Records fall to vegan lifter down under

“I wasn’t planning to compete again this year after Nationals in June but it was a spur of the moment decision about seven weeks ago” she told Great Vegan Athletes. “I had a friend from Adelaide staying and she was planning to try Powerlifting and I’d been getting Masters Games emails so we decided to compete in this years Australian Masters Games.”

Glenda responded to the challenge with six weeks of preparation with progression to heavy lifts.

“I had a left shoulder acromian impingement issue develop. It was very painful, especially at night so not much sleep for 2 weeks. I got straight into my expert physio Dr. Andrew Lock in Melbourne and began an extensive lot of rehabilitation exercises for this.”

And the records fall!

Guided by her coach who flew in to coach her, Glenda said she was “gunning for all my current records in my age class (60-64) in the 64kg class”,  and weighed in at 61 kg.

• Starting with squat she was given all three lifts, maxing out at 117 kg to set a new national record.
• She also got all three bench lifts, finishing at 58 kg, another record.
• Deadlift was also successful with all lifts, with the 150 kg final lift setting a third record.

The 325 kg total was also a new Australian record and she won the Gold medal in her age and weight class.

Fuel for the lifts

“I had my friend Mary look at my nutrition and she upped my protein, calories and carbs to protein 171.8gr, carbs 185.2gr, fats 45.4gr and calories 1994” said the retired nurse, who has been vegan since 2016. “I did well on that.” 

Following the competition Glenda met a trainer who developed a personalised program to ease her joints and stay strong.

“I can’t wait to get it started. 2020 will be a huge year. I’m planning a smaller comp in March then Nationals around June then the World Powerlifting World Championships in Las Vegas in October. My goals are a 120 squat, 60 bench and a 155 deadlift at around 60kgs.”

Turning vegan

Glenda dropped animal products in response to learning about the cruelty of the animal agriculture industries.

“I discovered PETA and I began to read about all aspects of animal agriculture and all the cruelty related to use of animals in entertainment, products, testing etc. I was horrified and began sharing these things. I was privately contacted by a vegan Powerlifting friend who reached out to me and gave me some information so I thought, I want to do this. I’m just being a hypocrite to continue being an omnivore now that I knew the facts.”

Glenda’s profile

Powerlifting Australia

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