Daily Inspiration: Meet Katya Gorbacheva

Today we’d like to introduce you to Katya Gorbacheva. They and their team shared their story with us below:

Well – anyone who thinks vegans are weak – Katya has recently broken 400lbs on a deadlift – a huge goal of hers and took bronze in the Ladies of Steel Powerlifting Competition. Seven years vegan! Katya will be in Nashville for the vegan festival in the fall https://nashvillevegfest.com/ and would love to meet with Nashville Voyager readers and her followers.

Katya Gorbacheva, is one of the strongest vegan women on the planet, a nationally qualified powerlifter with USAPL, an Elite Powerlifter with USPA /IPL, and a proud member of the @plantbuilt @Veganstrongteam. She has transitioned from the bikini and figure categories of bodybuilding with fantastic success. Competing in the 75 kg category (raw), she has squatted 167.5 kg, benched 87.5 kg, and deadlifted 182.5 kg. Her competition total stands at 437.5 kg. Personal Record as of 5.13.23 is 964 lbs at 158 lbs lb body weight. Her passion is to educate that plants have all the protein you need to get strong and popularize strength sports among men and women of all ages.

She’s been featured on Plant Based News, Veganlinked, VegfestExpos, Great Vegan Athletes, Give Her Dollars/FemmeHive, Vegan Proteins, and more! Katya was honored to be invited to compete as part of the PlantBuilt team in 2022, which she thoroughly enjoyed. This followed lifting at the USAPL Nationals.

“It completely blew my mind that after having competed for less than two years I could get up to that level.” She’s also been invited to the USPA nationals. However, she wants to take her lifts to the next level first.”

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I’ve considered myself healthy for the majority of my life but was very surprised to discover borderline heart disease cholesterol levels during a routine blood check when I was 23 years old. I was running and lifting heavy for a few years then and trying to eat “clean” back then. My body didn’t feel as good though, and progress with the weights stalled. I started googling the ways to decrease LDL cholesterol and triglycerides and stumbled upon Forks Over Knives, Cowspiracy, Rip Esselstyn’s lectures, and the China study.

Since I was already a huge environmentalist, decreasing animal products in my diet was a no-brainer. Over 2 months, I went 95% vegan and stuck to the plant-based diet as well as I possibly can till this day. After doing this for a few years, I’ve been upping my ethical veganism game by organizing my house, wardrobe, and personal care products as well as supporting the local vegan community. I volunteer for Vegfest Expos, speak at local and national vegan festivals, and love to help women who want to gain strength without compromising their ethics – on a plant-based diet.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
For most of my life, I thought I didn’t have the metabolism to stay lean or the genetics to be strong.

I was jealous of the “naturally lean” people, convinced that regular folks like us can never get there no matter how hard we try. Turns out, it is not necessary to try hard. Throughout my journey of preparing for powerlifting and bodybuilding competitions as well as training others, I have learned that with an individualized plan, paying close attention to one’s body responses and support – most can achieve a lean, strong, healthy body.

I’m eager to share this knowledge and the tools that have helped many of my people to get stronger, improve body composition as well learn how to maintain it.

Unfortunately, our economy and health systems are built to make money off of sick people who get addicted to treating symptoms instead of real illness causes. It is alarming that obesity and related diseases are much of a greater concern than hunger in the US. My goal is to bridge the nutrition and exercise knowledge gap for as many people as possible using a science-based approach to long-term health and wellness.

Even though bodybuilding, powerlifting, and other physique or athletic performance competitions are inspiring and can help anyone get off the couch and start working out, running, lifting, or picking up any other sport – I’m also here to remind you that this may not be the best strategy for everyone.

A lot of the time being competitive with others and the need to have strangers (judges, audience) decide who is “the winner” can provide an unhealthy amount of extrinsic motivation. Once you have won, and this extrinsic motivation is gone, many an athlete degrades their seemingly healthy habits back to pre-competition and ends up in a worse place than before. The same logic works with the folks who have set the goal to “just lose 20 lbs before the wedding”, or “fit into high school jeans again”.

Before having educated me in nutrition and fitness, I was young and dumb too, tried the yo-yo diets and the “most effective workout routine”, struggled with orthorexia (fixation on eating “clean”, healthy foods only), eating disorders and judging others for their poor health choices. If you have to – I feel you. I’ve been there. I can relate, understand and help you improve your relationship with food, body image, and mindfulness about your habits. It’s tough, but doable.

We all have only got one body to carry us through life. We need to learn how to treat it with care and respect. Motivation to achieve great health and maintain it has to be intrinsic. It has to come from within and love for yourself, your own body, and your mind.

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk-taking.
Lifting is my therapy. Competing is my way to show that I know what I’m talking about.

Sadly it’s hard to market coaching services going against large companies selling “30 days to a 6 pack” or other cookie-cutter programs. Not to mention “coaches” who post their rear on IG 24/7/365 suggesting one can look the same by doing body weight hip thrusts at home… There is a difference between posers and competing athletes. I hope that future clients will see it and be able to tell.

Food is FUEL! Katya loves her food and often starts with oatmeal with flax seeds, TVP, berries, or baked apples. She’s not a fan of smoothies or salads and prefers rich food with plenty of flavor. “When I’m lazy I’ll just throw halved veggies on the tray (onions, zucchini, eggplant, squash) and bake with seitan. Boom! Easy. Buckwheat is another staple since childhood – since I’m Russian-Ukranian.”

For dinner, she’ll often have “a big hot plate of veggies, fake meats/tofu for protein, some grain and vegan cheese or nooch on top.” Katya also had some good words for So Delicious ice cream and puffed quinoa. This fuels a routine that includes some cardio walking her husky and lifting 3-4 times per week. Before the 2022 Nationals Katya was bench pressing four days per week. Following that the routine was two bench sessions per week, three squat sessions, and two deadlifts. She doesn’t do a great deal of accessory work, preferring to build variations to the compound lifts.

While she’s training few are aware that Katya is vegan.

“For those who are curious – I share my seitan recipe, Youtube with EOD videos, protein infographics they can take to the grocery store, and a totalbodylab.com vegan powerlifting equipment guide…teaching an omnivore to make seitan and cook tofu can go a long way!”

So far, Katya’s passion has led her to quit her engineering career to help other lifters with dysmorphia. She now helps them learn how to use the gym and focus on performance instead of aesthetics. She’s even brought out a powerlifting coloring book to help empower females and embrace positive concepts: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BH1WNP35

“Lead by example. The best thing we can do for the planet and ourselves – is take care of ourselves, each other, and the things around us. Even haters have a place and can be used for the benefit of whatever you’re doing! Don’t stop. The train is heavy when you start pushing it… But when it’s rolling – you spend little energy to keep it going. Don’t stop pushing the train. Keep going – these are my words to my past self!”

Contact Info:

• Website: katyagorbacheva.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gorbachevae/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/totalbodylab/
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/c/totalbodylab