The name Anna Kurkurina most likely means nothing to a person who is far from sports and has never visited the gym. For athletes involved in powerlifting, adherents a healthy lifestyle and people who cannot imagine their life without fitness know it for sure.
controversy with her appearance, sporting achievements and lifestyle . Among those who like to leave caustic and offensive comments on the Internet, without giving their real names and hiding their faces behind incomprehensible avatars, only the lazy did not throw a stone at her. People who interacted with Anna in real life speak of her as a kind, sincere person, always ready to help.
Unusual girl
Anna Ivanovna Kurkurina was born in August 1966 in the city of Kramatorsk, Donetsk region. She grew up as a small, thin, fragile child. In her youth, the girl had difficulty finding suitable clothes. Nature has endowed her with narrow shoulders and wide, massive hips. In the 80s, it was almost impossible to find a beautiful dress for women with non-standard shapes.
A far from ideal figure, baggy clothes and a whole set of teenage complexes did not give Anna self-confidence. Relationships with peers did not work out.
Biography
Who would have thought that an ordinary biology teacher could become one of the most famous fitness trainers. And for those involved in powerlifting, Kurkurina is a legend worth emulating. The biography of coach Anna Kurkurina surprises with unexpected turns.
Childhood and youth
Anna Ivanovna was born in 1966 in the Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk. Her father was a metallurgical engineer. The athlete jokes that this is why she has a steely character. My mother worked in a boarding school where children from disadvantaged families lived.
During free time from school:
- Anya loved to play war games with her older brother and his friends;
- she preferred pistols and soft toys to dolls;
- played football - the boys considered her the best goalkeeper;
- I put on my first dress in the eighth grade: it’s more convenient to run around the courtyards in sportswear.
As a teenager, Anya had a lot of complexes about what she considered to be her awkward figure. Narrow shoulders and wide hips drove her to despair when stores couldn’t find suitable clothes.
Relationships with peers were not easy. But the girl always loved animals. Therefore, after graduating from school, I entered the biology department of Donetsk University. Since childhood, she dreamed of working with animals.
Anya received a honors diploma and was assigned to Nikolaev to teach biology at school.
The girl learned that this city is home to one of the largest zoos in Ukraine. She got a part-time job there.
The position of livestock specialist turned out to be quite physically demanding:
- Anna had to carry heavy bags of food;
- care for sick animals, carry them in your arms;
- Anya fed the cubs who did not want to eat their mother's milk;
- Once she even raised a lion cub.
There were days when in the evening she could not raise her arms - she did not have enough strength. Then the weak biology student went to the gym to pump herself up and at the same time correct her figure flaws.
At school, the students respected Anna Ivanovna, as evidenced by the fact that she didn’t even have a nickname, like other teachers. She could pacify the most notorious hooligans: she simply invited them to arm wrestle.
In those years, the young teacher believed that the main thing was to instill in children a love of animals. Therefore, Anna brought the pupils to the zoo, where she allowed them to feed, walk the animals, and care for the sick.
Sports career
Like many women in the 80s, their passion for sports began with aerobics. But soon the woman felt that the classes were too easy for her, and began to train with men. She began to like her reflection in the mirror. There was very little exercise for women in those years. Then, using her knowledge of anatomy and physiology, Anna began to draw up training programs with her trainer, and then began training gym visitors on her own.
At the age of 40, Anna saw the strongest girl on the planet on TV and set herself a goal - to become the strongest woman. She took up an unusual sport - powerlifting.
This is a powerlifting event that consists of:
- squats;
- bench press;
- barbell thrust.
Just 1.5 years later, Kurkurina began participating in competitions and soon became the absolute champion in her weight class. Since then, she has set more than 50 world records, some of which remain unbroken to this day. There was pain and injury in her sporting life, but the purposeful woman came out on the platform again and again.
Appearance
When looking at an athletic figure and prominent muscles, you won’t immediately understand that this is not a man. Although many representatives of the stronger sex may envy such a torso. Of course, doing strength sports leaves an imprint on your appearance. The figure becomes more masculine. But, as Anna herself says, he is still a woman and loves to take care of himself - minimal makeup, but he does haircuts, manicures and pedicures regularly. The woman loves shopping, although she buys jackets, suits and sneakers, not skirts and dresses.
Personal life
Little is known about Anna Kurkurina’s personal life. She does not hide her gay orientation. She often appeared in public with her companion Elena Serbulova. The couple was not embarrassed by the 24-year age difference. They lived in this union for several years and separated not so long ago. Anna is raising a son, whom she increasingly takes with her to the gym.
Little brothers
But Anya’s love for animals has always been mutual. Since childhood, Kurkurina wanted to take care of nature and our little brothers. This desire pushed her to enter the biological faculty of Donetsk University.
