Interview with IFBB Fitness Pro Minna Pajulahti

Minna Pajulahti

1. Minna, I guess you have some bigger news to tell, right? Please, tell us!

- I received my pro card last month, so I’m now officially IFBB Fitness Pro!

2. Awesome, congrats! You turned pro after 10 years amateur level competing. How does it feel now?

- From the beginning of my competing career to turn pro has been the biggest motivation for me and a dream to reach for. I have always set goals to aim for in my life, and now when I have reached one, the feeling is really amazing!

3. Like I said, you competed as an fitness amateur for 10 years, how would you sum your amateur career, what were the highlights during it?

- I have been competing almost for 20 years now in different kind of sports. First in Gymnastics, where I competed at national level, then in cheerleading winning Finnish, European and World Championship medals. In the year 1999 I got interested in fitness. I have always been keen on the hard training, dieting and the routine, and fitness had it all.

The first high lights came already in the years 2000- 2001 when I won the Finnish nationals and placed second in the World Junior Championships. After that everyone expected me to win more medals, but the next competitions were a big disappointment for all, mostly for myself. I struggled with my fitness career competing till 2005. ..  I wanted to get succeed so much that it eventually became the biggest obstacle for me. Desire to compete was too much for me and my body. At the same time I competed in both fitness and cheerleading and I trained nearly 5 hours a day, until everything came to a stop and I broke my ACL. After the recovery and hard training I was ready to the stage again, winning the Finnish nationals 2007-2008, and placing 7th at World Championship.
In 2009 I focused only on fitness and my biggest highlight was the opportunity to compete at Arnold Amateur fitness 2010, and winning the second place there.

I see highlights in my every win and lose. My journey as an amateur was long and rocky but it has grown me to be a stronger person and hopefully a better fitness competitor. You can always learn something from everything you do.

4. Yeh, you did compete at Arnold Amateur this year too. How was that experience?

Like I said it was a great experience to compete there. The whole weekend was really well organized, it was great to meet the other competitors, see the expo and the pro shows and for the first time to stand on the same stage than the pros.

Besides the competition I had some photo shoots, met new people and tied friendships in the industry.

And of course seeing Arnold himself with Sylvester Stall one was a highlight in itself.

5. By the way, what was the reason to turn pro right now? You did had won Finnish nationals earlier?

- We wanted to see how my physique would handle the comparisons in the US. My success at Arnold Amateur 2010 was the final step to the pro stages. Like I earlier said it has always been a dream of mine, and now it feels like the time has come to try my wings on the pro stages.

Minna Pajulahti

6. And now you are heading to your pro debut. Where and when will it be?

- Yes, it is going to be this fall, let’s see what show it will be. The one my body is ready for!

7. Any other bigger projects planned for this year?

- Yes there is couple of projects under development but I focus my training and dieting for the pro debut. It is the main goal now.

Minna Pajulahti

8. So, could you please share your game plan from now on to your pro debut?

- I work as a flight attendant and my weeks are really irregular, so that is something I have to pay attention to when planning the coming competition. Every week is going to be different.

My last prep went well and we are going to keep the plan quite the same, only focusing on those areas needing more polishing. We have already made some time plans with my coaches IFBB Pro Jari Mentula and Matti Halonen, and the prep is going to start soon.

My weight training has been as usual, about 5 times a week, so now we start with adding the cardio into the day schedule.

I try to get some improvements with my physique and do some changes in my routine as well. So the game plan is going to be hard work towards this year’s goal, my pro debut.

Minna Pajulahti

9. Then, what is your goal and expectations concerning your very first pro show? And what about after that, what is your ultimate goal of your pro career?

It will be my first pro show, so you never know what is going to happen. Of course I set my goal high and believe in myself. I think that is the only way to surpass you.

And hopefully my pro career start the same way as the start of my amateur-career. Fitness is a sport where you can always evolve and be better, that’s one of the reasons why I really like fitness.

I hope that I’ll have a long pro career. The biggest dream would be to get the honour to compete at Fitness International and at the Olympia, that is the big, big dream of mine…and of course I hope I could give some motivation for fitness competitors at every level.

“Believe in your dreams and keep trying, and you never know they may come true, keep the dream alive!’’

Minna Pajulahti

10. Awesome, we wish you best of luck with your prep! Anything you would like to add? Some persons you would like to thank?

- I want thank everyone who has been helping me to make my dream come true:
Jari Mentula and Matti Halonen BG-Professionals - coaching
MassNutrition - the supplements
Biancaneve - contest suits
K.P. Ourama - Chairman of the IFBB Finland
Kimmo Rautio - for my workouts and pushing me to the limit
My mother and father - thank you for your support and believing me!

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