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The Bikini category is for sure a very popular category, for obvious reasons. It is a category that combines femininity with muscularity in a very effective way. Antonella Trantaki (Αντονέλλα Τραντάκη) is an athlete that embodies these two qualities in a very satisfactory way. When we first saw her pictures, we were thrilled. We found out that she competed in Germany, but her name sounded Greek. Was she Greek or not? And if so, how come we hadn’t heard of her? With only a year of competing experience, Antonella already has a very strong fan base, with more than 10000 fans on her Facebook page! Therefore, we contacted her, and we present her to you – for the first time in Greek media!
GRF: Hello Antonella, and welcome to XBody.gr! First of all, we would like to thank you for the opportunity that you are giving us to present you to the Greek public via the pages of our website.
AT: Hello and thank you for featuring me on your website. It´s my pleasure.
GRF: So, your surname tells me that you are Greek, am I right? Is “Trantaki” a Cretan surname? Please tell us all about it. When did you move to Germany or were you born there? Which part of Greece did you move from?
AT: Yes, I am Greek, that’s right. Many people think that I am from Creta because of my surname, but my family comes from the North of Greece. Evros, Orestiada. I was born in Germany, and since then I live here.
GRF: I would like you to tell us how you got involved in the sport. We’ve seen some older pictures of yours, and you seemed to have made an amazing and inspiring transformation. Did you have any sports background before that?
AT: In the past when Ι was younger Ι never had to do something for being in shape. I always was happy with my body. But when I started to work so much and didn’t have a regulary consume and a regulary exercise, my body had a bad transformation. I didn’t realize that, because of too much stress and work. One morning I watched myself in the mirror and I was shocked. Never thought that this could happen to me, but it was true. So I had to do something to change, and tried so many diets, but with not much results. Then at March 2011 I met my coach Alex Stampoulidis and set up an appointment with him to get my first nutritional protocol and workout plan. From that moment my hole life changed. Immediately I had good results, from 30% bodyfat into 22% bodyfat. On July 2011 my ex-boyfriend was breaking our relationship, so the risk getting overweight again was too high. I had to do something in order to get better. As my coach said, he saw capability in me for the Bikini-Fitness class, I didn’t think about it, I just made the decision.
GRF: Getting in shape is one thing, but competing is a whole different situation. How easy or difficult was it for you to do that step, from a mental and a practical point of view?
AT: Well for me it was more difficult getting in shape from overweight, Old habits die hard. When I decided to compete, I had the goal to do it right, and nothing else. The willpower in me was so strong, I didn’t see anything else. Every day when I looked in the mirror, I saw my goal in front of me. Every postive transformation of my body motivates me to do more. For sure it’s not easy having two jobs and to brace oneself for a compatition. To reconcile everything is difficult, but my willpower is stronger. I think if you love what you do, you do it with dedication.
GRF: Would you like to inform our readers about your contest history? At what weight do you compete and how much do you weigh in off-season? And what is your height?
AT: My competition weight is 47 kg, while off-season I weigh 56 kg. My height is 1.63m.
I have competed in the following so far:
International German Newcomer Championship 2012 → 1. Place & overall win
FIBO Bikini Cup 2012 → 3. Place
Ba-Wü Championship 2012 → 1. Place
German Championship 2012 → 1. Place
My first competition was the International Newcomer German Championship 2012. I got the 1st place in my class and the overall win. After that i did get an invitation to compete at the FIBO Bikini Cup 2012. It was a very nice experience for me to stand right beside top athletes and getting the 3rd place. One week later i compete at the Ba-Wü Championship and got again the 1st place. This meant so much to me because it was the qualification of the German Chanpionship. Finally at the 12th May 2012 i won the title German Champion 2012.
GRF: Your plans for 2013? On and off-stage!
AT: My goals on stage in 2013 are the FIBO Bikini Cup and the European Championship. After that we’ll see what happens. And off-stage at the end of the year, I want to go on holidays. I don’t know where yet, but I know this will be big holidays.
GRF: What changes do you make (if any) between off-season and on-season with regard to training and nutrition?
AT: My coach Alex Stampoulidis always watch out of my wishes of my nutrition. I always eat the same in off- or on-season because I really love my meals. In on-season he just gives me lower carbs. Training is always the same, cause it works.
GRF: How does a woman train for a Bikini category? Do you have to undertrain bodyparts or emphasize on certain areas? What works best for you? And which bodyparts do you consider your strengths?
