Considering what she does with her spare time, Andra Irons has the perfect last name.
She has it stenciled on the gym bag she uses for her powerlifting gear and it never fails to bring out the jealousy in her training partner Tara Green, who wishes she had that name.
Inspired by watching Green and national-level lifters Mike Webber and Jay Cook while they train at Xconditioning, a downtown Prince George gym, Irons made the jump from group fitness classes into powerlifting. She's now on the verge of her first competition and will join Green, Webber and Cook at the Global Powerlifting Commitee (GPS) national championships this weekend in Calgary.
The event also serves as the Canadian Powerlifting Federation (CPF) Western Canadian championships and Irons will be attempting two set GPC records in the 60-kilogram women's raw (no lifting equipment allowed) class. In practice Irons has already lifted the current GPC 60kg women's standards -- 247.5 pounds in the squat and 280 pounds in the deadlift -- but admits she will have to be in perfect form to break those marks in Calgary.
"I started lifting almost exactly a year ago not knowing what to expect and I've far exceeded what I thought I could accomplish," said the 29-year-old Irons, whose work as a special-needs children behavioral intervention therapist and as an animal trainer demand physical strength.
"I went in just to see where I'd be at for the first meet and I didn't look but [trainers Cook and Webber] found out I'd be contending for national records. I've trained hard and gotten a lot stronger but I've made just tons of gains in technique. I've seen things increase drastically the past year. I think that says a lot about the three people I've been training with and the technical training I've had with them past year."
Irons injured her back and hip in an accident but says since she's become a powerlifter the chronic pain that used to bother her has vanished. She encourages other women to get involved in the sport.
"A lot of women lot there think lifting weights will make you a lot bigger," said Irons. "I would kill to look like Tara, it would mean that I was stronger. I've said I was going to be training for the next year and eat what I need to eat to get stronger and I haven't gotten that big, even though I'm trying to get big. It all comes down to genetics. Overall my health is a lot better. A lot of my [female] friends come to the gym now because they see the kind of training I do."
Green, 24, has aged out of the junior (19-23-year-old) class and this weekend will be an open-class competitor for the first time. She already has her name on 15 world records, including eight GPC records, and will try to set four more now that she's in the open class.
"This is the most competitive class and I should still be competitive in this class," said Green.
Powerlifters are given three attempts to lift their maximum weights in squat, deadlift and bench press. Unless they compete in the raw class, they are allowed to wear squat/dead lift suits and bench shirts, and can equip themselves with weight belts, knee sleeves, wrist wraps and specialized footwear.
Green is entered in raw and equipped classes. Her goals are to lift 600 pounds in the squat, 450 in the dead lift and 350 in bench press, as compared to her best-ever lifts in competition -- 574 (squat), 429 (deadlift) and 275 bench.
After dominating her junior categories last year, Green traveled to the U.S. for several invitation-only competitions. In June she won a lifting competition in San Jose, Calif., and in January brought home the title from the Fit Expo in Los Angeles. This weekend in Calgary she'll be lifting in the 82.5kg weight class.
"This year I want to get the best-overall award, which goes by pounds lifted as compared to your body weight, so being lighter is an advantage," said Green, "I feel confident in my squat but my bench isn't where I want it to be. I have to get some things figured out."
Cook, 30, will be back on the national stage for the sixth time, after missing the last two GPC competitions. He's coming off a shoulder injury but still figures he can break a couple of world records. He's taking aim at the 82.5kg open men's record in the squat (617.5 pounds) and the deadlift record (635). Cook will also compete in the raw category, a first for him.
Webber, 43, will be a bench press-only competitor in Calgary, his 10th GPS nationals. He's entered in the 125kg masters 1 class, and he's also got GPC world records on his mind.
"Hopefully I'll get around 600 [pounds] in the equipped and 500 in raw," said Webber, who won the Fit Expo strict curl competition in L.A. with a lift of 165 pounds.
