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Alina Popa
IFBB Pro BB and personal trainer Romania Zurich, Switzerland
2011 Ms International - 3rd
2010 Ms International - 8th
2008 IFBB Worlds, Santa Susana
2007 NABBA Miss Universe
2006 Grand Prix Due Torri
Ever since I ever knew I was the very active, sportive kind of kid. I had endless energy resources and I loved sports. I began with some track when I was 12 years old. I didn’t do competitions in track and field but in my summer holidays I used to train 2 times a day, about 3 hours each time. I loved to sprint and didn’t like the long distance races. Starting with 15 I started to attend aerobics classes and I loved the fitness part of it, working with weights. At 18 I entered the gym in my native town just to keep fit and lose some weight. That was the moment I fell in love with bodybuilding. I remember, upon starting to go to the little gym in my quiet native town, I began to read the little thin bodybuilding magazines that I could find on the Romanian market at that time. The competition movement in Romanian bodybuilding was kind of poor at that time, but I remember one girl in the gym getting ready for a National Junior Championship…and I admit I felt admiration for her and I wished I had her muscles . I kept on training for the next two years until one day I entered another gym in another town, where I was a student, and the trainer there saw my potential and suggested to me I should train to compete. I’ll never forget how honored I felt…and how happy. So I guess I would have liked to compete but I didn’t manage till I got someone to support me and help me.
2012_ Ms International - 3rd
2011: Ms Olympia - 5th
2011 Ms International - 3rd
2010 Ms International - 8th
2008 IFBB Worlds Santa Susanna, first heavyweight & overall
2007 NABBA Miss Universe, Miss Physique class
2006 1st place Grand Prix Due Torri, Bologna, Italy
2005 5th place Womens European Championship, Yalta, Ukraine
2005 second place Mixed Pairs European Championship with Angelo Alexa
2004 second place IFBB European Championship, heavyweight in Tavira, Portugal-2003 first place National Championship, middleweight
I train 5 days a week, one muscle group a day; I train heavy all the time, except for the legs that I train with low weight but high reps when I get ready for a competition. Usually in off season I try to stay as little as possible in the gym, like 50 minutes or 1 hour maximum and work with high intensity. The main differences between training in off season and training for a competition is, that I change the diet , train my legs with higher reps and also perform some cardio, any type, except I hate to run.