Vladislava Galagan, often dubbed the "Kendall Jenner of Bodybuilding," has become a prominent figure in the fitness world. This Russian bodybuilder, fitness model, and social media influencer has captured attention not only for her striking resemblance to Kendall Jenner but also for her incredibly muscular physique. Her journey, marked by rigorous training and a disciplined approach to diet, offers valuable insights for anyone aspiring to build a strong and aesthetically pleasing body.
Who is Vladislava Galagan?
Born in Temryuk, Russia, in 1997, Vladislava Galagan began her fitness journey early in life. Over the years, she has gained popularity as a fitness trainer, influencer, social media celebrity, and OnlyF*ns model. Galagan has mostly trained as a bodybuilder and in November 2023, she started prep for a bodybuilding competition as well. Her previous attempts at making a bodybuilding debut could not come to fruition due to health issues. However, she has started a structured program to prepare her body for stage appearance without any complications. Apart from bodybuilding, Vladislava Galagan has also received mixed martial arts training. Kickboxing and jiu-jitsu form the base of her MMA training.
Galagan's Training Philosophy
Vladislava Galagan’s journey to achieving her incredible, stage worthy physique as well as her immense strength is powered by her disciplined and rigorous training regimen. She trains six days a week and her training routine is a mix of isolation and compound movements to work all the major muscles in the body. Her approach to training is not overly complicated, and it involves a classic push/pull/legs workout split. This allows for comprehensive muscle engagement and optimal recovery in between training sessions.
Moving the weight from point A to point B is not the sole purpose of Vladislava Galagan’s exercises. She aims to get as much muscle stimulation as possible and often trains to failure. For maximum gains and performance longevity, Galagan gives utmost importance to a disciplined circadian rhythm. She strictly maintains sleep hygiene and does not allow her sleeping time to fluctuate by a big margin. The 26-year-old also prioritizes massages for muscle recovery.
Warming up before workouts is an integral part of Galagan’s training routine. She does not start intense training unless her body is warmed up with an intricate set of exercises that she has been using for a while. A warm-up does not conclude with these movements as Galagan performs warm-up sets of every exercise in her strength training routine before starting with the working sets.
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Push, Pull, Legs Split
Galagan follows the push, pull, and leg day training split which allows her to build functional strength and other attributes necessary for performing everyday activities and athletic tasks.
- Push Day: Galagan focuses more on chest and shoulder workouts on a push day. She works the chest with compound pushing movements as well as flyes to build pushing and adduction strength of the upper body.
- Pull Day: Back is the strongest part of Vladislava Galagan’s physique. She works the back with several horizontal and vertical pulling movements to build a wide and thick back. The machine preacher curl is the only exercise she performs for this muscle.
- Leg Day: Vladislava Galagan works the lower body twice every week. She went full steam on both days in her previous training routine. The first day is an intense workout while the second is relatively light. “Even though I have a greater number of exercises on a heavy leg day, the amount of time I spend in each training session is the same - one or one and a half days.
Now, Vladislava Galagan has an undeniably great set of legs, and that could be due to her leg days that occur twice a week. She used to have heavier leg days, but due to an injury she scaled that back and does one light leg day training a week, then the other one is heavier. Her leg day typically consists of six to ten exercises, and she spends about an hour to an hour and a half per leg training session. The first exercise on her list is leg extensions, an exercise guaranteed to get blood flowing into the quads, as well as loosen up the joints to lessen the chances of injury on later exercises. The next exercise on Vladislava Galagan’s leg day are hamstring curls. She does the lying hamstring curls, which are a favorite of Tom Platz, who incorporated them into his leg day and was known for having some of the best legs on the planet. Placing her feet on a box and letting her heels hang off for a greater range of motion, Vladislava does calf raises on the Smith Machine. Right after the Smith Machine calf raises, Vladislava moves over to the seated calf raises, completing 5 sets of 10 reps. Hitting a little bit of abdominal training, Vladislava does hanging leg raises. Another core exercise, Vladislava does incline body raises, where she uses an incline bench to raise her legs. These were what Sylvester Stallone did in Rocky 4, where he was training in the snow to fight Ivan Drago. Lastly, Vladislava hits another core exercise which is just basic crunches.