AT: Bikini-athletes train like a bodybuilder. I split my work-out, on Mondays and Thursdays I train my abs, glutes and legs, on Tuesdays and Fridays I train my back, shoulders, biceps and triceps. This works best for me. I consider my strengths to be my legs and my bottom.
GRF: We’ve seen some truely amazing professional photos of yours where you radiate an extraordinary blend of fitness, femininity and sensuality. Did it just happen, or do these represent, in a way, your personality as Antonella?
AT: Thank you very much, it is nice to hear that. I never thought I could ever have pics like these. When I saw some work from the photographer Joanna Elmo-Kowalska (Joko-Style), I knew one day I want a shoot with her. So after my success, I called her and made an appointment for a shoot. For me it was very important to be myself in those pics, to represent me. And she did her work very good. Yes, those pics represent me as I am!
GRF: Being in shape, especially at your level, no doubt will draw the attention of many eyes. On the other hand, the type of lifestyle necessary to achieve such results is not for everybody and will not be followed by many people. Do you think that forming and keeping a relationship becomes easier or more difficult once a woman is into the fitness lifestyle?
ΑΤ: Well, having this lifestyle requires dedication. You really should love what you do. I don’t think it depents on this sport, if it’s easy or difficult to forming an keeping a relationship. It is generally either difficult or easy. If absolutely everything comes together it’s easy, if not it’s difficult, not only into the fitness lifestyle, but also in other lifestyles.
GRF: Do you visit Greece often? What are your favorite places? What happens when you walk around the beach?
AT: No, I don’t visit Greece often. Since I have my own buisness there is no time for holidays. The last time I was in Greece is 3 years ago, visiting the best girlfriend of my mom in Katerini. Before that in the year 2001 I visited with my brother and his wife our favorite place in Chalkidiki, Marmaras, Porto Carras. As we were children that was our favorite place. So in the last 12 years I did not see any beach, but when I am in a swimming pool, I don’t like walking around with my bikini, always wearing a sundress. Privately, I don’t like showing too much skin. Anyway people ask me if I do sports, and how I do that being in shape.
GRF: Have you ever attended any Greek bodybuilding contests?
AT: No I didn’t ever have. Maybe one day I will.
GRF: We live in a social networking era. You have a big following in your Facebook page and you are constantly in touch with your fans, putting up new material often, etc. How much does this experience influence your mentality and motivation on the whole? Does the opinion of your fans influence you a lot? Did you ever have any criticizing online remarks, how did you react and how did you confront them?
AT: Yes, I have a big following in my Facebook fan page, and I am very thankfull to all of them for supporting me and motivate me. It is so nice to get emails from people who likes my page. It is a good feeling to hear that I motivate other people to change. It’s an amazing feeling. For sure, it is not for everyone and there are some poeple who don’t like what I do and critize it. Some say it is too manly and they don’t like females with muscles, but that’s their opinion and it’s ok. I do my thing with the same dedication, no matter what others say. For me it’s important that my family supports me, this helps me a lot.
GRF: Competing is a costly activity. Do you have a day job Antonella?
ΑΤ: Oh yeah that’s right a really costly activity. I’m self-employed as a naildesigner and have my manicuresalon in a beauty shop with other beauticians. I love my job and practice since 2002. Since 2009 i have a second Job two times a week in Starbucks Coffee as a barista.
GRF:Do you have any people helping you, coaches, sponsors, etc., that you’d like to thank via our XBody.gr website for getting you this far?
AT: Yes, I have my coach Alex Stampoulidis: “Thank you Alex for beeing there for me from the very first day, that you helping me being confident enough to start to compete, that you gave me the power to continue and that you always supporting me“. It would be impossibe without Alex. This is why we call him “papacoach”. He does everthing for his athletes.
And i am so happy that i found a sponsor like Powerstar Food who supports me with supplements and stands behind me. “Thank you Powerstar Food for the great cooperation“.
And last but not least my parents Voula and Dimi, “Thank you mommy and daddy for supporting me my whole life. I really appreciate everything you did for me“.
GRF: Antonella, I’d like to thank you for this interview! I hope we stay in touch, so that we can continue to let your fans here in Greece on what you will be up to!
AT: Thank you too, and thank you for featuring me in XBody.gr, and i hope my greek fans follow me at my Facebook Fan Page, and for sure we will stay in touch!
