by Leigh Penman
Swedish Siren, Marika Johansson may have been absent from the competition stage for a while but she has been far from absent from the bodybuilding scene. ? Marika has been working on projects for the site and attending to her growing list of personal training clients. Currently considering a return to competition I decided it was time to take a closer look at this bodybuilding Amazon and find out what drew her into the sport, how she met Kris and exactly what her plans for the future are….
So Marika, first of all can you fill us in on a little background information…I believe that you grew up in a small town in Sweden, coming from a small village in Scotland I know all about ‘small town mentality’…did you ever feel out of place in that environment?
See More of Marika on SheMuscleRaw
“Yes, I did in the early years of my training until I moved away to bigger city. A girl wasn’t meant to train with weights and when I became a mom then it was even more frowned upon. The funny thing was that as soon as I got publicity in the magazines, newspapers and even television, they tried to be nice to me and wanted to be my friend. I guess that was why I decided to move to a bigger city where I could be more anonymous with more gyms and more competitive bodybuilders.”
Also, being brought up with four brothers must have affected your outlook on life to some extent…….
‘We were a big family and there was always something going on with four brothers. I was always with them playing inside and outside. We were climbing trees, swimming in the lakes, and of course fighting. I guess I had to be tough to survive and to get some attention. I shared my interest in weight lifting with my younger brothers, Ted and Christian. Ted and I trained together when he competed in power lifting with my other brother Christian. We pushed each other hard and I think that was the time when I broke all my weight lifting records. We have always been a very athletic and competitive family. My father was actually a professional dirt biker rider and power lifter and he always encouraged us to follow our passions.”
So how did the whole interest with weight training begin?
“I was competing in equestrian. My horse was very stubborn, strong and hard to control. I felt that I needed to get stronger in order to be able to keep up with her. At that time they had just opened a gym in my town… the first gym ever in our little town. Remember this was in the 80’s! I brought a friend with me and we were the only girls there. She quit after one or two times but I was curious to continue and was hooked. I enjoyed the feeling of controlling my body and sculpting my muscles. I didn’t know anything about food though, and was so skinny. I was about 120 lbs at 5’9 when I started lifting. After a few years of trial and error I met Veronica Dahlin who won World championships in1987 and competed at the Olympia in 1988. She taught me how to eat and how to train to grow. She also helped me get ready for my first Swedish nationals in 1992 where I placed 3rd.”
I believe you were inspired by Cory Everson. What is it about Cory that you think sets her apart? I mean she stopped competing years ago and yet she is still a source of inspiration for many entering the sport….
“For me she was the ultimate bodybuilder. Her body had excellent symmetry and her posing routines were so entertaining. I used to copy her routines (or at least try to!) for my early shows in Sweden”.
What made you finally decide to compete and how was that first show?
“My friends in the gym pushed me into it. I finally understood the meaning of protein and started to grow my muscles. Former Ms Olympia Inger Zetterqvist was training in my gym and she inspired me to get up on the stage. I don’t even remember the first diet since it was pretty bad and I was really sick all way through it. I found out after the show that I was 6 months pregnant and when I was on the stage I was in my 4th month! I finished 2nd in middleweight and when I look at pictures I can see my abs were really blurry. Now I know why!”
You had to put your career in bodybuilding on hold when your mother was diagnosed with cancer. What did you learn from the whole experience of taking care of your mother during that difficult time … since it is often during such times that we discover the most about ourselves….
“Yes it really came as a shock for me and I just stopped my life and lived hers instead… as much as I could. I learned how fragile our lives are and how important it is to live now, not later. To see my moms struggle made me so much stronger as person and more thankful for everything we have in our life. She will always be my hero. She fought so hard and was determined to survive no matter what, even though she knew her days were numbered. I always think of her struggle whenever I reach an obstacle in life. If she could take all that pain and still fight then as a healthy person I can accomplish anything if I just set my mind to it. She never got a chance. I have all chances I can ask for. After she passed away I was determined to reach my goals and go for my dreams. She loved my sport and was so proud of me. I know she wanted me to give all I had and to make my dreams come true. That’s why I am here in US now and married to the amazing man of my dreams, Kris Gethin.”
