Julia leaves her sick bed to take four records

Preparation is important for powerlifters, and Julia’s was pretty awful this time!

25 August 2018

Eight days of tonsillitis left her feeling terrible, confined to bed and well away from training herself or others. The plucky New Zealander did manage to attend and compete, and weighed in for the 56 kg category where she achieved a squat of 105 kg, which netted her IPL NZ national record. Her bench of 67.5 kg was also a record, and a 140 kg deadlift completed the set – and gave her a fourth record for the total.

Julia also took home the win as first female overall. This was decided using the Wilks system which uses a points-based formula to compare lifters in different weight categories. It also qualified her for the World Championships and the Drug-Tested World Championships.

Higher hopes

“I'm not quite recovered but today was the first day I started to feel a better, which is lucky” Julia told Great Vegan Athletes after the lifts. She also explained that before her illness she had been planning to squat 110kg, bench 67.5 kg and attempt a deadlift of 142.5 kg.

“Today's lifts weren't what I was training for” she says. “Up until I got sick I was very much on track for a predicted 390 Wilks total [she totalled a little over 375], so deep in my heart I was a little disappointed. I'm looking forward to hitting the right numbers by the end of the year, though.”

Vegan power

Julia, a fitness trainer, has been vegan since 2013 after discovering about “the reality of using and abusing animals for food and other products.” Last year she told our site: ”once you become aware of the animal abuse happening every day, it just seems untenable to continue to contribute to that. I wish I'd had my eyes opened earlier; if I had known at the age of ten what I know today, I would have been vegan since then. I regret my years as a consumer of animal products, and I regret contributing to the needless suffering of animals.”

Recently she’s been increasing her protein intake. “Sunfed Chicken-Free Chicken and homemade black-bean vegan nachos are staples in my house! I use Arbonne protein powder pretty much every day as well.”

An unusual aspect of Julia’s history is that she’s competed at different weights, competing also in the 52kg category. In future, it seems the higher weight category may be more likely.

“I would like to continue in the 56 kg class; or rather, I'm just trying to train and eat to lift as heavy as I can, and let my weight find it's own happy place.”

Later this year, she has places at World level – we’ll bring you news when it happens.

Julia's profile

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