Lifting, burning, sweating. Senior Sophia Sabol had been lifting in her garage on her own, but everything changed after posting a video on social media.
“Before my sophomore year, I posted a video on Twitter of me powerlifting and a coach contacted me,” Sabol said. “After the volleyball season, I started coaching with him.”
Ever since that day, she has been continuously powerlifting in her garage with her coach, improving each day. Soon, that led her to compete in USA Powerlifting. USA Powerlifting is a national organization for powerlifting where people compete in local, regional and national meets.
“I have been there for three meets,” Sabol said. “I haven’t competed in a while.”
Sabol’s last competition statistics are on the USA powerlifting website. Sabol has squatted 300 lbs, benched 121.2 lbs, and deadlifted 297.6 lbs. In total, she lifted 718.8 lbs.
“The statistics show the last time I competed at USA powerlifting at the top of my statistics page,” Sabol said. “All of them are accurate besides the squat, which changed in the spring from 292.1 lbs to 300 lbs. The total was 705.4.”
An important part of Sabol’s statistics is “dots,” which provide additional information about a lifter.
“Dots is the pound for pound number, so it shows the ratio between a lifter’s body weight and the weight they lifted,” Sabol said.
Sabol has attended three meets, and she set a state record of 292 lbs on her latest one. However, in addition to winning, powerlifting has taught her many things.
“Powerlifting has taught me to be a stronger person, physically and mentally,” Sabol said. “I could push myself more. My coach will set a certain number and I don’t believe I can do it, but then I always can do it. I realized I can do more than I thought I could.”
Even though Sabol first did powerlifting to help with her volleyball, she learned more about powerlifting and how it is not just about gaining more muscle.
“Powerlifting has taught me it’s okay to be short while doing a sport. Powerlifting is considered [to have a] bad reputation. It is considered as body building and it is bad for athletes, but if you have the right goals and mindset, it can be beneficial.”
Sabol has said powerlifting empowered her to be who she is today by teaching her hard work, self-confidence, toughness and so much more. She learned that powerlifting isn’t just a sport, but something that will help her later in college and life.
“I could push myself more,” Sabol said. “For example, my coach will put a certain number and I don’t believe I can do it, but in the end I can do it. I can do more than I think I can.”