How did you meet up with Kris Gethin (who is now of course your husband)?
“If you have heard of love at first sight then this was our story. I went to LA after the Europa Super show in 2005 to train with Charles Glass and meet my friends. I was introduced to many people who worked in the business and one of them was Kris Gethin who, at that time, worked for FLEX magazine. He wanted to do a photo shoot with me for an article. I was of course excited and accepted his offer. We ended up having so much fun shooting down at Venice Beach that it was kind of hard to say goodbye when we were finished for the day. We still kept in touch when I went back to Sweden and then we met again when I flew out to be at the Olympia in 2005. I guess that was the moment we really fell for each other. We were married in Las Vegas after the Olympia in 2007.”
Do you play any part in bodybuilding.com?
“My biggest part is to be the wife of the editor of bodybuilding.com. All the wives whose partners work for the site joke about how it is to be a BB.Com wife – they work so hard because they love the company so much. But to be more serious, I do write articles, film videos and other things for them, to help people all over the world to reach their goals when it comes to training and diet. It is a great company where you feel like you are in a family.”
You list Dorian Yates as one of your friends…how did that association come about?
“My husband had been friends with him for many years. He introduced me to him when we visited the UK for first time together. Kris took me to the famous Temple Gym in Birmingham England and we trained with Dorian. Every time we go to the UK there is always a planned visit to Dorian and his Temple gym to train and hang out. Dorian always stayed with us when we used to live in LA. That’s when he became a big part of my DVD, ‘The Cinderella Story’, where he trains me for Europa Super show in 2006.This man knows so much when it comes to training and diet. He believes in keeping things simple to succeed.”
TalkLive with Marika Johansson “The Viking Queen”
Shifting to your training…what have you been focusing on during your current off-season?
“After last year I realized I needed so much more size to fight with the big girls in the pro division since I am a tall. I have been working hard to gain weight and size mostly on my back, shoulders and legs. I think I am stronger than I have ever been right now. Let’s hope there are some good muscle gains there too. I have had to force feed myself with food to gain weight since my metabolism is really fast. Eating so much food has been the hardest part.”
What kind of diet do you follow off-season and how do you switch it up during the pre-contest phase?
“I eat pretty much eat the same food in the off season as when I diet. I just remove the sauces and don’t eat out as much when I am dieting. I believe in eating carbs with every meal until further in to my diet. I use to go very low carbs but it messed up my metabolism, which made it harder for me to keep my muscles and lean out.”
How do you see the future for women’s bodybuilding?
“I see a bright future since I have had so many girls coming to me for advice lately and wanting me to train them for their bodybuilding shows. I think there are girls out there who want to move from figure and fitness and get into hardcore training in the gym to build more size. The more we can promote the sport in a positive way and be good role models the more we can attract young girls to choose bodybuilding as their sport. I think it is all up to us female bodybuilders to make our sport survive. We need to speak up and show ourselves not only to muscle magazines but also to the mainstream media in an attractive and healthy way.”
And what about the future for Marika Johansson? What have you got planned for the year ahead and beyond?
“Right now I am trying to gain as much size as possible. If I go up on the stage again then I want to make sure that I can match the other girls by showing a bigger and more symmetric physique than I have before.
“Outside of the gym I am a personal trainer helping women and men all over the world to get a healthier life or preparing them for their shows in bodybuilding and figure. This year I will focus even more on sharing my knowledge to help people reach their specific goals when it comes to bodybuilding. I work both online and in person training people.”
Finally how can our readers get in touch with you?
“They can reach me on my own website www.mjviking.com. I am working on a new website but this old one is still out there.
I have also Twitter under my name MarikaJGethin and Facebook under my name Marika Johansson-Gethin
For any questions email me direct at mjvikingqueen@yahoo.com.”
Comments are closed.