What first comes to your mind when you think of female bodybuilders? A bunch ripped women with their arms and legs left exposed to flaunt every flex of their muscles in bodybuilding competitions, right? But when Kerala’s Majiziya Bhanu won gold at a bodybuilding event in Kochi on Sunday evening, she changed the game. You see, Bhanu, a professional weightlifter hailing from Orkkatteri in Kozhikode, is a proud hijab-wearing bodybuilder.
A professional weightlifter, Bhanu was just returning to Kozhikode from a weightlifting competition in Alappuzha when she learnt about the bodybuilding competition in Kochi. Bhanu had never participated in a bodybuilding competition, so she sought help from her weightlifting coach, who directed her through the typical bodybuilding postures.
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Bhanu, who is a final-year BDS student at Mahe Institute of Dental Sciences, told TOI,
“My fiancée encouraged me to attend the event. I had never before taken part in a bodybuilding competition. So, I sought the help of my weightlifting coach, who sent photos of poses to be displayed on WhatsApp.”
(Courtesy: Facebook/Abdul Karim Madeena)
Exposing no skin than her face and hands, Bhanu donned a skin-tight sportswear along with her headscarf to the competition. She went up, did her poses and landed herself a gold medal within hours of achieving victory at the powerlifting championship. Speaking about her victory, Bhanu said, “I was quite confident of winning the championship as I found the other women contestants to be chubby.”
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According to the report, Bhanu’s fitness regime involves a strict diet of vegetables, oats, chicken, dry fruits and goat milk. Bhanu expressed her gratitude to her businessman father Abdul Majeed and homemaker mother Razia for enabling her to achieve the success that she did.
Bhanu added, “I don’t defy my religion as I cover my body. I am quite confident about attending more powerlifting championships in future.” In the future, she hopes to start a powerlifting academy for children in her village.
(source: The Times of India)
