Powerlifting Testimonials and Athlete Highlights

Sydney’s offseason and prep started with a very clear goal, bench 200lbs. Sydney was faced with an aggressive amount of chest and tricep work, combined with enough food to go up a notch on the belt. As prep went on, a new consideration hit—Jr nationals. Sydney’s (generous) projected total put her right on track to make the cut, but projections aren’t reality.
As the meet closed in, the new qualifying totals dropped, and the mission became clear…Sydney can make Jr. nationals, PR everything, and walk away with 5-10kg in the total, how bold. Turns out, nothing about our projections were bold. Sydney crushed this meet and some.
Sydney finished with a 137.5kg squat, a 100kg bench and a 170kg deadlift. She walked away tying for first place in the weight class (technically second due to weight but 🤫). She qualified for Jr. nationals by nearly 20kg; set a 52.5kg total PR 🤯, left a good 5-10kg in the tank and got to compete for a first place finish that came down to the final lift of the whole meet.
We are so unbelievably proud of the work Sydney puts in and can’t wait for Jr. Nationals. Let’s all extend our hands for a firm shake and congratulate Sydney on what may be one of the best platform appearances we have seen from an athlete at SLA.

Maddie’s initial squat was a 135Ibs quarter squat. Recently she hit 325Ibs in her last meet just two years later. Her Bench has gone from 100Ibs to 165Ibs, her deadlift has increased from 25Ibs all the way to 402Ibs

Meets aren’t always about how you start, sometimes all that matter is how you finish. Janeva missed a couple of lifts on the day, but walked away with a HUGE total PR of +35.5kg/78lbs. That is not a bad way to start off competing at SLA.
Squats and bench both resulted in PRs, but didn’t quite hit as hard on the day as we’d hoped. Janeva opened at her previous 1RM and crushed it. She finished with her second attempt at 102.5kg, missing an all time PR of 107.5kg. Bench was much of the same, an off day, but we swung big…why not? We opened at 60kg and couldn’t crack 62.5kg on the platform.
Finishing with a strong deadlift PR always makes for a memorable day. A big squat is great! But when 3-4 hours go bye, memory is short. Janeva whipped out a massive 140kg deadlift, cracking into the 300’s for the first time ever! Congratulations on a fantastic meet. We are looking forward to the next.

Brittni has added nearly 70kg to her total since joining. Squat:115kg to 140kg, Bench: 60kg to 75kg, Deadlift:137.5kg to 162.5kg

Congratulation to our athlete Lauren Penny on a fantastic meet!
Lauren started working with SLA 5 months ago, with the goal of preparing for her second powerlifting competition. In the beginning, our main focus was relearning some of the basics. We focused on improving squat depth, getting more consistent with bench pauses, and focused a LOT on her deadlift. Lauren was NOT a huge fan of the deadlift starting out and we put a lot of work into finding form that worked for her.
When we entered prep, Lauren dealt with a pretty painful back pain injury after a misgrooved squat. But in true Lauren fashion, she didn’t let this get in the way of her spunky, positive attitude. After taking it easy for a couple weeks, she was back and better than ever.
Lauren finished out her prep strong and excited to have a fun meet. Going into squats, Lauren had a super solid first 2 attempts. On her third attempt, she fought VERY hard for a 242lbs squat, but didn’t manage to get past her sticking point. This was still a HUGE win given that she was opening at her previous meets third attempt. For bench, Lauren went 3/3 and SMOKED a 160lbs bench for her third attempt for a 10lb meet PR. For deadlift we wanted to give Lauren a chance to hit something BIG — a 303 lbs deadlift. She ended up getting the rep up, but the lift didn’t count due to a nitpicky call for hitching.
Lauren finished the meet feeling proud and excited about pulling over 300lbs. We are incredibly proud of Lauren for her hard work, determination, and ability to keep a smile on her face even when things get hard!
Throughout her entire time here at SLA, she has never failed to make me smile with her witty messages and pictures of her adorable dog, Zelda, and she has been an absolute joy to coach.
Everyone give Lauren a huge congrats!! 🔥

The first competition for any powerlifter is always fun. The first time experiencing a competition platform, warm up room, judges, commands…there is nothing more to exciting that putting all that work into practice. Ale did just that going 7/9 on the day. Ale started the meet strong going 6/6 through squat and bench.
Bench was by far the biggest focus going into this competition. Ale would be the first to tell anyone that 90% of her loom videos were as follows, “your lifting looks incredible…but I need you to pause your bench!” For the eight weeks leading up to the meet, Ale did just that. Every session was methodical, well executed and her performance showed it.
Deadlifts didn’t quite fall our way. A week out from the meet, Ale was moving fast and the plan for the whole meet was to just put together a smooth meet; but sometimes meet day rolls around and one lift just doesn’t quite fall our way. While this is always a cause for panic, it’s important to stay grounded.
Eight weeks ago prior to the meet, Ale had to make a commitment to the details that provide long term success. Reflection can be both the thief of joy, or the reminder of how far one has come. Ale is a much improved and completely different athlete. We are very proud of these accomplishments, and are so excited to hit the ground running for the offseason.

