Voronezh Bodybuilder Balances Sports, Business, and Motherhood
In the world of professional bodybuilding, where iron will and strict discipline reign, the story of Anastasia Gekova from Voronezh is particularly inspiring. This strong and determined woman doesn’t just build muscles for the stage; she constructs a harmonious life that includes both athletic peaks and the most important thing—motherhood. In an interview with Voronezh1.ru, Anastasia shared how her journey began, how she manages to balance the rigorous schedule of an athlete with motherhood, and what ambitious goals she sets for herself in the future.
From Art Teacher to Fitness Trainer
Her path into professional sports didn’t start in early childhood but in her adult years, and the initial goal wasn’t to win titles but simply to get in shape. Anastasia is now 35 years old and has two seemingly unrelated educational backgrounds: art teacher and certified personal trainer, having gained knowledge from an authoritative college.
«I started doing sports in 2012,» Anastasia recalls. «For a year and a half, I trained regularly at home with the simple goal of losing weight. Then, to gain muscle mass, I went to the gym.»
It was there, among the iron and dumbbells, that she found her true calling. The gym gave her not only a new body but also a passion that quickly turned into a profession.
«I really enjoyed working out in the gym; it drew me in, and I decided to become a personal trainer. I took courses, studied, read several books to understand how to train people, and started working,» the athlete said.
Before that, Anastasia’s life was connected to art and design.
«Before coming into sports, I worked in my field—as a kitchen designer and also as a decorative artist in a design studio,» she shares.
«I Saw Girls in Fitness Bikinis and Wanted the Same»
The turning point that led her to the bodybuilding stage was her work as a personal trainer. However, powerlifting was Anastasia’s first strength discipline, where she achieved serious success in a year and a half to two years, meeting the standard for a sports master in bench press—lifting 61 kg (134 lbs) at her own weight of 48 kg (106 lbs).
But true passion awoke later, after a significant trip with her husband to a bodybuilding competition.
«I looked at the girls in fitness bikinis, and I really liked all of them,» Anastasia recalls. «I wanted the same: to walk onto the stage beautifully, with a beautiful, lean, defined, proportional body, in a shiny swimsuit, with makeup. I really liked all of that.»
She first competed in 2018. The result was respectable—Anastasia became vice-champion of Voronezh and Lipetsk. In neighboring Belgorod, she made it into the top six.
Her body transformation journey is also interesting. Even before coming to the gym, she achieved impressive results on her own.
«Before I started going to the gym, I lost weight at home from 54 kg (119 lbs) to 46 kg (101 lbs) at a height of 160 cm (5 ft 3 in). Then I wanted to gain muscles; I was tired of being thin and decided to get buff.»
Her competition form is the result of meticulous work to gain quality muscle mass.
«Now I weigh around 52 kg (115 lbs) during «cutting», and my mass before «cutting» is about 56 kg (123 lbs),» Anastasia said.
According to her, the exact competition weight often remains unknown due to the lack of scales in hotels during international events.
For many women, motherhood is also a serious physical transformation. Many mothers know how hard it is to shed the kilograms that stick during pregnancy and maternity leave. But for Anastasia, motherhood became not an obstacle on the path to her dream body but an additional source of motivation. Proof of this is her amazing ability to return to intense training almost immediately after childbirth. Having become a mother of two sons, she proved through personal experience that iron discipline and love for sports can harmoniously combine with having children and caring for them.
«After my first childbirth, I resumed training after two months, and after the second—already in a month and a half,» the athlete shares.
Champion’s Routine: Between Training, Family, and Business
A typical day for Anastasia Gekova is a masterclass in time management, where every minute is scheduled between motherhood, sports, and work. Her morning starts in the kitchen, where strict order reigns.
«My day usually begins with me preparing breakfast separately for myself, and for the children—each separately. My husband, fortunately, cooks for himself. The main food for the day—chicken, grains—I cook for everyone at once, for a day or two,» the woman shared.
After breakfast and getting ready, there’s a clear rhythm: take the older son to kindergarten and immediately go to training. During competition preparation, the so-called cutting phase, the schedule becomes especially intense.
«I now train almost every day—six times a week. I rest one day a week,» the bodybuilder says.
The athlete’s diet is also special.
«Closer to competitions, my diet is limited; typically, it’s chicken breast, sometimes turkey, very rarely fish, simply because I don’t feel full from it. Eggs, egg whites, and for carbohydrates, I mainly have oatmeal, buckwheat bread, lots of greens: spinach, dill, parsley, cucumbers, lettuce leaves, a few tomatoes, lemons,» Anastasia shared.
If talking about the athlete’s favorite dishes, the woman really loves cheese, burgers, khachapuri, croissants with butter and cheese, ice cream, cheesecake, but of course, all these favorites don’t appear on the beauty’s table very often.
«I’m already used to giving up certain things; there are no specific foods that are hard for me to refuse. I just have settings in my head that I set for myself so I don’t dream about food I can’t have,» the athlete said.
After the sports session, the work part of the day begins, which is closely tied to the family business.
