Our Keep Pulling Athlete Spotlight is on @WeightlifterInExile! She is part of our Remote Coaching Program and joins us all the way from Seoul, South Korea!
☑Age/weight class:
47/53kg Masters
☑Athletic background?
Other than recreational softball and league bowling I was not very athletic. Weightlifting is the first thing I feel good at!
☑Fun fact about yourself?
I love baseball and am a rabid Washington Nationals fan – every loss is a knife to the heart!
☑How/when did you find Weightlifting?
After working out for years I was looking for something different. In 2012, I found a weightlifting clinic put on by Wilkes Weightlifting at a CF gym. I was the only non-CrossFitter and when they asked if I could overhead squat I had no idea what they were talking about! But I was intrigued so I eventually found a barbell club at Vanguard Gym in Manassas VA, and competed in my first meet four months later in April 2013 and I was hooked!
☑Hardest part about training?
The warm up. At this age EVERYTHING hurts until about 30 minutes into training. Getting to the point of feeling good and ready is a struggle!
☑Favorite part about training?
When it all comes together – that “aha” moment when a cue finally clicks and the move feels right!
☑What do you do to stay focused?
Ha! A BIG struggle for me – I am easily distracted by everything going on around me. Just staring a fixed spot in between sets and repeating some cue over and over keeps me focused between sets.
☑Any advice for new Weightlifters?
Find a good coach right away and buy into the fact that it takes years to be halfway decent, especially for older athletes, so don’t be discouraged. Don’t chase PRs, chase good technique and mindsets and PRs will follow!
☑Favorite Weightlifter:
I love watching Francisco Mosquero (62, COL) – he’s so freakin’ fast!! Mattie and CJ are fun to follow – such a great future for the US! Masters lifter would have to be Aimee Everett – she’s very realistic about how her training is going and how to keep pushing through the low times.