Meet Connie, Accounting Manager at Guild. Connie’s powerlifting hobby provides her with self-care during the pandemic!
Q: Tell us about the powerlifting competitions you’ve been doing!
A: I started powerlifting in 2016 and did my first competition in 2018. On November 1st, I competed in my 6th competition, the Minnesota Ladies of Iron. I took first place in my age and weight class. I had 2 personal best lifts. I squatted 220.5 lbs and deadlifted 281.1 lbs. I did not get a personal best in the bench press but did lift 126.8 lbs. Currently, I am ranked #2 in the state of Minnesota for my age and weight class.
Q: What do you enjoy about powerlifting?
A: I started lifting weights as a secondary workout to my normal workout and weight-loss effort. Lifting weight is good for your bone health. I also discovered that lifting heavy weights, besides being a good workout, can be quite liberating.
Connie lifting in a regional competition!
Q: How is having a hobby useful to you during the pandemic?
A: There are positives and negatives, when we were shut down from March to June, so were the gyms, and I was not able to do my normal workouts let alone the weightlifting. When we were able to come back in June, it was very emotional. I never realized how much it meant to me until I could no longer do it. It is very emotional again because of the 2nd shutdown.
Q: What does self-care mean to you?
A: Self-care is just that. Being selfish in caring for yourself. You need to make the time for whatever it is that makes you happy and relieves your stress. You can’t run on fumes and frayed nerves. The body will eventually shut itself down.