Marie Curtis

News

University of Kentucky Resident, Powerlifter Uses Her Strength as a Force for Good

Posted by Marie Curtis on
University of Kentucky Resident, Powerlifter Uses Her Strength as a Force for Good

University of Kentucky radiology resident Dr. Leanna Lin uses her strength for good causes.

This Saturday, Lin has organized an event called Deadlifts Against Domestic Violence, a powerlifting-style deadlift competition hosted by The Moco Gym in Mount Sterling, Ky. All the money received with sales and registration fees will benefit GreenHouse17, an advocacy agency committed to ending intimate partner abuse in families and the community.

For the uninitiated, the deadlift is one of three powerlifting exercises. To complete a deadlift, participants must pull the “dead weight” of a loaded barbell from the floor. 

“I got the idea for this from my coach; he organized a full powerlifting meet to benefit research for childhood cancer, and it happened to be my first powerlifting meet,” Lin said. “I thought it was a great way to not only benefit a good cause but also introduce people to powerlifting as a sport.”

Lin met her coach and inspiration during her year interning in Buffalo, New York. Although she has been lifting weights since high school, during the last year of medical school, she found a deeper interest in strength training. Though she was initially more interested in bodybuilding, after competing in her coach’s charity event, she switched her focus over to powerlifting – though the skills didn’t come easily at first.

“I used to not enjoy it very much,” Lin said. “But now that I’m much better at it, I really enjoy how strong it makes me feel.”

This is the second time Lin has hosted a charity event. Two years ago, she raised $400 to benefit the Markey Cancer Foundation for breast cancer research. This year, she wanted to do something different, and when a friend suggested GreenHouse17, she decided to give another foundation the main focus. Her main goal is to bring people together to support a good cause through a fun and exciting environment, but her long-term goal is to focus more on scholarship-type fundraisers.

“I think powerlifting is a very empowering and individual sport,” Lin said. “Many people can surprise themselves with how strong they can become with specific training. I hope maybe in the future I can help elevate powerlifting as a sport that grants scholarships to talented individuals.”

Deadlifts Against Domestic Violence takes place this Saturday, Oct. 12, at the Moco Gym, 275 Evans Ave., Mt. Sterling. Late registration and weigh-in begin at 11 a.m.; lifting begins at 12:30 p.m. Registration for competitors is $15 for pre-registering, $20 on-site. All proceeds will be directly donated to GreenHouse17. For more information, visit the Deadlifts Against Domestic Violence registration page.

News

The 2019 USA Powerlifting Raw Nationals Competition, General Information

Posted by Marie Curtis on
The 2019 USA Powerlifting Raw Nationals Competition, General Information

The 2019 USA Powerlifting Raw Nationals starts in a few days. This shows you how to catch all the action from this four-day-long event.

The 2019 Raw Nationals is going to include some of the strongest powerlifters from all around the world. The action starts on October 16th and goes until October 20th. In addition, it takes place in Lombard, Illinois, and is streamed live on the internet.

How To Watch 2019 USAPL Raw Nationals

The last year’s Raw Nationals was streamed on the YouTube Channel of the USA Powerlifting. Therefore, it is expected that this year will be the same thing. Moreover, it will be streamed live on USA Powerlifting’s website.

The link to catch the action is here: USAPowerlifting.com/live

Schedule of the Raw Nationals

The Raw Nationals will take place four days, with a variety of men and women competing on each day. And this is a breakdown of the lifting schedule for each day.

October 16, 2019

Men’s 53kg, 59kg, 66kg, 74kg

October 17, 2019

Men’s 83kg

Women’ 43, 47, 52

October 18, 2019

Women’s 57kg, 63kg

Men’s 93kg

October 19, 2019

Men’s 105kg

Women’s 72kg, 84kg

October 20, 2019

Men’s 120kg, 120+kg

Women’s 84+kg

The 2019 USA Powerlifting Raw Nationals will feature some of the top talents from around the world. With so many competitors who take part in, it is so difficult to keep track of which ones are the most promising. These are some such athletes and some brief highlights.

Marisa Inda (52kg, Competing October 17th)

Inda has put in some serious work at the gym. She has hit a new PR with her deadlifts, reaching 402lb. Therefore, it is to be expected that Inda will be looking for some huge numbers on Thursday.

Meghan Scanlon (63kg, October 18th)

At the IPF World Classic Powerlifting Championships, Scanlon was almost able to walk away with the first place. While in the end, she fell short, she set 2 new world records in her class. Therefore, she is sure to look to avenge which defeat at the upcoming competition.

Sarah Brenner (+84kg, October 20th)

Earlier this year, Brenner set a new world record of all time in the +84kg division, with a 568lb deadlift. Therefore, she will be looking to do more of the same at the Raw Nationals.

