11/21/24
#189 Strong Woman Spotlight - World Champion Powerlifter Rachel Green
This month’s Strong Woman is Powerlifter Rachel Green who has shown incredible resilience and commitment to her health journey.
I was honored to help her with her nutrition on her transformation from regular gym goer to World Champion Powerlifter.
Her journey has not been easy, like most of us she has had to juggle work and family around her fitness goals.
Her story inspires us all to keep pushing forward, and we’re honored to celebrate her strength by entering her in the draw to win a piece from the Outlook for Life Jewellery collection. 💪✨
I got into powerlifting by accident.
I didn't even know what powerlifting was. I was at a gym one day and was watching this chick benchpress, it must've been about 60kgs, and I looked at my trainer at the time and said, "I want to do that."
I might have had 2.5kg plates on the bar at the time. He said we could do it if I wanted to. Every week we got a little bit heavier. I was addicted to the feeling of lifting heavier all the time and watching my strength grow. After a family tragedy, I started working with Adam Mainey who asked me if I wanted to try competitive powerlifting. I said I would give it a go, and I have never looked back.
I train 4x a week with Fortitude Strength in Pukekohe, following a specific plan designed by Adam to help build muscle and gain strength. It certainly has exercises in it that I don't (like split squats) but we push through and get the job done.
I have to be there for every training session or make it up. The Friday night classes are the worst, as you know your friends are out having fun and you're at the gym. I have missed so many events by putting the gym first, I have never regretted it though, as I wouldn't be where I am today if I didn't take it seriously.
My current PB (personal best) lifts are Squat 161kgs NZR (NZ record), Bench 82kgs, and Deadlift 180kgs.
My most recent competitions have been, the World Powerlifting World Championship in Sydney in October this year where I competed in the M1 and Open 84kg Category. I received Gold in the M1 84kg and the Open 84kg Category.
I also attended the Asia Pacific Championship held in Melbourne earlier this year. I competed in the M1 84kg Category. I received a gold medal for M1 84kg Category, Gold for the Open 84kg Category and I won the Masters Overall Trophy. This has been one of my biggest achievements so far.
The other was winning the Open 84kg Category at Worlds last year in Rome, Italy.
Diet and sleep are a huge part of my journey. Working under Ginny at Outlook for Life, I learned so much about how food fuels the body and how eating and drinking water is so important. Without someone holding me accountable, just like everyone else, I struggle with keeping on track.
Coming up this year, we are going to try to drop a weight category and move down to the 72kg category. This will be 6 months of self-discipline. It will be hard, but I will do it.
If you want to get into powerlifting, my advice is to give it a go. Don't look at the people in there and think, oh I can't do this, they're really strong. Everyone has to start somewhere and you're not going to be the person you want to be if you don't give it a go. Get the right mindset and go for Gold.
Please feel free to join my journey @Rachel_powerlifter.
Celebrating strong women with handcrafted NZ made gold and silver jewellery.
