Interview with Elena Cuzuioc

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Unfortunately I did not do well at the European Championship, maybe I did something wrong or maybe I am still too small against other girls. Even if the federation says that the body-fitness must be tight and restructured but as I can see every year they are bigger and bigger. It means that I still have to work on my physiqueJ. Anyway I will try to answer to your questions:

Could you tell us a bit about your background into this business and how you got into it?

Well, I begun loving this sport suddenly. My boyfriend is training for almost 12 years, and he is competing since 2007. His passion for this sport is too much that have been passing this passion on me. So I begun to go with him to Gym, and step by step by stem I could see the improvements, and after 3 months of training I decided to go to a competition, as my boyfriend did the same competition. We just wanted to do it together without thinking about the results, make it just for fun.

What was going through your mind during your first public competition, what did you learn and how did you develop as an athlete etc?

From my first competition have been starting my dreams. I still remember that day, beautiful sunny day, I have never thought I could win to my first competition. That competition have made the selection of the national team. There were only foreign judges, so, from that moment when all those judges put me the winner, my first thought was “if I like to everybody to my first competition even if I am training only since 3 months, maybe this is the way of my life”.

How much does training during season and off season differ?

To be honest I don’t stop going to the Gym, neither season and off season. For example, after the show I just rest only one day, even if I know that I have to rest more time, but is already a life style, so I can not stay without going to the Gym. The training difference between season and off season is not so big. I just reduce one day less of training in off season.

Inevitably there are some athletes who will use steroids to emphasise their physique, what is your opinion on this? Do you think it is fair that they compete too?

This is my biggest problem. As I have already mentioned before I still must improve my physique alot, that’s why I need to go to Gym everyday. I prefer to get more time to improve my body indeed of taking these things to emphasise my physique. I can give you one example: As you can see the last European Championship in Slovakia, on my opinion there were a lot of athletes with too much muscles developed. And who can see the photos , I was the smallest athlete on the show, and I could get into the 15.Even a blind person could understand that I am not interesting in all these things. It was too much difference between me and other girls. It would be better to introduce another category with less muscularity. I would fit in that category perfectly J. Everybody make their choices, I don’t put somebody down, but I prefer another way more safely. It means that I will must train harder and intensively.

As I mentioned you have achieved a lot in a short space of time, what do you aim to achieve in the future and what goals do you hold for yourself?

Having a goal has allowed me to stick with my workouts and diet. Surrounding myself with people who feel the same as I do helps tremendously Key people who have encouraged me to pursue my interests in this field. First of all I am very glad about myself and all the baggage achieved in this short time. On my 1 year and 3 months I have competed for 5 times. Each competition made me grow up both professionally and humanely. For the moment my goal is to finish the University, I am preparing for the last exams, but don’t stop going to the Gym, because I still need to improve on myself.

How often do you train?

Generally on season my training is based on 6 days per week split, with one day off between. My goal is to build muscle, I should lift more days because I want to separate the body parts and have a day, specifically for shoulders and arms. So and I am going to lift a little more and do less cardio. Usually I followed this program for the first 4 weeks. And each 4 weeks I start targeting other areas of my muscles by replacing these exercises with alternate ones. Sometimes I also change exercise in superset. Supersetting not only saves time but also helps me add intensity and gets my heart rate pumping. With supersets, I basically combine 2 exercises directly after one another without having a rest period in between.

I do cardio sessions on 4 days and perform it after my weight-training workout.

How do you motivate yourself to train and workout?

I practice sport since I was a child, I always loved making different type of sport. I have been playing basketball and tennis for almost 7 years. Surely, going to Gym is cool, seeing every day the improvements of my physique is just a satisfaction and happiness. This type of sport reflect my personality, because I love a healthy life-style. What about workout, I just think about everyone who is going to compete against me and imagine that there will be somebody who is better than me, so this motivates me to train harder and harder.

For someone who has had quite a short career you have achieved a lot of success and wins, does this make you more determined or more confident within yourself?

As you have already mentioned, I achieved a lot of success and wins, but I also had losses and disappointments. And to be honest this makes me to be more determined and want to work on lacking parts improving better my physique. Until now, I still don’t have a international popularity, but it is my dream that one day I could win a European o an World Championship, who knows?

Is it challenging maintaining a healthy lifestyle and diet?

The first step is getting yourself in the right frame of mind. Think positive. Only a positive attitude will keep you in the right frame of mind. Maintaining the right attitude will help you to overcome the obstacles that might challenge you in the beginning.