News

Powerlifter Arathi Arun lifts India to glory with 5 gold medals

Posted by Marie Curtis on
Powerlifter Arathi Arun lifts India to glory with 5 gold medals

Asian Powerlifting Championship gold medallist Arthi Arun has been on a golden run and recently made her nation proud by winning 5 gold medals in the 72 kg-M1 category at the Commonwealth Powerlifting Championships 2019 in Canada. She has just bagged four gold medals in the Commonwealth Powerlifting event, and one in the Bench Press Championships which took place from September 15 to 21.

The Indian powerlifter told Asian News International that she was the only woman that has joined both Asian platform and Commonwealth Powerlifting Championship. She said, “It is very proud for me. After winning, I expected a lot of support and appreciation; however, I was not given much support and was not appreciated”. She also said that she expected support in light of her achievements.

The five medals are from the 72 kg category. They started on September 15 and finished on September 21 with 28 Indian powerlifters having taken part in.

Arun added that she had mailed Center and State governments and requested a reward as well as some appreciation.Then they replied to her saying that they would look into the matter but up to now nobody has replied to her.

“Therefore, that’s a letting down, as a sportsperson, at the end of the day when coming back to your motherland, you expect appreciation, you expect everyone to love you and respect you for what you have done for the nation,” Arun added.

However, the Chennai-based powerlifter maintains that she will not stop and is now going to take part in the World Championships. She will take part in the World Championship which is going to come in South Africa but if she is supported by the government, that will be an added bonus to her and she will highly appreciate it.

News

The 2019 Weightlifting World Championships: North Korea’s Om breaks two 55kg world records

Posted by Marie Curtis on
The 2019 Weightlifting World Championships: North Korea’s Om breaks two 55kg world records

Om Yun Chol of North Korea broke the men’s 55kg clean and jerk and total world records as retaining his 3 gold medals on the opening day of the 2019 International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Championships in Pattaya.

The 2012 London Olympic Champion bettered Om’s own clean and jerk mark of 162kg with success at 166kg, which gave him a world record-breaking of 294kg.

Before lifting 166kg, he managed 155kg but failed at 163kg.

He won the snatch with a lift of 128kg, which gave him an 8kg lead going into the clean and jerk.

Now he is a five-time overall world champion with 12 gold medals to his name on the global stage.

Igor Son of Kazakhstan was overall silver medalist with 266kg, having finished fourth in the clean and jerk with 146kg and third in the snatch with 120kg.

Mansour Abdulrahim M Al Saleem of Saudi Arabia rounded off the podium with 265kg following his bronze medal in the clean and jerk with 147kg and the sixth-place finish in the snatch with 118kg.

 Nguyen Tran Anh Tuan of Vietnam was the snatch silver medalist with 120kg, meanwhile, Hafez Ghashghaei of Iran lifted 149kg in the clean and jerk and finished runner up.

In the women’s 45kg competition, Turkey’s European champion Şaziye Erdoğan triumphed overall with 169kg after having won the snatch with 77kg and come second in the clean and jerk on 92kg.

Ludia M. Montero Ramos of Cuba finished 2kg behind Erdoğan in the silver-medal position and ranked fourth in the clean and jerk with 91kg and second in the snatch with 76kg.

Lisa Setiawati of Indonesia had to settle for third place overall with 165kg, in spite of winning the clean and jerk with 95kg. She could only manage to rank seventh in the snatch, lifting 70kg.

Vietnam had bronze medalists in both the snatch and clean and jerk.

Khong My Phuong, Vietnam’s junior world champion, posted 74kg in the snatch and Asian champion Vuong Thi Huyen registered 91kg in the clean and jerk.

News

63-year-old woman breaks own world record at an international powerlifting meet

Posted by Marie Curtis on
63-year-old woman breaks own world record at an international powerlifting meet

At about 7:30 a.m. daily, Jeanine Watt wakes up to have a protein shake. Then she will spend an hour checking Facebook or playing on the computer before heading to work in the morning and the gym in the evening.

It might seem like the daily schedule of a student who is trying to balance work and school, but Jeanine Watt is 63 years old.

In June, Watt competed in the nationals for the Canadian Powerlifting Federation in Waterloo, where she set 2 world records for her bench press and deadlift.

In August, she defended those records herself at the Amateur World Powerlifting Congress in Orlando, Florida, the US. Although her deadlift record was surpassed by another competitor, Watt managed to break her own bench press record.

When being asked who she was outside of the gym, she would describe herself as someone who hadn’t decided what she wanted to do when she grew up.

“I have a biology degree. Then I went to become the union steward for the service employees at the hospital. After that I went to law school,” Watt said.

“I’ve worked as a stand-up comic. I opened for Elvira Kurt once, which was my big dream. And then, I was a hypnotist for a while.”

