Lisa Stokes Interview

Today we are very lucky to have an interview with Lisa Stokes, a female powerlifter from Australia. I say very lucky but this does not go far enough to give Lisa the respect she deserves as Lisa is a powerlifter in the Australian National Powerlifting team who has achieved so much in such a short period of time in the sport.

Lisa Stokes - Image courtesy of Dallas Olsen

Interview:

What made you start out in Powerlifting and how old were you?

I had no plan to become a Powerlifter, and in fact I didn’t really know what Powerlifting was until I was sitting back stage after a figure competition and chatting to guy from my gym. I was obviously looking pretty unhappy and he asked what was up. I had said that I loved training, and had always been into sports but there was such an anti climax for me competing in figure competitions; there was no competition, no event that got the adrenalin pumping. He suggested that I give Powerlifting a go, and 4 weeks later I started training and had to learn how to do each lift. I was 38 years old.

How did you become professional?

In Australia Powerlifting is an amateur sport, but I first made the Australian team (IPF) in 2007.

What is your favourite exercise in the gym?

Hmm....I love to bench, well these days anyway. When I first started lifting bench was my weakest lift, and after getting my shoulders fixed and working on my technique I really started to love it. Now when I lie on the bench I feel like I am “home”.

What are your personal bests in

(At 60kgs in weight)

Squat 122.5kgs
Bench Press 75kgs
Deadlift 140kgs

What does your weekly training schedule consist of?

It depends on where I am in my training cycle of course, but I generally do 4 dedicated lifting sessions per week. If I am away off from comp I also do interval training which could be anything from hill sprints, stationery bike or rower intervals. When I first started lifting my coach had me do a lot of outside plyometric training, although these days it is more gym based speed work. Right now I am off season so I am taking the chance to do some circuit style training with sets of over 6 reps!

Well done for winning the Bronze at the IPF World Masters in October 2008, where do you see your future from here?

Thanks, it was certainly a buzz and quite unexpected. Right now I am having a break as I have been hitting it pretty hard since I started lifting 3 years ago. The first competition I have committed to for next year is the Australian Nationals in July 2009. I am still only a relatively new lifter and have been really happy with my progress to date and my coach and I are hoping to see continued progress over the next few years. I am keen to compete at the IPF Open World Titles in 2010 and to gain a top 3 ranking at home here in Australia the same year.

Do you have any words of motivation for our female readers?

I love Powerlifting for women because it builds a strong functional body which is really sexy. Sure it is great to be able to out lift the guys in the gym, but it is more about feeling amazing and strong when you walk down the street. I also love the fact that powerlifting is not at all about how we look (in fact the equipment pretty much assures the opposite J).

If I can start a sport at 38 years of age and make the national team, you can do anything you want to do.

I'm sure you will all agree this was a great interview! If you would like to find out more about Lisa please visit Lisa's website at http://power-preparation.blogspot.com/