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22 Oct 2025

Hard work and a dream - Kilkenny's Dora takes to the bodybuilding competition stage!

Dora Kanpyka

Dora Kanpyka

A local woman’s goal to appear on stage at a natural body building event before her 40th birthday is set to come true this weekend.


Dora Kanpyka, a preschool teacher who is originally from Poland but has been living in Kilkenny for more than 14 years, decided a year ago to make the huge training commitment, and has followed through on her dream.


Watching a friend take part in a competition lit the spark, and in January Dora began the serious work of ‘bulking’ then ‘shredding’ and all the training that goes with entering competitions.
“I went to watch a competition last September and after that I decided I wanted to do the same next year, before my 40th birthday,” Dora said.


She found a coach who put her on a strict meal plan, and monitors her health daily.
The first 20 weeks of training were ‘bulking’ by eating almost 5,000 calories a day. This built up muscle mass, with exercise. The ‘shredding’ phase saw Dora down to 1,400 calories a day.
This week is ‘peak week’ when she has to get rid of all excess fluid in her body to be stage ready.


Dora trains hard. She’s up at 3.45am every morning for a cardio workout at home on a static bike, then at 5am she goes out to get her step count up. The gym opens at 6am and she’s there for an hour. All before starting work! She also works in a pub in the evenings.


On Saturdays she travels to Cork, to spend time with her coach, and for posing classes - essential for the stage competition.
Even sleeping, and taking time to relax, is important.


“It’s a huge time commitment. I’ve put away my social life and didn’t go on a foreign holiday this year,” Dora said.
She hopes to become a personal trainer, but even her course work for that has been put on hold for now, with training a priority.
“If I decide to do something I do it 110%, 100% is not enough,” she said.


The competitions Dora has been working towards for nine months begin this weekend.
The World Natural Bodybuilding Federation in Ireland competition takes place in New Ross on Sunday. At that competition the winners will be chosen to compete in the USA later this year. The winners of this competition could represent Ireland all over the world.
The week later Dora will travel to Dublin to compete in the Irish National Bodybuilding Federation event.
In both she is taking part in the bikini and figure categories.
The Dublin event marks 10 years of the Irish Federation and will be a huge event at the Helix.


As she trained and prepared, this year, Dora was supported by her sister Anna and friends here in Kilkenny, as well as her family in Poland, even when they didn’t really understand what she was doing.


“For me it’s my goal and it’s in my head not to give up,” Dora said. “My dream is to be up on stage before I am 40, in December.
“I’m really proud of myself. This journey has changed my body a lot, but also my mindset.”


Looking forward to the weekend, Dora said taking part will be an achievement in itself. “My goal never was to win, my goal was to be up on stage. That’s the most important to me, that I stuck to my plan for nine months and achieved my goal. So I feel like a winner already.”


She says a medal in the competition would be an extra bonus, because she knows the work and preparation all those who compete put into their training, physically and mentally.


Dora said she has enjoyed the preparation, because she loves going to the gym and she loves the training. But it was more than just going to the gym. Preparation is a lot of little things, even down to counting every gram of food she eats.
Dora is proud of what she has achieved since January.
“It’s amazing to see what you can do for yourself. It’s something you can’t buy in a shop.”

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