Twenty-three-year-old Bhumika Senthilkumar now sleeps late into the morning, wakes up when she wants, and occasionally gives in to her cravings—simple pleasures she held in check while chasing a dream. “It feels amazing to live like a normal person, waking up without alarms, waking up late, eating normal food,” she says, days after clinching gold and bronze in separate categories at the 16th World Bodybuilding and Physique Sports Championship in Batam City, Indonesia.
Several thoughts ran through her mind as she stood on the podium on November 16, wrapped in the tricolour after winning the gold in the Women’s Wellness category. This was the moment she had dreamed of and longed for over the years; still, it almost felt unreal.
“As I stood there, I knew I wasn’t just an athlete who had a podium finish. I was representing my country and the people who reposed their faith in me. There were so many emotions. I was also proud, I felt I finally did it,” she tells THE WEEK. She had won the bronze in the Sports Physique category at the championship a day ago.
She says she wasn't expecting gold. But there was one person who seemed to know it was already hers; her coach, Abhil John Manuel. Half an hour before she was declared the winner, he had texted her, just saying: “Bring the gold.” When the moment finally came, he remembers tearing up.
Bhumika says she cherished every moment of the competition. Though she was in a different country, far from her support ecosystem, she was surrounded by people who shared her passion for the sport. It was a truly delightful experience that, she says, has reshaped her perspective. “I realized that at the end of the day, you are on your own. So, it is important that you take care of yourself. I was really worried, but it wasn’t something that I couldn’t manage.”
'My dreams deserve a chance'
Bhumika describes herself as a frail child; but she longed to take part in sports activities in school. As an overprotected daughter, she was never allowed to join in. “I couldn’t even run during PT period,” she recalls. By the time she was a teenager, the girl from Palakkad decided to take charge. She began following fitness tips on YouTube and Instagram.
She had long been fascinated by professional women bodybuilders. Watching their routines and lifestyles on social media slowly became part of her own. “My dreams deserve a chance,” she would tell herself. “I should grab the chance to follow my dreams.” After months of searching for the right mentor, she finally came across coach Abhil of Fitness Factory in Kochi’s Kadavanthra and reached out to him on Instagram in July 2022. He, however, ignored it.
Their first meeting remains vivid in Abhil’s memory. Bhumika and her friend, Glen Martin — now a professional bodybuilder with medals to his name — turned up in his gym, eager and clear-eyed about wanting to become professional athletes. Abhil told them, “Join the gym. Train for three months.”
What followed, as the saying goes, is history; and this one was etched in gold.
Straddling two worlds
For a bodybuilder, rest is as essential as training, yet it’s the one thing Bhumika rarely had. Caught between her gruelling workout schedule and the demands of her fashion-design coursework, she lived in a constant state of motion. Some nights she slept no more than four hours, determined not to compromise on either dream. There were some urging her to choose—drop the weights or drop the books—but she was convinced she could do justice to both worlds. As she ran from the gym to college and back again, it was her ambition, grit, and determination that kept her going.
While she chased her dream, she also weathered the darker days — the low-motivation mornings, sleep deprivation, and the personal hurdles, including the struggle to put together the finances. Yet, she remained unwavering. Come rain or shine, she showed up for training. “My coach always told me to stick to my routine, even if I couldn’t give a hundred per cent. So I never took days off; I took low-intensity days. There were days I cried through my workout, but I didn’t stop,” she says. “It’s not always about motivation. If you stay consistent and disciplined, you will get there. I’m living proof of that.”
A few weeks before the competition, Bhumika sprained her leg. Panic set in. She even wondered if this was where her journey would end. But she kept going, pushing through the pain because the thought of stepping onto an international stage and making people take notice mattered more than the pain.
She credits her coach, friends, and the tight-knit gym community for helping her stay the course. Her parents, however, needed time. “It took three years for my family to finally understand why this dream meant so much to me,” she says. “My mother used to tell me to go out with friends instead of working out. Now, they prepare my diet meals for me.”
Making of a champion
The training leading up to the competition was gruelling. Her days were essentially endless cycles of workouts: twice a day at first, eventually broken into four sessions and posing practice. She also had to bid goodbye to sugar—and the girl loves sugar. Chicken, eggs, vegetables, and the supplements became her staples.
Abhil had trusted her to find her own rhythm on the world stage. While she was in Indonesia, he kept his guidance to a minimum, knowing this was her moment to claim, on her own terms. “All I told her was to prepare well, rest well, and give her best,” he says.
To Abhil, the true mark of a champion is an appetite that never quite feels satisfied. “A champion always believes he/she could have done better, even with medals around the neck,” he says. As Bhumika won medals in the state and national levels, Abhil sensed that hunger in her. He also knew she didn’t need pushing as she understands her limits and how far she can push them. “I have realized that once Bhumi sets her eyes on something, nothing in the world can hold her back. She is an athlete with immense drive,” he says.
The final triumph
Even as she picked up medals at the state and national levels, she longed for something she couldn't find on stage; it was her parents’ approval. She admits it wasn’t easy. Her family took pride in her brother, a doctor, and struggled to understand why she chose a path so few dared to follow. “I just wanted them to be proud of me, at least once,” she says. “They couldn’t understand my choices. I never thought winning gold internationally was impossible, but making my parents proud felt impossible.”
The gold at the international level may have just done the magic. When her parents, along with others, showed up at the airport to welcome her from Indonesia, she knew that she had finally made them proud.
She says the discipline bodybuilding and the world it has opened up for her has reshaped her both as a person and as an athlete who is learning to fully embrace and admire herself. She credits much of that growth to her coach, who helped her build a winning mindset. Abhil, for his part, says just as he shaped her into an athlete, she has pushed him to evolve into a better coach.
The journey comes with its own challenges. She admits that maintaining a healthy relationship with her body isn’t always easy—especially as a bikini athlete, where she looks her sharpest weeks leading up to a competition. Off-season, the body changes, and accepting that shift can be hard. “This is a sport where you put yourself out before the whole world and invite it to judge you,” she says. “You have to be willing to face every kind of criticism.”
Bhumika is also happy to have broken stereotypes. People often told her that weight training would make her look muscular. She always countered that lifting weights will tone you and enhance your beauty. Today, she stands as proof for that claim—strong, feminine, unapologetically muscular—quietly breaking stereotypes about women who lift. To her, that in itself is a victory.
She isn’t the one to rest on her laurels as she plans to bring her best to every contest she participates in and defend the title. “I want to be an unbeatable champion as long as I contest,” she says, as she admits that she can never stop chasing perfection, and in the process, more medals.