Maria Kojoukhova pulls more jaws than any other woman

“Pull!”

A woman dressed in leotard shorts and a sleeveless shirt obeys the judge’s order and pulls. And pull.

The numbers change at a fast pace on the scoreboard, when a rhythmic performance brings Maria Kojoukhova chin over the bar over and over again.

Tens get a ride in a performance lasting more than two minutes. Gradually the pace slows down, and eventually the movement stops – but only for a moment. The number 53 looks good on the board, but it’s not enough.

Kojoukhova adjusts her grip slightly and pulls herself up once more. 54 jaws is the highest score of all time in any women’s series.

Kojoukhova improved her previous world record with one repetition at the Nordic Fitness Expo in Lahti at the beginning of October.

One sentence says that the limit has not yet been met, but we will come back to that a little later.

Kirkkonummen Kojoukhova, 35, who lives in Veikkola, is a powerlifting all-rounder whose main sports are chin-ups and bench presses in their various forms. As a side sport, the biceps twist is still practiced.

“I pulled my first jaw when I was maybe 18 years old. There were no bigger goals, I just wanted to learn how to draw jaws,” says Kojoukhova.

Going to the gym and Group exercise became interesting, but Kojoukhova only got her first touch with competitive sports three years ago.

“I found out maybe a year before that you can compete in bench press and chin-up. One of my friends provoked and encouraged me, so I bought a license, signed an anti-doping agreement and registered.”

The sport was the classic bench press and the result was victory. However, after the Corona period, there were only two participants.

“But it’s a great experience for a beginner to get it right. I somehow got hooked on it, that this was nice and then more and more. And then when the results go up, it motivates to continue.”

“Then I started looking at what other sports there are, such as power push-ups and so on. They are not exactly the same species, but easy to combine. Then it got a bit messy with the species.”

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“I try to train as versatile as possible.”

Leuanvedon Kojoukhova only started with a goal in 2021. Of course, behind her were many years of fitness-minded pulling. The starting level was “below 40”, i.e. more than most people ever even dream of pulling.

“Yes, chins have always been pleasant, so I’ve already done some before competitions.”

So what’s fascinating about a chin-up?

“Perhaps that was the reason why it developed so well. I can’t say, I like sports that develop upper body strength.”

54 chins speak for themselves, but if someone needs further convincing of strength, they can try Kojoukhova’s record in the extra weight chin-up. It is 43.5 kilograms, or about 83 percent of the weight of a 52-kilogram woman.

How about those other species?

Kojoukhova, representing Nummelan Iron Lifters, competes – in addition to the repetition chin-up, in additional weight chin-ups, classic bench press, power press, equipment bench press and bicep curl. He has also tried powerlifting for one competition.

The bench press is a sport familiar to many, a shirt is used on the equipment bench to help performance, and the power press is the most difficult of the sports. In it, the legs must be crossed above the bench without touching the bench.

In the sport known as the military bench press, the resistance for men is their own weight, rounded up to the full 2.5 kilograms. For women, the weight is two-thirds of the body weight, rounded in the same way.

There are other differences in terms of rules and equipment, but the task is the same, to lift as heavy a bar as possible. Kojoukhova usually competes in the 52 kg division, and the results are convincing.

“Classic bench 90 kilos, accessory bench 115, power push-up repetitions 61 and maximum 85 kilos.”

The prize cabinet has – less surprisingly – been quite full. The most recent verticals are the WC gold in repetition power push-up and the WC bronze in bicep curl.

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“You mustn’t go too fast, so you don’t acidify prematurely, and on the other hand, not too slow, so you don’t run out of compression too early.”

In bench press, they brought bronze and team EC gold from the European Championships in Turkey in August. In the classic bench, he was fourth, and the Finnish team took European Championship silver.

In addition to records and awards, Kojoukhova has also achieved big-sounding things.

“New skills, better condition, a bit of patience. I’ve gotten to know really great guys and made new good friends along the way.”

In the attached video, you can watch Kojoukhova’s tips for bench pressing.

Tremendous results don’t require a crazy-sounding amount of work. Kojoukhova drives to Nummela three times a week and trains all areas, slightly changing the emphasis. The biceps twist is in a side role, the chin-up is the training for it.

“I try to train as versatile as possible.”

How does it feel to be strong?

“When you’re feeling strong, you generally feel like you can do anything. Then you get a return for your ‘sacrifices’ in training, the old maxims start to feel lighter, and the fire to try new things wakes up.”

Let’s go back back to the beginning, hanging from the bar with your hands in magnesium. Anyone who has tried a chin-up knows how hard it is to perform. Rarely does the performance require accounting or a scoreboard.

There are usually not many thoughts in the head, but Kojoukhova’s was different.

The performance that brought the world record lasted one minute and 21 seconds. There is already time to think about all kinds of things, especially technology, such as playback speed.

“You mustn’t go too fast, so you don’t acidify prematurely, and on the other hand, not too slow, so you don’t run out of compression too early. The chin must come over the bar so clearly that the judge can also see it. I also thought about the appropriate range of motion and breathing rate.”

The answer reveals one point where the seemingly unreachable bar could still be raised.

In her record-breaking performance, Kojoukhova didn’t run out of gunpowder from her arms or upper back, but from her fingers. By practicing the compression force, the record could possibly be taken to the next decade. But…

“It’s such a boring job that, at least as it is, I’m not interested in working out very often.”

Another thing that reveals her potential is that Kojoukhova did not prepare in any way in her training for a record attempt.

“After the result was confirmed, I was surprised that it went well today, even though the main focus had been on training repetition power push-ups.”

Perhaps the best way to sum up the extraordinary strength is the answer to a slightly strange question.

If you were woken up in the middle of the night to pull jaws, how many could you pull?

“Yes, I would probably take the 50. If I can’t warm up, then 45.”

The championship medals for the double chin pull will be competed for in Hämeenlinna on November 23. Kojoukhova’s goal hardly comes as a surprise to anyone.

“55 jaws.”

In the attached video, you can watch tips for chin-ups and example performances of the so-called basic chin-up, a pull-up that makes more use of body movement, and a muscle up that is extended onto the bar.