Music blaring from giant, wall-mounted speakers canСAPPt drown out the clang of iron, or the enthusiastic cries of senior Alexus Jackson, a member of the RaginСAPP Cajuns WomenСAPPs Powerlifting team.
Jackson, who is 5СAPP4СAPP tall and competes in the 158-lb. weight class, is working out in Bourgeois Hall on campus. СAPPTo me, itСAPPs just about competing to the best of your ability. I come in, I work hard, I compete and I win,СAPP she said.
A senior dental hygiene major, Jackson has been pumped up about powerlifting since freshman orientation, when she saw a poster that posed a question: Do you want to be a national champion? СAPPIСAPPve always wanted to be the best of the best and IСAPPve always loved lifting weights. I love being in a competitive environment,СAPP she said.
Jackson said getting her best friend since sixth grade, Dana Wallace, to try out for the team was a tougher sell. СAPPI had to convince her to do it,СAPP Jackson said of Wallace.
So began the careers of two of the best powerlifters to ever hoist a barbell for the team, which placed second at the Collegiate National Championships in April in Orlando, Fla.
Jackson can bench press 286 pounds, an American weight class record for the lift. Wallace, all 4СAPP8СAPP and 94 pounds of her, is also an American weight class record holder, for her ability to squat 286 pounds. To put this in perspective, itСAPPs the equivalent of a 200-pound woman loading 600 pounds onto a barbell, resting it across her shoulders, squatting until her thighs are parallel to the floor, and standing back up. In other words, Wallace, despite her diminutive size, is strong. Really strong.
СAPPPeople have a misconception about powerlifting,СAPP Wallace said. СAPPThey think youСAPPre supposed to be big and bulky. IСAPPm not. IСAPPm toned, and people can tell I do some kind of work out, but when I tell them I powerlift, itСAPPs like, СAPPOh. OK. WhatСAPPs that?СAPP СAPP
Powerlifting is composed of three lifts: the squat, the bench press and the deadlift. In competition, athletes get three attempts at each of the lifts. The highest weights recorded for each one are totaled, and the lifter with the most points wins.
A blend of athletic ability, work ethic and genetic predisposition determines the best powerlifters. Brawn, for example, isnСAPPt typically as important as stature. Unlike many other sports, short lifters are often the best lifters.
Consider the bench press, for example. The lift involves lying on a customized bench and bringing a set amount of weight to the chest, then back up again. The entire motion is sort of like a reverse push up. Shorter arms equal a shorter distance the weight must be moved.
СAPPJust as a basketball coach might be thrilled at the prospect of a 7-foot tall athlete, the oppositeСAPPs true in powerlifting. If youСAPPre short, it really makes you a good squatter and bencher, but it hurts your dead lift,СAPP said Travis Werner, head coach of the RaginСAPP Cajuns menСAPPs and womenСAPPs powerlifting teams.
СAPPMost people have at least one lift that they are weaker in. A good dead lifter typically struggles on the bench. Those two really counteract each other. Long arms make a good dead lifter.СAPP
In the dead lift, a barbell with a set amount of weight is hoisted from the ground to hip level, then back down.
Technique is extremely important for any type of lift, he added. A squatter should adopt a wide stance, for instance, if she has extremely strong hips, or a narrower stance if her thigh muscles are stronger.
Werner said former high school athletes, such as Jackson and Wallace, who both played basketball and softball at СAPP High in Baton Rouge, often can progress quickly in powerlifting, even if they have little experience.
СAPPAlmost all of our lifters were athletes of some sort. They canСAPPt continue their careers, for whatever reason, and a lot of them fall back on powerlifting,СAPP he said.
Wallace, who also ran track in high school, thought her athletic career was over by the time she arrived at the СAPP in 2010. СAPPMy skill level wasnСAPPt up to par,СAPP she said, СAPPbut it did feel kind of weird to not be involved in any kind of sports when I got to college.СAPP
Now Wallace, who earned a bachelorСAPPs degree in psychology in the spring and will attend graduate school at Loyola СAPP in New Orleans, works as a judge for competitions sponsored by USA Powerlifting. The organization sanctions the club sport, and also coordinates the Collegiate National Championships. The RaginСAPP Cajuns womenСAPPs team has developed a strong presence there in a short time.
The UL Lafayette team was formed in 2000, according to Werner. СAPPWeСAPPve had some extremely talented women lifters in the past, but we never fielded a full team until 2007,СAPP he said. By 2012, it had won a national championship. The following year, the squad finished fourth in the nation.
The teamСAPPs achievements are all the more impressive since universities and colleges of all sizes compete against each other at the championships.
СAPPIf you have a school that has 1,000 students,СAPP Werner explained, СAPPyouСAPPre head-to-head with schools that have 40,000 students.СAPP
He credits assistant coach Abby Goss as the driving force behind the success of the womenСAPPs team. Goss, while competing as an undergraduate in 2007, was the only member of the womenСAPPs team, and began actively recruiting fellow students to join.
СAPPShe came in and she said she was going to make things happen and she did,СAPP Werner said. СAPPBy the time she was a senior, there was a whole team that had grown around her.СAPP
Goss, who earned a degree in exercise science and is now a fitness trainer, said her teammates referred to her as СAPPthe team mom, because thatСAPPs just the way I am.СAPP
Her passion for the team, and the sport of powerlifting, remains strong. СAPPItСAPPs really exciting to see girls who arenСAPPt afraid to lift weights,СAPP she said.