In only about two months of training, Olds' Elise Jackson has become one of the strongest 19-year-olds in the country.
From Sept. 13 to 14, Jackson competed at the 100% RAW Powerlifting Nationals in Calgary.
The 100% RAW Powerlifting Federation does not allow athletes to compete with equipment such as belts and wraps.
In her first competition, Jackson set four records — three of them in one lift — in the 18- to 19-year-old, 67.5 kilogram (kg) weight class.
She bench-pressed 55.5 kg, a national record for her age and weight class.
With the strict curl — or bicep curl — Jackson lifted 28 kg. That set a national record for her age and weight class; an open national record for her weight class; and a world record for her weight class.
Jackson is also a member of the Olds Barbell Club. Mark Oxer, the group's president helped coach her technique.
“I was pretty excited. When I was training, I didn't know that I was that close to the national and world records. And I think Mark kept that from me until the very end,” Jackson said, adding her family was surprised with her performance after the short preparation time.
For the last year-and-a-half, Jackson, who works as a personal trainer at the Community Learning Campus, said she had been working out for general fitness. But during the last two months, she focused on strength training: increasing the weight and reducing the number of repetitions.
“She's got a good attitude,” Oxer said. “She wants to work hard, she enjoys pushing herself. She's constantly wanting to try heavy weights and move harder in that respect.”
Jackson also has nine years of gymnastics experience, which helped prepare her for the competition.
“It's a lot of power and obviously strength for a lot of the movements,” Jackson said. “That's the same kind of thing for powerlifting. You're using a lot of strength and power because you only get three lifts and those three lifts are as much as you can lift.”
For the next year, Jackson plans to continue training in hopes of representing Canada at further competitions.
She adds that everybody should try powerlifting.
“A lot of girls think they're going to get big and bulky but you really don't.”
Pull Quote
"I didn't know that I was that close to the national and world records. And I think Mark kept that from me until the very end."
