Llanelli Star - Lisa James Powerlifter -by Chris Carra

1. www.thisissouthwales.co.uk Llanelli Star, Wednesday, March 6, 2013 15LSA-E01-S2
but I love doing it’‘It is hard,
MUMS are generally a strong
breed, having to juggle children
and jobs among hundreds of
other daily jobs.
But one Llanelli mum has taken
strength a step further.
Lisa James, of Penallt, won the
World Powerlifting Championships
in her weight category last
November and has a host of other
accolades under her belt, despite
only taking part in the sport for less
than a year.
The 28-year-old mum-of-two —
who is also Wales’s third strongest
woman — started powerlifting in
December 2011, but within her first
year she claimed the Welsh and
British records for overall total lifts
in bench press, deadlift and squats,
in addition to winning the British
qualifiers, the Welsh
Championships and the Welsh
Counties Championships.
And she’s not finished yet.
Lisa fits her demanding training
schedule around caring for her
young children, a part-time job as
an auxiliary nurse in Prince Philip
Hospital and studying for a diploma
in sport and fitness, which she will
finish this year.
But she hasn’t always been as fit
and strong as she is now.
“As a teenager I started putting a
lot of weight on,” Lisa said. “At my
peak I was about 16 stone.
“I just put on loads of weight
eating the wrong foods and going
out with my friends. I also put a lot
of weight on when I was pregnant.
“Then my little boy was born in
June, and in July I started dieting
properly and started doing circuits
and light weights for about a year.
“But I was getting bored just
going to the gym and I wanted
something to aim for. So I set myself
weightlifting goals and worked
towards them.”
Lisa, who now weighs around 10
stone, trains around six times a
week and schedules her training
around her children and her job.
She agreed that powerlifting is
generally accepted as a
male-dominated sport, but said
there is no reason why women
cannot enjoy it and succeed like she
has.
Lisa said: “There are a few
women I have trained in the gym
that have shown an interest in
powerlifting and I have tried to
show them that weights are not just
for men.
“It is nice to see more women
getting involved now.”
Lisa added that she always tries to
wear pink in training and when
competing to “keep things girly”
and has earned the nickname The
Power Princess because of it.
With plenty of medals already, the
former Bryngwyn School pupil is
still hungry for more, with her next
competition — the British
Championships — coming up in
April, before competing in the
Wales’s Strongest Woman
competition two weeks later.
Lisa said: “It’s difficult because I
have to diet down for the British
Championships to fit into my
weight category, but because there
is no weight categories in Wales’s
Strongest Woman I’ll try to bulk-up
again in two weeks to give myself a
better chance.
“It’s hard, but I love doing it.”
And then Lisa is off to Aldershot
for the European Championships in
July, before taking a trip to Chicago
for the World Championships in
November.
She added that her children —
Kacey, 5 and Jacob, 3 — both enjoy
having a strong mum.
“The children just love it,” she
said. “They will get broomsticks in
the house and pretend they are
squatting heavy weights, just like
their mum.”
By Chris Carra
@ForzaSwansea
chris.carra@swwmedia.co.uk
01554 745321
@
I Lisa began powerlifting shortly after the birth of her baby. Within a year
she was doing light weights before moving on to more strenuous activity.
“There are a few women I
have trained in the gym
that have shown an
interest in powerlifting
and I have tried to
show them that
weights are not just
for men.”
— Lisa James
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