I have been around weights my whole life because my dad is a high school weightlifting coach and my sister was a high school weightlifter. A year ago, I wanted to start lifting with them to improve my tennis game. Little did I know I would fall in love with lifting and it really helped me become a better dancer also. In November of 2014, I started training with my dads powerlifting team Hillbilly Power. My coach is Toby Irby. He is a great coach and is fun to be around. I really enjoy being a part of the group and soon I was asked to compete. My dad explained the commitment it would take and how I would be the only 11 year old in our area to compete. I didn’t matter to me, I wanted to do it.
So we set the date for competing and I never missed a workout for four months. I worked out four days per week, even though that meant sacrificing many things my friends were doing and even got funny looks from friends that felt it was weird for a 11 year old to compete in the sport of powerlifting.
I competed on February 28, 2015 at the APF/AAPF Florida State Championships and had an incredible day. I was able to set all the records in the teenage division in the 97 lb class even though I only weighed in at 84 lbs and was two years shy of being a teenager. My lifts were 99 in the squat (barely missed 114), benched 66, and deadlifted 137 (barely missed 147). I loved the the whole meet.
After the meet, I couldn’t wait to do it again. My goals for November (next scheduled meet) I will squat 150, bench 95, and deadlift 185. I would also love to lead the way for other little girls to be involved in this amazing sport.
I’m excited that my next meet is coming up in two weeks. We have been working hard for the last 12 weeks preparing for this meet. But about 4 weeks ago my hip started really hurting. I was told it was a strained hip flexor. My coach and my dad were even thinking about pulling Read More »
Sorry for being out for a few weeks. I have been very busy this summer with lots of things. I went to the mountains, the beach, church camp, and dance camp. I also played tennis at least 3 times per week, spent nights with friends, and did crossfit. Even though I was super busy, I Read More »
In three weeks we start our training cycle for the Southern States Meet in October. I am very excited and we all have been setting goals for this meet. Setting goals can be hard. You don’t want to set them so high that you cannot reach them but you also don’t want to set them Read More »
I just got back from a week in the North Carolina mountains on Thursday and couldn’t wait to get back in the gym. My dad said I needed the week off but talked him into letting me workout on Friday. We did our deadlift workout. All I missed was the squat workout on Monday and Read More »
Saturday May 30, I competed in the RPS Redemption Meet in Fort Myers, FL. It was awesome! Some of the best lifters were there and I feel like I had a great day. I squatted 120 pounds to break the RPS World record in the 14-15 age division in the 97 pound class. I Read More »
This month has been crazy busy. I have so much going on, it is hard keeping up. Everything from dance recitals, tennis lessons, chorus concerts, field trips to end of schools awards is all happening this month. It makes it tough to get my workouts in so that I will be ready for this meet Read More »
I really wanted to do another meet this summer. I talked with my dad and we have planned to do the RPS Redemption Meet on May 30 in Fort Myers. It will be a long drive from Lake City to Fort Myers, dad says it will be at least 5 hours but I don’t care. Read More »
Tonight was bench day. We did something I have never done and loved it. We did reverse band bench with light bands. Toby said it will help me with my lock out. Here is what we did: 1. Reverse band bench 75 pounds/3 reps 85 pounds/3 reps 95 pounds/ 4 single reps Read More »
Well Spring Break is now over but I didn’t take a break from my training. I got stronger over my spring break. It started off great with a package from Metal. It really motivated me to work hard and I was able to easily pass my meet lifts this week. On Monday, I was able Read More »
A lot of my friends ask me why do I do power lifting. I got in to lifting weights to become a better dancer and tennis player. But that still doesn’t answer why I compete in the sport. I could just lift weights for dance and tennis and never have to compete. I love being Read More »