After receiving her diploma, Anna moved to the city of Nikolaev, where she taught biology at one of the schools. Later she got a part-time job at the city zoo. Her responsibilities included caring for animals and feeding cubs left without mother's milk. This hard work required endurance and physical strength, but brought moral satisfaction to the young teacher. The videos she filmed with four-legged actors in the title role often took prizes in the famous program “Your Own Director.”
It was work at the zoo that made Anna think about her sports training and step into the gym for the first time.
Sport
It all started with banal aerobics. Soon Kurkurina realized that classes were too easy for her. To increase the load, she began to work out in the gym on an equal basis with men . The results were not long in coming.
Later, Anna began to compile sets of exercises for beginners, and then took up independent coaching. In the late 90s, she opened the Bagheera club for all sports fans, which enjoyed great success. Her students, satisfied with the results of their training, recommend “Bagheera” to their friends.
Along with the popularity of the club, Anna’s fame is growing. She creates a YouTube channel, where she gives advice to everyone who wants to have a beautiful, toned body in a friendly and accessible way. Kurkurina is developing her own fitness program. The results of people practicing this method allow us to talk about its effectiveness.
Anna Kurkurina now
Anna Kurkurina is still constantly training; she did not stop training during the coronavirus pandemic, which in 2020 affected many cities of Ukraine. In addition to practicing exercises and keeping herself in the same shape, the celebrity also paid attention to pressing problems.
She did not ignore doctors either, deciding to support them along with other activists. According to the group, medical institutions in the city of Nikolaev were not provided with the necessary protective equipment, and therefore Anna and her comrades wrote a letter to the secretary of the coordinating council for combating COVID-19, Kirill Tymoshenko, with a request to provide doctors with protective equipment that arrived as humanitarian aid from China.
At 40 life is just beginning
When the blue screens of the country broadcast a story about a girl who has the status of the strongest on the planet, Anna Ivanovna was in her fifties. This report divided the biography of the future champion into before and after, and became the starting point for her new professional achievements. A dream arose in the soul of the Ukrainian athlete. Anna wanted to become the strongest woman in the country and the world.
Unlike many of her peers who mourn their passing youth, Anna did not consider age a hindrance in achieving her goals. A series of endless exhausting training began. In 2008, Kurkurina took part in the World Powerlifting Championships.
Powerlifting or powerlifting competitions include the following barbell exercises:
- bench press;
- squats;
- craving.
Based on the results of the competition, Anna was awarded the title of world champion. Kurkurina confirmed her right to bear this title at the 2010 and 2012 championships.
In total, the athlete took part in 35 competitions and set 14 records.
Two Annas
Anna Kurkurina is not the only outstanding woman in powerlifting. Her namesake, Anna Turaeva, also achieved great success in powerlifting.
In her youth, Anechka braided her hair in a long braid, dated boys and dreamed of love. But shattered girlish dreams and training in the gym completely changed her life. Anna T. devoted herself to training, pumped up her muscles and cut her hair short.
If Kurkirina’s acquaintance with sports began with aerobics, then Turaeva was attracted to martial arts and bodybuilding. Having received a serious injury, Anna T. could not move for several months. I had to forget about full-fledged training for a while. The only exercise that did not threaten her already injured back was the bench press. This is how Anna T. discovered powerlifting.
Now she is actively involved in sports, takes part in competitions and championships. Like Kurkurina, Turaeva is involved in coaching.
Brief biography of Turaeva:
- date and place of birth: August 18, 1978, Krasnodar;
- title: master of sports of international class;
- professional activity: women's and children's fitness trainer.
Latest sporting achievements of Anna Turaeva:
- 2012 World Powerlifting Championships. First place.
- 2014 European Bench Press Championships (without equipment). Absolute winner.
- 2014 European Bench Press Championships (multi-layer equipment). Second place.
Anna's nutritional principles
Anna Kurkurina recommends that her clients build their nutrition plan according to the following principles:
- The body should never starve, as this promotes fat accumulation. The maximum break between meals is 3 hours.
- If you really want to eat something, you can have snacks between main meals. During snack time, you can eat fruit and drink protein shakes.
- You can consume no more than 30 grams of protein per meal. They are contained in 200 grams of cottage cheese, 150 grams of beef, 4 eggs.
- Protein shakes should be consumed every day, both before and after training.
- Carbohydrates can only be eaten in the morning, and in the afternoon and evening it is forbidden to eat anything other than protein foods. Everything that is eaten along with proteins for lunch and dinner will be deposited under the skin as fat.
- You can exercise only an hour after your last meal. You can eat food only an hour after training.
- Every day you need to drink at least three liters of water. The feeling of thirst is unacceptable, because it indicates dehydration of the body. You need to drink a glass of water every hour.