«After training, I mostly work on our sports nutrition store with my husband; it recently opened. And then sometimes I pose with the girls, teaching posing for fitness bikini and fitness models,» the athlete listed.
The day ends with returning to family duties—picking up the son from kindergarten and spending time all together. While Anastasia is on the go, her grandmother helps with the younger son, allowing our heroine to fully focus on her tasks.
Anastasia emphasizes that her life changes significantly depending on the sports cycle. During the mass-gaining phase, the schedule becomes much more lenient—about four workouts a week. Then there’s more time left for herself and her family.
According to the woman, a key element of preparation is a strict diet, especially during «cutting».
«Of course, I follow a special diet; during «cutting», there are very few allowed foods, few carbohydrates, few fats, but a large amount of protein always, throughout the preparation,» the athlete shares.
Separately, Anastasia notes that she does not use steroids (drugs that stimulate the natural process of protein synthesis in muscle cells, allowing for reduced recovery time of muscle fibers after damage and enabling more frequent and intense training. — Ed.).
«I don’t use them because for women’s categories, there’s no need for these drugs. I only take sports supplements: amino acids, vitamins,» the woman added.
Speaking about raising her sons, Anastasia admits that it’s too early to say whether they will follow in her footsteps. The younger son is only a year and a half old, and the older one is four and a half.
Anastasia’s husband—Ivan Gekov—is also a competing athlete. As the woman said, they are the only married athletes in Russia who compete in the professional league.
«My husband is everything to me: both a motivator and a critic. I ask him how I look, he encourages me there, if I don’t like something, he praises me. We look at each other and get energized because he’s a champion, also a very strong athlete, he has won a lot,» Anastasia shared.
Ivan is also a fitness trainer. Anastasia said they met in the gym.
«He came up to me then, congratulated me on achieving the candidate for master of sports in bench press. After that, we started talking, and then dating,» the woman recalls.
«We divide household chores equally. I, of course, do more because I work online. And since my husband is constantly at work, he doesn’t spend much time at home. I cook, clean. Overall, competition preparation doesn’t greatly affect our daily life; everything happens as usual,» Anastasia added.
Stereotypes and Femininity
On her path, the athlete undoubtedly encounters common stereotypes about women in bodybuilding. However, as Anastasia notes, such prejudices are rarely directed at her.
«Of course, I’ve encountered stereotypes that a female bodybuilder is not feminine. But, as a rule, I haven’t heard such things directed at me; at least, no one says it to my face,» she shares.
Interestingly, the image on social media and reality are very different.
«In photos on social media, I look quite powerful, big, muscles can seem huge. In reality, I’m very small in life; I’m only 160 cm (5 ft 3 in) tall—I look very petite. Everyone who sees me in person understands that I’m not at all like in social media,» the athlete explained.
Strength of Character: Why Champions Don’t Quit
Speaking about the most difficult moments in her competitive career, Anastasia admits that thoughts of fatigue visit any athlete, but for her, the question of quitting halfway never arises.
«In my competitive career, there are moments when I get tired, I don’t feel like doing anything, I don’t want to follow such a strict diet, I get bored of training… But as for quitting everything—no, never,» she states confidently.
This position is based on a deep understanding of the value of the path taken and strength of character. «I value everything, everything I’ve been through, and quitting halfway—that’s just not me. I always finish what I start; it’s a matter of principle.»
It is in this, in her opinion, that true strength of spirit is revealed.
«I believe that’s how it should be. Many athletes find it physically and morally hard during «cutting»; you need to show willpower and strength of character in those moments. That’s when many give up,» she added.
Among the most serious tournaments Anastasia has won are the European International Championship; she also became Moscow champion twice, absolute champion of Voronezh, and champion in Dubai.
«I will definitely compete again in the spring season of 2026. I’d like, of course, to become world champion. The World Championship will be in two weeks, on 16 November, in Spain. I plan to capture a few more tournaments in the spring,» the athlete shared her goals.
Expert Opinion: Healthcare System’s View
While Anastasia Gekova demonstrates impressive results and makes a conscious choice for a natural approach, the regional Ministry of Health draws attention to potential risks associated with intensive bodybuilding, especially for the female body.
In response to an editorial request from Voronezh1.ru, the regional Ministry of Health replied: «Intensive bodybuilding for women carries certain risks. Among them—hormonal disorders and problems with the reproductive system, which can manifest as menstrual cycle disruptions, worsening skin, hair, bone condition, as well as issues with mood and sleep. One must not forget about the increased risk of injuries.»
Medical experts explain that adipose tissue plays a key role in women’s health, so the so-called «cutting» before competitions is not at all beneficial for female athletes.
«Adipose tissue is one of the sources of sex hormone synthesis and ensures a normal menstrual cycle and reproductive function in women. When adipose tissue mass decreases, reproductive function is disrupted due to impaired peripheral metabolism of sex steroids, leading to failure in follicle maturation.»
Long-term intensive training combined with maintaining a low body fat percentage can suppress the production of hormones responsible for the normal functioning of the reproductive system.
At the same time, the Ministry of Health emphasized that moderate strength training combined with rational nutrition is effective for weight loss, as it triggers fat-burning processes and is beneficial for overall body tone.
