Subiaco bodybuilder Linda Sidorenko says her competition wins are helping to defy gender stereotypes. Taking inspiration from bodybuilder turned actor turned politician Arnold Schwarzenegger, the mother-of-two took up bodybuilding during the height of the COVID pandemic.
Recent competition success
Mrs Sidorenko last month won several categories at the International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation WA’s O’Mara Classic competition held in Perth, including overall women’s masters bikini champion, her third time taking out the category. She is also a former bodybuilding vice-champion in her native Spain, where she took up the pursuit five years ago.
After living in Spain for several years with her husband and two children, the family returned to Perth where Mrs Sidorenko has been continuing her passion for natural bodybuilding.
Overcoming early challenges
As a child, Mrs Sidorenko was diagnosed with scoliosis and spinal rotation and told by a doctor it would impact her life, but says a quote in a book she found by Schwarzenegger about mind over body inspired her eventual dream to become a bodybuilder.
“At the time, it never even crossed my mind that a woman could become a bodybuilder,” she said. “Back then, bodybuilding was seen as a man’s sport. Many years later, during the COVID pandemic, I realised I didn’t want to keep postponing my dream any more. I decided to challenge not only the doctor who had once written me off, but also myself.”
Bodybuilding as a journey
Mrs Sidorenko said bodybuilding became “much more” than training or competitions. “It became proof that the human body and mind are capable of far more than other people’s predictions and limitations,” she said. “The competition only lasts a few minutes, but those few minutes represent years of preparation.”
She said natural bodybuilding was built on nutrition, smart training and a strong mind-to-muscle connection, saying a great physique could not be built in just a few months. “This sport is about discipline, patience, good nutrition, quality recovery through sleep, and years of consistent hard work,” Mrs Sidorenko said. “That’s the part I love the most — the journey itself.”
Inspiring her children
Her two children have their own respective sporting passions, and Mrs Sidorenko said she wanted them to learn from her experiences that success came from dedication and effort, not talent alone. “They see how important discipline, responsibility, good nutrition, respecting your body, and never giving up really are,” she said. “It’s also very important to me that my daughter grows up knowing she has every right to become the woman she chooses to be — not the one society expects her to be.”
Challenging stereotypes
She also argued against bodybuilding stereotypes, saying natural bodybuilding was about “health, strength, discipline, and learning to truly understand your own body”. She said gone were the days of preparing for competitions by subsisting on “nothing but chicken and rice”, and instead she has been studying nutrition and training specifically for females to prepare her body based on women’s “unique” physiology, working with her coach Dmitry Nikiforov.
“For women, building and maintaining muscle is incredibly important. It supports overall health, helps keep your metabolism and hormones healthy, improves quality of life, and allows you to stay active and independent as you get older,” she said. “But most importantly, bodybuilding gives every woman the freedom to decide who she wants to be instead of trying to fit into someone else’s idea of beauty. It teaches you to listen to your body, eat well, become stronger both physically and mentally, overcome insecurities, and build real self-confidence.”
