59-year-old fitness competitor prepares for Lahti championships

Around 1,000 fitness athletes will gather in Lahti this weekend to compete in the Nordic Fitness Expo, where Finland’s national championships will be decided. Yle is following Lahti resident Maarit Tuomi, 59, who began pursuing the sport seriously only a year ago.

Tuomi is preparing to compete in two categories: the over-50 masters category and the general category, which is open to competitors of all ages.

Fitness combines goal-oriented strength and endurance training with aesthetic ideals and presentation skills. Competitors appear before the judges in glittering bikinis and high heels, striking poses designed to show their muscles while maintaining a smile.

“It is a really nerve-racking situation. Standing next to people in their twenties takes courage,” Tuomi says.

She does not intend to compare herself with the other competitors.

“I am only competing against myself.”

Tuomi has exercised for a long time, but became interested in wellness fitness only last year. She entered her first competitions last spring and placed second in the over-50 masters category at the Fitness Classic competition in Vantaa.

Four gym sessions a week

Two weeks before the competition, Tuomi trains at a gym in Vääksy, where her coach Minna Hotti guides and encourages her.

Tuomi works out at the gym four times a week. Every fourth week is either a rest week or a lighter training week, when she goes to the gym only twice. She also takes morning walks and cycles on an exercise bike.

“This brings regularity and discipline to my life. That fascinates me,” Tuomi says.

Tuomi is a Finns Party regional councillor and an assistant to Mira Nieminen, a Finns Party member of Parliament. She can often work remotely in Parliament, which makes training easier.

Her diet is similarly strict, consisting of rice, chicken, egg whites, vegetables and berries. Tuomi says following it is easy because she does not otherwise care for pastries or pizza. Ice cream and liquorice are her weaknesses, she says.

Two weeks before the competition, Tuomi’s body fat percentage is 17. She is aiming to reduce it to 15 percent by the Lahti competition. That requires dieting. Before the competition, she continues to eat chicken and rice, but in smaller quantities.

Tuomi also takes various dietary supplements and vitamins. Doping is prohibited.

Reducing body fat while maintaining muscle mass requires careful management of the energy deficit so that the athlete’s health is not endangered. Tuomi says she relies on her coaches’ expertise. She has also visited a doctor and had her blood values tested.

“A fitness athlete has to be basically healthy. Not everyone’s heart could withstand a diet,” Tuomi says.

Learning to pose in high heels

A week before the competition, Tuomi practises posing. Her coach Marjoriitta Kauppinen shows her how to walk naturally and confidently in heels more than 10 centimetres high while smiling naturally.

The aim is to display the muscles as effectively as possible. Tuomi wears handmade, glittering bikinis that cost 800 euros. During the competition, the bikinis are glued on, and the buttocks must not be exposed too much.

“The posing sessions aim to make the performance look easy and enjoyable, even though it really is not,” Tuomi says.

Tuomi says she sometimes experiences blurred vision during the diet. After returning to work from her summer holiday, she has also started the diet. Her motorcycle has remained in the garage because she feels somewhat unsteady as a result of the diet.

“Yesterday, my vision went dark at the gym. I held on to the press machine, so it passes,” she says.

Tuomi’s body fat percentage is now 15.5.