Powerlifting with Grace

As if the video doesn’t do it enough, let me paint a picture for you. Grace, whose three daughters have trained with us, just back squatted a new personal best (65 lbs).

The beautiful position of her torso and movement throughout the squat aside, she’s a mother of three who has enrolled in a powerlifting course geared towards general strength that Danny teaches called DEUCE Strength. Around here this may be normal, but out in the highways and byways of Los Angeles, Grace may be called an outlier.

What you see in the video is her attempt at a sixty -five pound squat. Moments before this, she contemplated making another lift at fifty-five pounds and enthusiastically announced that she felt ready to try ten more pounds for a new record. Her excitement at her accomplishment after the lift is too authentic to doubt. You read that right. An investment firm exec, mother of three training for the first time is thrilled that she’s bested herself in her powerlifting class – Amazing!

What you might not have realized when watching the video the first time around may be worth a second look. Here are some notes:

1. Accomplished coach/trainer, Danny, is arguably more thrilled than Grace. Placing his hands behind his back, he knows she’s got it.

2. Mark (very experienced CrossFit athlete) and Ronnie (elite college baseball player) are completely invested in Grace’s performance as they sit against the wall.

3. Panning around to the right, other students and coaches including an Ultimate Ninja Warrior competitor and a world class performance doctor of chiropractic celebrates the PR.

It’s the entire picture that makes this one of my favorite moments at the gym. The fact that our conversation here is so thorough and so open that we all can all get in the same room and take steps forward with human movement is beautiful. Grace fits in just like the elite athletes and human movement specialists. Of course, she does. We all need to squat. This place is unlike anything I’ve seen and it’s what the fitness industry needs.

Nice lift, Grace.

 

Logan Gelbrich

@functionalcoach