Galagan also does not rely on any specific equipment, as she strategically alternates between free weights such as barbells and dumbbells, and machines like the cable stack, this helps her capitalize on the unique benefits each offers in bodybuilding. These are a staple of any good leg workout routine, including Vladislava Galagan’s. However she has had her setbacks, as Vladislava’s demanding training routine left little room for adequate recovery between sessions, ultimately resulting in an injury that altered her training a bit. Now, Vladislava Galagan uses pretty high volume. She is not a powerlifter, and after her injury does not go as heavy as she once did. That being said, typically for each exercise she will do around 4 or 5 sets of 10-15 reps.
Importance of Morning Routine
Galagan takes her morning routine seriously as it sets the tone for the rest of the day and the day’s success depends on it. Typically, Galagan starts her day with a hefty breakfast and coffee. She aims to walk at least 10000 steps every day and goes for long walks in the morning. Exercise and training are a function of pushing the body’s limits and applying stress that forces it to get bigger, and stronger, and it has all the attributes necessary to perform everyday activities.
Vladislava Galagan's Diet
Vladislava Galagan is not restrictive about her diet as long as she is eating natural and whole foods. She makes sure that her dietary intake does not lean heavily towards any particular micro or macronutrients. While she has taken help from performance-enhancing drugs to get an insanely muscular physique, the importance of having a clean and nutritious diet cannot be stressed enough. “A lot of people think they need tons of protein to grow. They take like 2.5 or 3 grams (per pound of body weight) which is too much and not good for digestion. However, the 26-year-old strictly refrains from using processed and ultra-processed foods laden with artificial sweeteners. During the bulking phase, Vladislava Galagan increases the amount of calorie and nutrient-dense foods like egg yolk and bananas in her diet.
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Vladislava Galagan has stated that she follows a strict diet year round. Her diet is packed with 100 grams of protein daily, making sure she has enough to recover from her training.
Galagan tries to get most of her nutrients through a clean and whole-food diet but she does take help from supplements to meet her goals as it is only sometimes possible to fulfill your requirements through meals alone. Vladislava Galagan typically eats four to five meals per day depending upon the phase of training. chicken, lean cuts of beef, fish and egg whites are her primary sources of protein. She includes a variety of vegetables in the diet to get the micronutrients and necessary amounts of fiber.
Vladislava Galagan stays the course when it comes to diet. However, she does not mind treating herself to her favorite foods occasionally. The Russian bodybuilder usually eats high-calorie foods like croissants and pastries before intense training sessions, ensuring that the training session helps burn those extra calories.
Staying the Course
Vladislava Galagan is hard work and commitment personified. She is an example of someone who built a muscular physique without compromising on feminine qualities.
Vladislava Galagan continued to improve her personal fitness after making her bodybuilding debut in 2018. She consumes four meals a day with her protein sources coming from meats like beef, chicken, and fish. Galagan has shown no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
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PED Use
Many people wonder if the Kendal Jenner of bodybuilding is natural or not, meaning does she take performance enhancing drugs, or just regular supplements? “I DO SHORT CYCLES. I’M NOT ALL YEAR ROUND ON THEM LIKE OTHERS. SINCE I DO PRO COMPETITION, IT’S SOMETHING THAT I DO TO PLAY IT EVEN. The use of PEDs does not discredit her at all, as Vladislava Galagan is still at the gym training six days a week. She focuses on each muscle group twice a week, then has a day of recovery so she can grow.
On her quest for the ultimate physique, Galagan hasn’t shied away from opening up about her steroid use. With PED usage comes side effects, as was the case with the budding fitness influencer. She has talked about losing 50% of her hair at one point, and cautions her fans to always practice safety with a credentialed coach should they choose to go down that route.
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