Elena Stasiukynienė: Nine years ago I was a stone

“I knew about bodybuilding only what was written in the press, and the press wrote very little,” says Elena Stasiukynienė, who started playing sports nine years ago and achieved incredible results in the prestigious world bodybuilding championships.

E. Stasiukynienė joyfully recalls her first training, which led the woman to the future life. E. Stasiukynienė, who lived a quiet family life until she was forty and worked as a Russian language teacher in a school in Marijampolė, had her life turned upside down by an unfortunate car accident, during which the woman suffered a serious spinal injury.

The doctors gave me no chance that I would be able to function normally in the future. I went to exercise because it was the only chance to recover. I met a very good coach, Rinaldas Cesaitis, thanks to whom I got back on my feet and got involved. Later I shouted to the coach to at least prepare me for one race, because I really liked it. I got hooked and the further I went, the more I practiced,” says E. Stasiukynienė.

After starting her career as an athlete, the woman continued to work as a Russian language teacher, but when the reforms began, the school where the future world bodybuilding champion worked was closed. After working in the school for twenty years, E. Stasiukynienė did not look for work in other schools because he received a job offer as a security guard.

Now, only nine years have passed since the first weightlifting, E. Stasiukynienė’s sporting achievements are evaluated by more than one prestigious medal. When asked which victories are the most significant for an athlete, E. Stasiukynienė said that she will never forget 2009, when she won the bronze medal at the World Women’s Fitness and Bodybuilding Championships held in Italy: “It was so unexpected for me, because I went to the World Championships for only the third time. My dream was to get into the top six. This victory was the biggest for me, because it was really unexpected. When I came back, I found our president Dalia Grybauskaitė I was honored to have set an example for young people. In 2010 I came second in the World Championship, but it was not as memorable as in 2009,” the woman smiled.

The world bodybuilding champion trains in the Marijampolė bodybuilding club “Tauras”, considered the best in Lithuania, where she spends most of her life. With up to two months off a year, the bodybuilder wakes up every day at six in the morning, starting with a bowl of oatmeal. After three hours E. Stasiukynienė has to have another breakfast and from ten o’clock he trains for two and a half hours in the gym.

After resting at noon, the bodybuilder returns to the gym at six and finishes training at nine. The main food of a woman who has developed incredible muscles is rice, egg white, chicken, cottage cheese and vegetables. The champion must eat every three hours.

I stick to my regime and put a lot of effort into it. Am I going through a hard time? I really wanted it. I liked the first training sessions so much that even in the most difficult periods it’s not difficult, it’s not difficult because I like it so much. My only goal is to prepare as best as possible, perform as best as possible and do everything to achieve the greatest possible result, – smiled E. Stasiukynienė.

A sixty-eight centimeter tall woman from the subway has gained about twelve kilograms of muscle in nine years: “When I came to the club, I weighed fifty-one kilograms. I was practically a bone. Now we call weight a little differently. As we say pure muscle, already competitive mass, when I go on stage in competitions, I weigh sixty-three kilograms. That’s practically twelve kilograms of muscle.”

E. Stasiukynienė’s 20-year-old daughter, who studies at the Kaunas Academy of Physical Education, also chose the world of sport. At the time, the sample’s fifteen-year-old son was still in high school.