Recreationally, the 63-year-old used to play softball; however, that came to an end as her team disbanded about 3 years ago.

Watt says she also loves going to hardware stores to see the looks on employees’ faces when they watch her carry heavy items around the store by herself.

Watt, who signed up as a True Fitness gym member in March 2018, said: “I wanted to get in shape; therefore I decided to try some sports.”

Later that year, before signing up for the Canadian Senior Games in August, she tried mud runs and boating.

“The only thing I figured that I could get there with is running. I found out it was a bad idea … The track didn’t suit for me as I’m not built like a track athlete.”

I’m 63 years old now and I intend to break the bench press and deadlift record for 100-year-olds.”, Watt said.

However, she didn’t leave the Canadian Senior Games empty-handed as on the very first day she ever long-jumped, she won a bronze medal.

News

Two world records for China at Tokyo Olympic 2020 weightlifting test event

Posted by Marie Curtis on
Two world records for China at Tokyo Olympic 2020 weightlifting test event

Elite weightlifters of China enjoyed mixed fortunes at the Ready Steady Tokyo Olympic test event taking place at Tokyo International Forum, with two breaking world records while others missed so many lifts.

There was also a career-best performance by Masanori Miyamoto from Japan as well as a visit from the former Prime Minister of Japan Yoshiro Mori, who is President of the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee.

Weightlifting is the first sport to take test event to involve the Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which is organizing the competition with the partnership of the Japan Weightlifting Association and the support of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF).

Chinese weightlifter Chen Lijun, who had held three world records in the 67kg, had a day to forget since he bombed out in the snatch and lost his world record in that lift to his teammate Huang Minhao.

Huang, 26 years old, made 155-173 for a career-best 328kg, while Chen Lijun came out for 2 clean and jerks to show what may have been, lifting 170-180 and then skipping the third attempt.

The other world record of the day, also in the snatch, belonged to Hou Zhihui in the women’s 49kg after she had made all 3 snatch attempts to finish on 95kg and beaten her own world record by 1kg. However, she missed 2 clean and jerks and totaled 205kg, better than her teammate Jang Huihua by only 1kg.

The most improved performance by a lifter of Japan came from Miyamoto, the second to Shi Zhiyong in the men’s 73kg.

In the IWF World Championships of last year, gold medallist Shi finished 29kg clear of 12th-placed Miyamoto. It was much closer at the Forum since Shi missed 3 attempts to finish on 345kg.

Miyamoto upgraded his national record and personal best by 10kg in order to finish on 341kg, only 4kg behind Shi.

Li Dayin, 21 years old, made the biggest lift of the day with a 202kg clean and jerk and then finished well clear of world champion Lyu Xiaojun in the 81kg.

News

Powerlifting Widnes family break records at recent competitions

Posted by Marie Curtis on
Powerlifting Widnes family break records at recent competitions

A weightlifting family from Widnes has set new records at championship competitions.

Father and daughter duo Dave and Kayleigh Morris recently competed at the British Powerlifting Union and the Amateur British Powerlifting Union British finals at Bodypower, Birmingham and the WPC European Finals in Limerick, Ireland.

The duo has been training together and competed in competitions series earlier in this year.

At the British finals, the family is going from strength to strength with 18-year-old Kayleigh competing in the T3 division under the 90 kg class. She broke her own record in the UK of 105kg with lifts of 107.5k and 122.5kg and also won the gold medal.

Kayleigh went on to the European Championships 5 weeks later when she won the title, as well as setting new UK, European, and World’s record with a deadlift of 115kg.

48-year-old Dave Morris is widely-known as The Gorilla in powerlifting. Dave is a 26 stone power-lifter who won both titles in the Masters two super heavyweight division in both raw bench and raw deadlift with a press of 222.5kg. He also gained a new BPU UK deadlift record 312.5kg.

In the present, Dave holds not only both UK records in raw bench and raw deadlift but also a WPC European record in deadlift as well as WPC and IPL World records in the deadlift. He is currently ranked the world’s number two dead-lifter for his division.

Then he went on to the European Championships in Limerick, Ireland, winning both the raw bench press title with a press of 225kg and a new Europe and World’s WPC record deadlift of 312.5kg. He received 2 best lifter awards for his great performances.

Sister of Kayleigh and daughter of Dave, Nat Morris, 21, is also a big part of the success of the family. She went to the European Championships, helping to keep stress levels to a minimum and making sure that everything was taken care of at weigh-ins.

In addition, she will compete within the bodybuilding of women and also power lift in her bodybuilding offseason.

All three members are now fully sponsored athletes at Dedicated Fitness XL Gym in Huyton.

General

Weight lifting better for heart health than running, a new study finds

Posted by Marie Curtis on
Weight lifting better for heart health than running, a new study finds

Lifting weights is better for heart health than running or walking, new research has found.