- To burn fat, you need to drink a glass of cognac with lemon every evening. The goal here is not to get relaxation from drinking alcohol, but to get rid of fat. The bottom line is that lemon completely neutralizes the effect of alcohol, and the mixture of lemon and substances contained in cognac burns fat very well. It is necessary to drink cognac not in one gulp, but over the course of an hour, prolonging the pleasure.
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Appearance and society
If a person who is not familiar with the biography of the athlete looks at photographs of Kurkurina, he will see a fit, smiling... man.
No, this is not a mistake or an optical illusion. Anna really looks like that. Regular exercise and, probably, taking hormonal medications also played a role here. Journalists repeatedly asked the champion about her attitude towards her own appearance. Anna replies that she is happy with her appearance, because a strong woman cannot look differently. You can’t remain thin and loud and set records while performing squats with a barbell or doing a bench press.
Personal life
Engaging in heavy sports, accepting one’s masculine appearance, clothing style - all this becomes logical and understandable if you look at the person whom Kurkurina chose as her life partner.
For a long time, Anna hid her personal relationships from the general public. About five years ago, on one of the talk shows popular in Ukraine, Anna introduced her other half to the audience. Kurkurina's chosen one was a blond girl. Her name is Elena Serbulova. Despite the judgmental looks, the couple is happy.
There is information on the Internet that Anna gave birth to a son at the age of 41. This is hard to believe. To give birth to a child in 2007 and become a world champion in 2008 is very difficult even for a physically strong and resilient woman. In her interview with a Moskovsky Komsomolets journalist, which took place in 2021, the athlete herself denies having children.
She admits that she has dated men before, but those relationships never developed into deep feelings. And in her opinion, giving birth should only be from a loved one.
The boy, who is often seen with Anna at the gym and in personal photographs, is most likely Elena's son. This version is also supported by Kurkurina’s students.
Anna and Elena do not promote their relationship, which is unconventional for our society, but they are not ashamed of it either. They do not participate in lesbian parades or wave the flag of the LGBT community in an effort to speed up the cultural integration of Ukraine into Europe, desired by many. They're just happy. It happens.
Not everyone can understand and accept such a relationship. People's reaction is violent, rude, and categorical. Sometimes even absurd. The famous blogger Lena Miro, a fitness trainer with pumped buttocks and artificial breasts, published an entire post dedicated to Kurkurina. The world is interested in the question: should a man who has a sexual relationship with Anna be considered gay or straight? The post received dozens of comments. Needless to say, Kurkurina’s sporting achievements and her charitable activities, of course, are not so interesting.
The champion is used to criticism. She is not going to prove or explain anything to anyone. Anna considers herself a woman in a man's body. And it is in this body that she is comfortable.
Sportsmanship
The biography of Anna Ivanovna Kurkurina changed radically when she took up sports. While still working at the zoo, she realized that hard work required good physical fitness, so she went to the gym. Anna Kurkurina's first training sessions were dedicated to mastering aerobics and gymnastics. However, the pace of workload and intensity of training in this sport seemed insufficient to her, so the heroine of our article decided to start training with men.
After some time, she herself helped the coach create exercise programs for beginning athletes and developed workouts. Then she herself became a trainer for everyone.
On the Internet
Kurkurina is registered on VKontaet and Odnoklassniki. Her pages on social networks are visited by a large number of people. Anna has more than 32 thousand subscribers on Instagram. She is open to communication.
On the Internet, she shares photos and videos from her workouts and gives practical advice to people who want to improve their figure. Feedback from her students is positive and even enthusiastic.
I’ve only been training recently, but I’m very impressed! The best trainer!
Kukla25
Her video tutorials are posted on YouTube, thanks to which thousands of women have the opportunity to exercise at home without spending a lot of time and money on the gym.
Mega positive trainer! I got hooked on her video tutorials. Drying exercises are just super!
GaliyA
Kurkurina pays special attention to working with children diagnosed with cerebral palsy and scoliosis. The gratitude of the mothers whose daughters and sons Anna helped is more eloquent than all expert assessments.
Thank you for your sensitivity and professionalism! I'm looking forward to new classes for children with cerebral palsy.
Kulinaluda
Anna does not talk about the details of her personal life, but this does not matter to the students who adore her. If an experienced and competent trainer helped you get closer to your cherished dream and find a slim body or relieved you of back and neck pain that had been tormenting you for a long time, then does it really matter with whom he spends his free time and shares his shelter?
Anna often participates in charity events, the proceeds of which are used to protect homeless animals. On social networks there are a huge number of photographs of her with pets who have not found their owners. Kurkurina is using the Internet to try to place them in good hands.
