Trainer smashes national deadlift record

Tauranga personal trainer Julia Trezise-Conroy has set a national deadlift record. Photo/supplied

DEADLIFT: The deadlift is a weight training exercise in which a loaded barbel or bar is lifted off the ground to the hips, then lowered back to the ground. It is one of the three powerlifting exercises, along with the squat and bench press.

A Tauranga personal trainer has lifted more than twice her body weight to smash a national record and she may set her sights on the Olympics.

Julia Trezise-Conroy won the Global Powerlifting deadlift competition in Auckland last month and set a national record in the Female Open Under-56kg category, with a 125kg deadlift.

"On the day I weighed in at 53.7kg so this lift was 2.33 times my bodyweight, " she says.

"I was surprised by the weight I ended up lifting on the day and I certainly exceeded my own expectations. But as far as the record was concerned I love the numbers and looking up at who has got what.

"I did my research and thought it was something I could achieve but didn't quite think that big so I'm pretty happy."

But Julia says she could not have done it without her powerlifting coach Strini from Physical Impact.

"It's really hard to coach yourself as you are too close to see the big picture. He creates my programmes that generally consists of lifting four times a week as I generally do another 18 hours of gym classes ranging from body pump to body balance."

Good results could be achieved rather quickly and she wants to promote the benefits of lifting to other women.

"When I started studying to be a personal trainer I realised the majority of women like myself are into cardio, especially endurance cardio.

They are up for a jog and go and go and for many of us the main drivers are weight loss, general health and longevity."

Strength training is great for women, she says, and you can achieve awesome results.

"I've been doing it for about a year and a half. I realised it has got to be one of the best things around for women and we are just not doing it.

"It was really scary at first coming from being a runner and cyclist. In my opinion strength training offers significant benefits for women's bone density, metabolism, and mental health - it is a phenomenally empowering sport."

The vegan says lifting weights has not changed her physique. "I am not really bulky or masculine like a lot of people worry about, that is a bit of a myth. Powerlifting has really changed my life."

In the future Julia says she wants to set more records.

"Hopefully I will do more of the same and it's in the Olympics so maybe one day I will go down that path. I will just keep doing what I am doing."