fitcrew four athletes share how they use sport to stay active BY MATT WHITE | PHOTOGRAPHY BY BETH MAN N
heavy lifting
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little more than a year ago, Michelle Danielle Jordan, seeking a new fitness routine, opened Google and typed in “sports with weights.” She discovered powerlifting. After a few articles and videos, she couldn’t wait to try the deadlift, squat and bench press exercises. “I’ve always liked to work out, but I like to move heavy things,” she says. “If someone says to use the 15-pound barbells, I want to use the 40s.” Michelle, who lives in Siler City, began working out at Zone Fitness and Tan, imitating the exercises she’d seen
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Chatham Magazine
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online. As she improved, she began to think about not only getting stronger, but also competing, encouraged by members of a women’s powerlifting group on Facebook. Members of the group post inspiration and advice, and share videos of their lifts, seeking pointers. Michelle says group members even spotted a hitch in her squatting technique. “At a competition, one of the judges told me the same thing, so I was getting it from both sides.” Armed with that insight, Michelle worked on greater flexibility in her hips and hamstrings. She entered two powerlifting competitions in 2018, taking third in her weight class at a regional meet in Charlotte, and first in a meet in Denver, North Carolina (near Lake Norman). Working out in December, she hit 410 pounds on a max deadlift, her best ever, and has almost broken 400 in squat, at 395. She wants to hit 450 and 415, respectively, this year.