An Cosantóir

www.military.ie the defence forces magazine | 33 tabello College, Dublin, she now works as a personnel trainer in one of the largest gym chains in Ireland. Elvina's interest in joining the RDF came from her childhood. When she was 12 she joined a local Lithu- anian riflemen's union, which is something similar to the RDF as the members wear military uniforms, learn how to march and to shoot air rifles, and go on camps a few times a year. On national holidays they would also march in parades around their local towns. It was Elvina's mother who suggested she should join the DF, after hearing about a new enlistment campaign for the RDF and PDF through a friend. Elvina applied for both and went through the enlistment process for each, even doing the fitness test twice. In the end she opted for the RDF as it still gave her the opportunity to finish becoming a fitness instructor and personal trainer, which were a passion and a dream for her. The passion she has for the sport of bodybuilding is clear from the enthusiasm in her voice. After only talking to her for a few minutes, the enormity of her dedication was apparent, with her days calculated down to the minute; including times to wake up, times and amount to eat, times to exercise, and what body part to train. When I asked her how hard it is to keep to such a tight schedule her immediate response was: "Discipline and routine are the most important things when com- peting in this sport." She has competed in many competitions since coming to Ireland, under many different federations and associate bodies, such as the Republic of Ireland Bodybuilding Federation (RIBBF), the National Amateur Bodybuilders Association (NABBA) and the World Fit- ness Federation (WFF). The last year has been her busiest, with five events, and most successful year to date. She told us: "The last year has been tough, as I haven't really had a break or much time off, but I'm happy with what I have achieved". Her major achievement was winning the Tone and Figure class in October at the WFF National Championships in the Olympia Theatre, Dublin. She was also the women's overall winner at those championships, which was a great result. These wins gave her the chance to move forward to the WFF World Championships, as part of the Irish team. Luckily, these were held in Ireland this year in City West, Dublin, so she didn't have to travel abroad to compete in her first world event. Elvina performed very well at the championships, fin- ishing in the top six, which is very good for a first timer at the World Championships. She puts a lot of last year's success down to her trainer, Tommy Staunton, who has given her great advice and mentoring. However, Tommy says the reason for her success is that "she has great genetics for bodybuilding and is very dedicated". Working as a personnel trainer in a gym has its ad- vantages, Elvina says, especially helping her to keep to her strict diet and training schedule, and she also gets most of her cardio work done during the classes she in- structs, which include spinning, boxing, circuit training, and body conditioning and strength. When asked to give us a quick rundown on her typi- cal training routine, Elvina told us: "I mostly train with weights on my training days, with very little cardio as I instruct a lot of fitness classes." She went on to tell us that her training is broken down into a six-day cycle, were she trains two different body parts over two days, has a day's rest, then repeats with different body parts. When this six-day cycle is up, she starts again from day one. Going away with the RDF can be a bit tricky for Elvina's diet, although there are plenty of eggs at breakfast, which she says is a good start to the day. She also says it is funny when some of her fellow soldiers, especially the men, see her with all her cans of tuna and the amount of food she consumes in a day. Elvina is hoping to compete again this year with everything going well, with her first contest being the Spring Classic. This will be the start of her prep for the summer contests and hopefully on to the nationals. We would like to wish Elvina all the best in the future and to 'keep soldering on'.

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