During my freshman year of high school, my mom made me join powerlifting. I didn’t have anything else to do during the winter sport season, so from then on I spent three days a week doing intense workouts, competing every weekend, all with the intent to become a stronger person.

Over the next three years, I continued powerlifting because I realized I was good at it and it presented me with a challenge that nobody could help me with. In a time when team sports rule, this was the only thing I had ever done that was solely up to me.

While lifting, nobody could push me to succeed or become stronger. All of the success I had was because of my own motivation and my own strength. At the time, I didn’t wonder why I was the only girl from my school who ever went to competitions.

Since arriving at college, I’ve gotten puzzled stares when people find out about my powerlifting history or my passion for weight training. It’s not unusual for me to be one of three women in the weight room with 20 men. It’s even more unusual to find a woman who goes frequently by choice.

People usually think that men can lift weights and women are supposed to magically transform into cardio queens. It’s typical to hear from women, “If I lift weights, I’ll get too bulky.”

Strength training is actually a great supplement to cardio workouts. Studies show that weightlifting actually helps to burn fat and calories more quickly than cardio, which equals more weight loss.

For those women who are concerned about becoming too bulky, workouts with low weight and high reps work well for toning the body.

Weight training has allowed me to set goals and gain a sense of pride when I reach those goals. Strength training offers a never-ending challenge of becoming a stronger person and achieving personal goals.

I want the Baker campus to break the stigma that guys lift and girls do cardio. The benefits of weightlifting apply to both men and women. I want more women to find the rewards I have been able to attain through strength training.

Let’s have more women challenging themselves in the Mabee weight room.