and she pursued that professionally instead.
Julia said: “I was 15-years-old when I went to the gym. In those days I was in school and had quite a lot of free time.
“I wanted my life to be different so I decided to play sports to improve my health, become more confident and get fit.
“Fitness wasn’t popular here, I had to spend an hour on the bus to get to the gym, and I was only one girl there.
“I was born in Kazakhstan, then according to the Volga Germans resettlement program, my parents came here.
“I had some problems at school because of my German last name. “At 12 years old I began preparing for the language exam to move to Germany. Then my parents divorced and we stayed here.
“My childhood was quite difficult; in those days many people didn’t have a job. I had a lot of stress and health problems.
“My father couldn’t handle it and got alcohol addiction, that’s why they divorced. But my mother was always with me and we supported each other.
“I studied a lot, but when I started powerlifting, I continued to do this because I was preparing for the exam to go to the law academy.”
Through powerlifting, Julia managed to find the strength and determination to pull through, achieving several awards in junior powerlifting meets across Russia and is now a two-time world champion at the World Powerlifting Congress and has broken several records in the competition.
Weighing 65kg, Julia’s personal records include a 275 kg squat, 175kg bench press and 205kg deadlift.
Julia trains four to five times a week and eats a strict healthy diet consisting of fish, eggs, vegetables, beans, oats rice and buckwheat pasta as her staple foods.
With her muscular and chiselled physique, Julia is no stranger to odd comments from people who criticise her appearance.
Julia said the criticism used to get to her, but instead, she now chooses to focus on the positives and doesn’t listen to the stereotypes based on her gender.
She said: “I try not to remember bad things.
“Usually people tell me my body is ‘too much’.
“But maybe if I didn’t do powerlifting, I would also think like that, so I don’t care.
“I got a lot of terrible comments when I was just starting as a teenager and it really hurt me so much.
“Some people from my country tell me that a woman should only cook, raise children, carry out cleaning, and this is her mission.
“Therefore, they advise me not to waste time on sports.
“These are stereotypes and I can do nothing with it. They can’t understand that a woman can do what she wants.”
Julia, who is in a long-term relationship for more than 8 years, often receives DMs from admirers – but chooses not to entertain requests as she is happy with her dating life, but still replies to all messages.
She said: “Actually I never read this because I always reply to comments on my Instagram so anyone who wants can talk to me. If I answer only to some people in DM, this is not right, I think.”
In a few words of advice for women who want to build muscles or are too afraid to go into the gym alone, Julia said: “Don’t listen what other people say, follow your passion.
“Also take care of your health, you should feel good.
“Don’t be afraid of big weights, it’s more difficult for women to build muscle, therefore only big weights will give big muscles. Of course, this shouldn’t be 200 kg squat in your first year but it just should feel somewhat difficult.
“When I was 15, I was afraid to go to the gym. I thought I was doing everything wrong and that everyone would look at me. But believe me, all the people in the gym care only about themselves. No one will make fun of you.
“Muscle building is a pretty slow process; you won’t get big muscles right away. If you just want to get fit, use weights that you can lift for 10-15 reps.”
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