Looking at the health records of more than 4,000 people, scientists have concluded that static activities like weight lifting or press-ups have a greater effect on reducing the risk of developing heart disease than an equivalent amount of dynamic exercise like running, walking or cycling.

weightlifting

The result of the research challenges commonly held assumption that so-called “cardiovascular” pursuits such as running are of the greatest benefit to the heart.

However, it backs up previous studies suggesting that heavy static exercise gives the circulatory system a better workout due to more intense oxygen expenditure.

The Chief Medical Officer for England recommends that adults spend at least 150 minutes on the moderate-intensity physical activity each week, comprising a mixture of static and dynamic activity.

Researchers analyzed cardiovascular risk factors, including overweight, diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, as a function of self-reported dynamic and/or static activity in 4,086 American adults that took part in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in 2005 to 2006.

The researchers then adjusted for age, gender, ethnicity, and smoking and stratified by age, over 45 or 21 to 44 years old.

Totally, 25 per cent of older and 36 per cent of younger adults engaged in static activity, and 21 per cent of older and 28 per cent of younger adults engaged in dynamic activity.

It was found that taking part in either type of activity was associated with 30 – 70 per cent lower rates of cardiovascular disease risk factors; however, associations were strongest for static activity and in youth.

Prof Smith said one interesting takeaway was that both dynamic and static activity was almost as popular in older people as younger ones.

General

Three essential weightlifting moves that beginners should do

Posted by Marie Curtis on
Three essential weightlifting moves that beginners should do

As a beginner to weight lifting, the best way to start is with a combination of functional exercises which mimic movements that you use in daily life and compound lifts. Learning these following movement patterns, including squat, push, pull, hip hinge, and hip extension, is key for establishing a foundation that can help you build more complex exercises to get comfortable with powerlifting and progress safely when you become stronger.

1. Goblet Squats

  • Hold a weight at your chest in two hands, stand with your feet slightly wider than hip-width apart and your elbows close to your body.
  • Bend your knees while dropping your butt back and down to lower. Make sure to keep your chest high and core tight.
  • Push your knees out and keep the weight in your heels.
  • Squeeze your glutes at the top and push through your heels to stand back up.

2. Shoulder Presses

  • Kneel with your back straight and core tight or stand up with your feet a little bit wider than hip-width apart. Hold a dumbbell in each hand and raise your arms up to shoulder-height so the weights are in the air. Rotate your wrists to make your palms face forward.
  • Press the pair of dumbbells overhead while keeping your elbows facing forward during the press.
  • Once your arms are fully extended, pause at the top. After that, return the weights slowly to starting position.

3. Basic Stiff-Leg Deadlifts

  • Stand with knees slightly bent, feet hip-width apart, holding a pair of dumbbells in your two hands.
  • Bend your knees slightly and hinge at your hips when you lower your body. Keep thinking about pushing your butt back.
  • Hold the pair of dumbbells close to your legs when you descend. Pull back on your shoulder blades and remember not to let your back arch.
  • Push through your heels to stand up straight while keeping your core tight. Keep the weights close to your shins when pulling.
General

Five Significant Health Benefits of Weightlifting

Posted by Marie Curtis on
Five Significant Health Benefits of Weightlifting

Weightlifting seems to be a daunting thing at first, but like anything else, when you give it time and practice it regularly, it will pay off for the rest of your life. Nowadays, many people are practicing weightlifting as a way to keep fit and healthy because it has a lot of benefits for adults of all ages and genders. Here are five health benefits of weightlifting when you make it a part of your workout routine.

1. Injury prevention

Weightlifting is one of the most effective ways to increase bone density and build muscles mass. It is important to build stronger bones to reduce the risk of fractures. This is the reason why if runners skip on strength training activities, they can end up injuring their knees and other body parts as well.

 2. Healthier heart

A recent study has shown that spending less than an hour on weightlifting each week could reduce the risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke by 40 to 70 percent. This might boost your cardiovascular health better than running. However, for optimal physical fitness, it is recommended that you should perform both types of exercise, for example, strength training and aerobic activity.

3. Burn calories

Technically, a cardio session burns more calories than a weightlifting one. However, weightlifting can help build muscle, meaning that you will burn calories even while at rest. Following a high-intensity weightlifting session can be considered as the afterburn effect.

4. Diabetes management

Particularly, those who are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should include weightlifting or some other forms of strength exercises in their routine. Experts advise that you should tone your muscles in order to better control blood glucose levels.

5. Mental wellbeing

While it is clear that aerobic exercise has certain mental health benefits, the literature shows that weightlifting can also lift your spirits. According to a meta-analysis taken in 2017, weightlifting is linked to a significant anxiety reduction.