Congratulations to our athlete Katie on an incredible first meet performance!
From day one, Katie has shown what true dedication looks like - she gives her all to every training session, her nutrition is always on point, and she has trusted the process every step of the way. All of that hard work came full circle when she stepped onto the platform for the very first time.
She went 8 for 9, with only a single missed bench due to a dip in the bar on her third attempt after a warm-up miscalculation - an easy fix for next time. But even that couldn’t overshadow the massive numbers she put up.
Katie opened the day strong with a 115 kg (253.5 lb) squat that moved beautifully. On bench, she locked in a smooth 60 kg (132.3 lb) and we both know there’s more to come there. Then came deadlifts... and we knew this was where she’d shine. We came in with one goal: to break 300 lbs.Come meet day, she made 137.5 kg (303 Ib) look effortless, with plenty left in the tank to work towards in her off season.
Stepping onto the platform for the first time can rattle even the best, but Katie handled every attempt like a seasoned competitor. Her calm focus, attention to detail, consistent effort, and fierce drive has made it very clear that she is built for this sport. It has been a joy to watch Katie’s progress, and everything has led up to this moment. She truly embodies the phrase, “you do not yield” ❤️‍🔥
This is just the beginning. The foundation is strong, and the numbers are only going up from here. So proud of you, Katie!!
Now let’s keep pushing🔥💪

Congratulations to our athlete (and my sister) Tienna who competed in her first powerlifting meet ever at the end of October 🥳
Tienna has dabbled in the gym a little bit but just got serious and consistent starting in May of 2024 when she started training regularly with my mom.
When she started training last year she was squatting and deadlifting 95lbs and benching 55lbs.
A year and a half into her journey she was able to hit 82.5kg/182lbs for squat, 50kg/110lbs on bench and 120kg/264lbs on deadlifts 😮‍💨
IMAGINE PUTTING 170lbs ON YOUR DEADLIFT IN A YEAR 😂 ….and she had more left in the tank
In addition to this awesome meet performance Tienna and I worked really really hard on her nutrition. When she came in it was a struggle getting her to eat over 40g of protein PER DAY. Now she eats 162g per day with ease AND we were able to do her first successful cut.
Her starting weight was 186lbs and her lowest was recently 160lbs.
Sooo losing 26lbs, tremendously improving composition and adding 317lbs to her total 🤣 ARE YOU KIDDING?!
Anyway, I would definitely say this past year has been incredibly successful and soon she will be deadlifting more than me 😂❤️

Kelli competed in her first powerlifting meet in October with the intention of building up her confidence and strength in the sport of powerlifting. As longtime lover of boxing and cross-fit, Kelli was eager to stretch her strength goals and compete!
Over the course of her prep, she focused on maintaining good form, hitting depth on back squats and working on cadence of cue on all her lifts for the day of the meet.
Kelli not only exceeded expectations, she crushed them!!! Going 8/9 on her lifts and hitting two platform PRs-squatting 112.5kg, benching 52.kg and SMOKING 130kg on her deadlifts (with room in the tank🤯)
It also helped having a couple other of SLA athletes compete in the same meet as her for added guidance and support throughout her lifts.
We are all incredibly proud of Kelli and the hard work she put in on her first meet and are excited to see what she does in the future! Way to go Kelli!💪🏻👏🏻

Few people get to go to a meet and add 10-20kg to their total. The longer one lifts the more and more they begin to scrape for every kilo. Well Annie Jones added nearly 40kg to her total in a 7/9 meet.
Squats were interesting, finishing 1/3. The opener at 127.5kg (+7.5kg meet PR) flew. A second attempt at
132.5kg...destroyed-unfortunately Annie jumped the rack command and was given two red lights. She chose to move up to 137.5kg on the third attempt and came up short. But if you watched 132.5kg move, you wouldn't have guessed 137.5kg would be a miss.
Bench was a redemption meet. Annie went 3/3 with a 77.5kg bench adding 10kg to her previous meet best.
The plan was a smooth bench day, and Annie delivered.
Deadlift came last, and Annie showed UP. she finished 3/3 with a 170kg deadlift. She had at least 5kg more in her, maybe even more.
Annie's growth in this offseason was special. After a good first meet with a slight hiccup from me (her coach), Annie executed this plan to perfection. The confidence Annie has stepping up to a 90% or more is infectious. You don't have to worry whether or not she's going to fight. It is no small feat to add nearly 40kg to one's total, and Annie did. So everyone, give Annie a firm handshake and show some love for one of the best meets l've seen all year

Sometimes, an athlete just needs confidence. Pauline is just that athlete. She's strong, moves exceptionally well, but couldn't bring herself to believe in what she's capable of. This meet was her chance to realize her potential.
She came to us, asking if this meet was a good idea.
She didn't want anything with high stakes. She didn't want a lot of eyes on her...something simple. Lucky for her, this meet was live streamed, full of lifters and spectators. In summary, this meet was larger than any meet we have had an athlete compete in.
Pauline went 9/9 with a 132.5kg squat, a 77kg bench and a 150kg deadlift. If you watch the lifts, you'll see she has a LOT left in the tank. This was a fantastic meet to get her feet wet, build confidence in herself, and lift some heavy ass weights. Congratulations on a phenomenal meet. Enjoy your week off and be ready to come back and kick ass.

