I never wanted to be a powerlift.
In fact, it happened by chance. In the mid -1930s I was physically and mentally in a low place. I got tired all the time. I lived with chronic back pain for five years that had shaped every part of my day. There was a time when I couldn’t even get up in the morning without rolling on the floor first. I really believed that I lived the rest of my life that way. I was told more than once that it was not a realistic goal, even if I was operated on to be painless.
I started working with a trainer because I wanted to learn how to box. I wanted to be more active to improve my physical and mental health, and boxing seemed fun and a good way to reduce stress. I also liked how quickly and committed it seemed. When I trained: I was strong – very strong. As part of my training, I started to raise weights. My trainer added more weight to the bar in the course of my progress and I was surprised at how strong I was – and how much I loved it.
This was the transition to the powerlifting – I was attracted to the feelings that I felt during these training sessions: the clarity, self -confidence, the calm.
If you are not familiar with powerlifting, let me explain it. It is a starch sport that was built by three lifts: the crouch, bench press and the crusades. In contrast to bodybuilding, which emphasizes muscle growth, the definition and appearance or the Olympic lifting, which focuses on two explosive movements – the snatch and the clean and jerky, comes from one thing: pure, honest, strength.
For me it is also mental. There is a strength and clarity that is due to the lifting of very heavy weights. It is the only time that I feel completely free. If I am under a barbell and pushing or pulling hundreds of pounds or pulling, I can’t think about my restaurants, not the schedule, not the infinite task list of the parents. This moment, this effort is totally present. It is meditative. It is liberating. And everything is mine.
When I discovered sport for the first time, I started to follow Powerlifters on social media. I dreamed of performing a powerlifting competition for years, but I never believed that I was strong enough or good enough to step on the platform. I was worried that I would not belong and that people could laugh if I failed. I was nervous to put on a singlet, nervous to take part in competitions and fail publicly – these fears stopped me from competing for many years.
Even if I had overcome these fears, life had other plans: I opened three restaurants, I wrote a book, my spouse and I tried to get a baby for seven years – and I did not successful – and then came a pandemic. I finally got pregnant and our daughter arrived in autumn 2022.
There was nothing clearer for me than becoming parents, especially an older parent. I gave birth to my daughter at the age of 44. I promised myself to improve my physical health – not just to become “strong”, but to be healthy in the long run. I went 10,000 steps a day for six months. I swam. I moved. I concentrated. And suddenly I not only raised for myself – I raised for her. Always appear, keep up to date as many years of their lives as possible and be there.
I thought about competing again, but all my old uncertainties came back. But this time I thought that a goal would give my training a new purpose and push myself forward in a way that nothing else had. So I signed up.
With the kind permission of Karen Akunowicz
I took part in my first meeting when I was 46 years old. I chalked my hands, stepped onto the platform and did something that I had only dreamed of for years. It was one of the most powerful experiences of my life. Not because I was fearless – I was afraid, but I did it anyway. And do you guess what? People don’t laugh. They cheered. You greeted me. And I not only went stronger, but also more confident, more focused and proud of who I am when I was ever.
Powerlifting gave me a new identity: not just a cook, not just mom, not just a business owner. I am a athlete. This word felt so far away from me for so long, but now it is mine. And I don’t give it back.
It is a certain type of power to start something new later in life – especially something that was told that they shouldn’t do it. You do it for yourself. They do it because they deserve the right to take a seat.
