What a Booty! How a Beauty from Yekaterinburg Built Russia's Most Powerful Glutes
Yekaterinburg native Olga Perepletchikova boasts Russia«s most powerful glutes and is a bodybuilder competing in a category that particularly values a strong lower body. Last season, she earned her professional athlete»s card and now plans to compete at the Olympia — the massive world championship Arnold Schwarzenegger won multiple times.
E1.RU correspondent Polina Krasnopevtseva visited the athlete«s training session to learn what to eat and how to train to achieve such a physique, how much money it takes to get on stage (spoiler: a lot), and why she does it all.
«The Worse You Feel, the Better the Shape»
We met the athlete at her workplace, the gym in the Verkh-Isetsky sports center. Here, Olga helps other people achieve a healthy and beautiful body, though she trains at a different gym herself for variety.
Olya arrived in sports leggings and a short but loose T-shirt. This outfit made it clear: the Yekaterinburg native«s lower body is truly outstanding. To look like this now, Olya needed eight years — she first went to the gym when she was 19. At the time, she was studying to be a bank teller at college and only dreamed of performing on stage.
«I initially went to the gym for myself, as usually happens, to lose weight. But then I watched bodybuilding competitions and got hooked. I became interested in testing myself, my body»s capabilities. That«s when a coach noticed me and suggested I compete. I gradually got bigger, moving from one category to another. That»s how I ended up in the one I compete in now,« the beauty recalls.
On the competition stage, Olya appears with bright makeup, hair extensions, and an open swimsuit adorned with Swarovski crystals. If you didn«t know what she looks like in everyday life, you might not recognize the famous bodybuilder.
Olya now competes in the Wellness category. It«s designed for female athletes with an athletic build, well-developed lower bodies, particularly the glutes and thighs. The upper body is also developed, but not to the same degree.
Female athletes in Wellness are judged by the following criteria: the volume of the pelvis and hips must be significantly larger than the upper shoulder girdle; the physique should have low body fat, with excessive dryness and vascularity being unacceptable. The category was officially recognized as a new sports discipline on November 4, 2016.
To reach the professional level, you must prove you«re the best among amateurs. Olya»s accolades include the titles of absolute champion of the Ural Federal District, Russia, and the NPC Regional Cup. It«s commonly believed that such heights can only be achieved through suffering — hunger, grueling workouts, and health problems. But this Ural native doesn»t share that approach. She says she achieved everything with ease.
«Usually, girls» preparation is tougher: too strict a diet, lots of cardio, two-hour strength sessions. Some have no-carb diets. I, on the contrary, have no restrictions, a free food basket — I can eat everything and still win competitions. Of course, the closer to the stage, the harder it gets due to the calorie deficit. But I don«t have that feeling of wanting to just lie down and do nothing after a workout,» the athlete explains.
Now that Olya holds a professional athlete«s card, she aims to qualify for the Olympia, but she needs to win a couple more tournaments first. Plus, preparation in bodybuilding is a slow process. Athletes go through months of muscle-building phases and cutting down to an extremely low body fat percentage.
«I»m in the off-season now, so the regimen is lighter — just two leg workouts a week and two hours of cardio. Strength training averages two hours, and cardio is three times for 40 minutes each: either stairs, an elliptical, or a stepper. I train my upper body very rarely, about once every three weeks, and that«s actually not much compared to my competitors,» Olya says.
Ms. Olympia is the most prestigious international competition for female bodybuilders. It has been held in the United States since 1980. Russian women have never placed among the winners at these competitions. In 2026, Ms. Olympia will be held from September 24 to 27 in Las Vegas.
The hardest part of preparation isn«t the health consequences or exhausting exercises, but mental well-being. No matter how correctly you eat or how often you train, you always feel it»s not enough, the champion explains.
«The Judges Thought My Glutes Were Not Natural»
It«s impossible not to notice Olya»s beautiful shape. Over years of training, the beauty has grown accustomed to people constantly turning to look at her on the street and approaching her to chat at the gym. A couple of times, she was even asked if she had glute implants.
«That even happened at a competition in Kazakhstan. The judges said I had the best shape on stage, but they thought my glutes were not natural. So they placed me below third, though I should have been first. Then, by the rules, they were supposed to check — have a female judge touch them. But they didn»t, deciding there was no doubt they were unnatural. I wasn«t upset; on the contrary, it»s great — a kind of compliment,« the beauty admits.
Men also don«t spare the athlete attention. Once, one of Olya»s followers specifically signed up for the gym where she works to see her in person, but didn«t dare approach her and admitted it in social media messages. By the way, the beauty»s heart has long been taken — she travels to all competitions with her fiancé, Mikhail.
«Sometimes Misha gets annoyed, but overall he reacts adequately, even when he sees someone come up to me and give a compliment. Only once was it strange, when a stranger, a fan of our sport, offered to sponsor a trip to a competition. In the end, we agreed, and indeed, the person helped with money and that was it. Did a good deed and vanished,» the athlete says.
On this (often) difficult path, the beauty has always been supported by her parents. They helped financially at first, understanding that sport is an expensive hobby. They came to competitions and cheered for her. She particularly touchingly describes the moment she became the absolute champion of Russia, with her parents sitting in the hall: «It»s the best thing I«ve ever seen.»
«At first they were happy because before that I was a difficult teenager. Even when I came to them with the news that a coach noticed me and wanted to prepare me for competitions, they reacted adequately. Although I immediately said it was all a very expensive hobby, like gymnastics, hockey, or figure skating. And they helped me. They even reacted normally to the news that I would perform on stage in a swimsuit. Dad later went with me to choose it,» the Ural native recalls.
«A Swimsuit Can Cost 200 Thousand»
Financial help in bodybuilding is never superfluous. This sport isn«t cheap. Participation fees alone can exceed tens of thousands of rubles, and to step on stage you also need a swimsuit, shoes, special stage makeup, and hairstyling.
«Such a swimsuit, for example, can cost 30 or even 200 thousand rubles (approximately $330 – $2,200 at current rates). Specifically, this one I borrowed to wear from a girl because my previous one tore right before the competition. So it»s priceless. But I think it cost around 40 thousand.«
If you translate bodybuilding into numbers, it looks like this: a swimsuit — from 30 to 200 thousand rubles (~$330 – $2,200), participation fees — 15–20 thousand rubles (~$165 – $220), stage makeup — 12 thousand rubles (~$130). Olya does her own makeup and hair, though many athletes spend tens of thousands of rubles on it. Sometimes you also need to fly to the venue, which means additional expenses for tickets and accommodation in another city. For example, for her latest competition in Thailand, Olya spent 350 thousand rubles (approximately $3,900).
Moreover, far from all tournaments offer cash prizes. Most often, bodybuilding is a loss-making endeavor. The majority of competing athletes invest up to 80% of their income into it, and the main thing they can get is the champion status.
«You know the saying, »A samurai has no goal, only a path«? It»s the same for me. This is a path that gives me wild pleasure. I love the stage, I love the preparation. Plus, many people recognize me and come to me for coaching. Thereby I promote my services, showing how you can prepare without harming your health,« the athlete explains.
In the future, Olya dreams not only of conquering the Olympia but also of developing her own online coaching project: creating something bigger than just individual training sessions. She assures that sport is a path, not a goal, and you must walk it wisely, with the support of loved ones and belief in yourself.
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