Congratulations to nutrition only athlete Elsa who competed end of October in the RPS Power Challenge.
Elsa ended up going 8/9 on her lifting putting up some solid numbers on squat bench and deadlift.
Since we coached Elsa solely in nutrition, that’s what I want this recap to be focused on. 🩷
When Elsa first joined our program we worked a lot towards building up her maintenance and getting her to a number that was complimentary to her strength goals making sure we fueled well going into her training sessions.
Once we established a solid baseline we were able to incorporate things like free meals to avoid feelings of restriction and increase flexibility with food.
From here we have decided to do a slight cut into her next meet coming up in December to get into the 145lbs class while preserving muscle and strength.
The goal will be to keep cals as high as possible so we can make sure she is well fueled going into her next meet.
Follow along to watch Elsa’s progress and cheer for her at her next meet 🥳 Congratulations on a great meet performance

Sydney Aronson finished her second meet with a 15kg total PR. She finished 3/3 in squats with a 120kg squat, 1/3 in bench with an 82.5kg bench and 3/3 on deadlift with a 150kg deadlift.
Squats were questionable coming into the meet. A nagging hip injury led us to lower the attempts on squats. The plan was to open comfortably, keep the hip happy and move onto bench. Sydney, the animal she is, decided she wasn't going to walk away from squats without a PR. Off script, she sent a 120kg squat and crushed it. This was a great start to the meet. Battling through an injury is tough. Showing up on meet day and pushing through, even tougher.
Safe to say, Sydney's squat performance set her up for a very nice meet, heading into bench.
Sydney is what some might call a bench specialist.
By no means is she a poor squatter or deadlifter, she just benches a lot of weight. This meet was an opportunity for her to take some big cracks at bench.
During prep Sydney benched 185lbs/84kg for a set of four reps, and was able to hit 185lbs for singles week in and week out. The plan was simple. Let her cook.
Unfortunately, not every meet ends up falling perfectly into place. Her opener at 82.5kg was an easy lift, foiled by a slippery bench and a poor assisted unrack. She completed the lift, but was red lighted for the elbows bending at lockout. Taken again on her second attempt, she smoked it without a hiccup. Her third attempt at 87.5kg followed suit with her first attempt. A great lift followed by a bend in the elbows at lockout. Some days, things don't fall in place, but Sydney didn't let that change her approach to deadlifts.

Huge congratulations to Anna Cantini for her stellar performance at her recent bench-only meet last weekend! She had been diligently preparing for this competition and joined our team for the final six weeks to fine-tune her training.
Despite dealing with nagging shoulder pain, her dedication and resilience shined through. She went 3 for 3 on her attempts, opening with 160 lbs-her previous third attempt-which moved effortlessly.
She then pressed 170 lbs and finished strong with 175 lbs, achieving a 15 lb meet PR and securing second place in women's bench of the meet!
Her journey is a testament to perseverance and hard work. We couldn't be prouder of her achievements and are excited to see her continue to break barriers.
Back to work!

Congratulations to Dayrest Rabina on an incredible second meet!

The prep did come without its hurdles, but nothing ever shook her. Even when things got difficult, Dayrest stayed focused, showed up, and gave her absolute best every single training session leading into this meet. And that dedication paid off when it came time to step onto the platform.
On squats, she came out strong, but a jumped rack command on her opener led to a red light call.
Instead of letting that rattle her, Dayrest stayed composed, came into her next two attempts fresh, and absolutely nailed them! Finishing off with a huge 125 kg (275.5 |b) overall and platform PR. That kind of resilience is what makes her such a standout lifter.
Bench could not have gone any smoother. The goal was to go 3/3, and she executed every single attempt perfectly, walking away with a 52.5 kg (115.7
Ib) platform PR. This was a huge win for her and such a testament to the consistency she's built in training.
And of course, we all know Dayrest is built to pull.
The anticipation going into deadlifts was high, and she delivered with two strong attempts. Her third was just shy of lockout, but that doesn't take away from the strength she showed on the platform. On top of all of that, Dayrest came away with first place in her 75 kg open class
We couldn't be more proud of how she handled herself through every part of this meet - the focus, the resilience, and the determination to give it her all and give it her all she did. This is only the beginning for Dayrest. We have some exciting things lined up for this offseason, and we know she's just getting started. Her growth as an athlete has been incredible to watch, and we can't wait to see what she does next