Sonja already made the decision to compete in bikini fitness at the age of 16 – Tells an important point for young people

Sonja Alatyppö headed to the gym for the first time at the age of 14 with his mother. He became interested in fitness sports the following year after watching people competing in the sport on YouTube and social media Sonja and Sophia I intend to popular videos.

He first enlisted the help of a personal trainer from his home gym in Sipoo.

– It wasn’t a fitness sport yet, but I wanted results and I noticed that this is where you can challenge yourself and improve all the time.

Next, Alatyppö decided to really start looking for where to find a fitness trainer. He had already crashed in his home gym before Melina to Keltaniemiwho is a two-time professional world champion in bikini fitness.

He sent the sports star a message on Instagram. A common note was found very quickly.

– Melina is the best coach. Everything I could ever imagine. We have developed a really strong bond. I can tell you all the feelings, because the trust between us is so good.

– Melina is honest in a good way, really helpful, adaptable and strives to make the coachees feel good. He also always takes wishes into account. Since Melina has competed herself, it is easy to ask about everything and do, for example, posing exercises together.

Diet through a long formula

Alatyppö was involved in athletics and team gymnastics when he was young until he was 14 years old.

Together with healthy lifestyles, it created a good foundation for the new sport. The parents have also been solidly supportive.

– Melina has been in contact with my parents all the time. Told what to do and explained various things related to the sport.

At first, Alatyppö learned to eat properly and took over the other basics of the sport, while building bases in his muscle mass.

– Melina checked carefully that everything was definitely learned well. The nutrition program was made to my liking, but also such that I can get results.

In general, fitness trainers always state that young women eat far too little. In the case of Alatypö, the number of kilocalories per day was increased from less than two thousand to 2,600–2,800 kilocalories.

– I have always eaten very healthily, but the amount was increased a lot. It was just a good thing. The changes were made very cleverly, when the amount of food was slowly increased. I had to get a result and a full stomach, but still in such a way that I don’t get tired or feel bad.

There are no rules when it comes to feasting.

– I treat myself when I feel like it. As long as it doesn’t go so that real foods are replaced with, say, junk food. You have to get enough good carbohydrates, proteins and fats, because people need them.

The competition diet was also carried out in moderation.

– We decided that we will do a little longer diet. We implemented it as safely as possible and watched how the body reacted. Every week I had to send information to Melina about how I felt. Is there anything special, and if so, you have to tell me right away. The diet emphasizes that you really have to have a good coach for this sport – otherwise you can’t go.

– Starting in April, we gradually reduced the amount of food, when I’m really still quite young. The way is not easier, but the weight loss is not such a big shock to the body. In my case, switching to a diet was easy. I had already measured my food before. I did exactly the same as before. It didn’t seem difficult at all to me.

Coach and interaction

Melina Keltaniemi describes her protégé as perfect for coaching.

– Sonja is really genuine. Different coaches value different things. It is really important to me that the members of my competition team are genuine, have an athlete’s mentality and that our values ​​meet. You can be a good coach and a good athlete, but the chemistry just doesn’t always match, even if there is motivation and professionalism.

– Sonja is really conscientious, kind and ambitious, but also determined about what she wants.

Keltaniemi emphasized to his protégé at the beginning of the cooperation that there is no rush for anything.

– I also immediately wanted to make sure that the parents are involved in this and what kind of encouragement comes from that, says Keltaniemi.

– Of course, you can’t ask everything right away, but the life situation must be stable. It is good to find out with the minor, who lives at home and goes to school, whether the parents pay for coaching as well as competition fees, gym fees and whether quality food is available. If at home they tell you to eat what you want or there is 10 euros to go get something, that is definitely not the best possible starting point.

Keltaniemi also emphasizes the importance of interaction.

– Sonja asks a lot – easy and difficult questions. He is open and also genuinely listens. I wouldn’t be able to coach in the best possible way if the athlete didn’t tell their stories and ask questions, because we work together.

The coach says that it is especially important for a young athlete to carefully determine the level of motivation.

– There must be a real will and desire for the job. It’s not enough to have looked at a sports star’s competition photo and realized that wow, I want to be that and in really good shape. Then the starting points are completely wrong and you may not understand what the sport requires, because the glossy image collapses completely.

– This is a sport every day. You have to be able to go there for training and develop yourself physically and mentally and keep repeating the same thing. A month after the start, it’s not a situation where you can throw on a bikini and start posting pictures.

Keltaniemi says that the world of thought must be on a healthy basis when it comes to eating and training.

– With fitness sports, you can’t avoid possible problems with eating, for example. This is especially noticeable among young people. If you are only 16–17 years old and growing up, your self-image will change many more times. The new sport must be good for that self-image, because at worst it can be quite the opposite.

Keltaniemi says that young people are often not aware, for example, that the amount of food is too small.

– When the changes in the amount of food are made calmly, the young person gets the feeling that this is good. It is also important because everyone’s body is different. When getting acquainted, you cannot know how the coachee’s body will react. For someone, one added portion of porridge in the morning might be too much at first, but then the addition can be made at some other point in the day. At the beginning, the coachee may receive a message every day about how the changes feel.

– On the other hand, if you are a family mother in your thirties with an urgent life, you can ask if right now is the right time for a competition diet.

Smiling is surprisingly difficult

Alatyppö debuted on the competition stage a couple of weeks ago in Tallinn. I felt good about the race weekend in Lahti, even though there were no top rankings yet. He was one of the youngest competitors of the weekend.

– Now I feel really good. There is a peaceful feeling. I did my best. From now on. Next, I will move to the development period and return to the competition stages in a couple of years, Alatyppö says.

Performing on stage felt good when I got to show the results of my work.

– I really liked it. There was a bigger audience here than in Tallinn, so of course it was a bit more exciting when I went on stage, but then the focus came back and it was really nice. There was an empowering feeling.

The team members were supporting as guardians and my own mother was encouraging.

– Mother said that I was really wonderful and she said that it was really great to see me on stage. My mother was really proud of me.

One development target was found immediately.

– Smiling is surprisingly difficult. Now the cheeks clearly started to shake. In the future, you have to develop such psychological relaxation that you feel calm on stage and it’s easy to smile.

Tips for young people

Alatyppö is in the second grade at Ressu high school on the IB line, where the language of instruction is English.

The amount of exercise is coordinated with the studies so that the stress does not become too great and the body has time to recover.

There are gym workouts during the training season and with the diet four times a week, and with the diet there was aerobic exercise four times a week.

– This has been really good for my body. I get enough rest, and it is during rest that the muscle grows. The workload is also in the right place in the sense that the school is also running well.

For young people interested in fitness sports, Alatyppö gives a few tips.

The first is that you shouldn’t look up nutritional tips on the internet.

– I don’t recommend that. The basis of everything is a good coach, with whom we discuss why we do what we do and why the amounts of food are a certain way, says Alatyppö.

– We are all individuals, and for example, the diet is based on the habits, habits and needs of the individual. You should also not compare yourself to others on social media or otherwise. The plan must be safe and unique, because everyone has a different journey.