On dedication, performance, and working out with her mom
Mon, Nov. 7 was a big day for Alora Griffiths. The Rockwood native lifted a combined 415 kilograms—enough to earn gold in her weight class—at the World Powerlifting Congress (WPC) in Baton Rouge, La. Upon her return home, The Ontarion sat down with Griffiths at her local gym to discuss her journey to success.
Powerlifting combines three major lifts: the back squat, the bench press, and the deadlift. Griffiths’s record-breaking lifts in the 123-pound weight class were her bench press of 181 pounds and her deadlift of 385 pounds.
Griffiths wasn’t always the world-class powerlifter she is today. She began training two-and-a-half years ago, and before that she enjoyed crossfit as well as traditional cardio and weight training.
“I was doing lifting, but not as intensely,” said Griffiths. “Not with a focus. I’ve been going to the gym since I was 15, so almost 10 years, but definitely not with a solid plan, not with the long-term goals I have.”
Earlier this year, she competed and won the Arnold Classic in Columbus, Ohio. Following that competition, Griffiths was ranked 14th in the world for her deadlift in the 132-pound weight class. The subsequent sponsorships she earned demonstrated her talent for the sport.
“I had no idea I was going to win. I just went in there wanting to have fun,” Griffiths recalls.
Aside from the recognition she received through her training and competitions, Griffiths has also found a tremendous sense of community within the sport.
“We’ve met people from all over Canada and the States. In competitions, everybody’s cheering for everybody. You’re competing against them, but you’re competing against yourself and your own numbers. When I go to a competition, I could be competing against 10, 20 girls, but really I’m competing with my own [personal records].”
In the crucial weeks leading up to her WPC win, Griffiths posted videos on her YouTube channel, chronicling her day-to-day life.
“I’ve always wanted to start a vlog. I went to Humber for film, so I like to be able to make videos. […] I come in when I’m not even lifting and film everybody in the gym. Just to be able to make those videos longer and more creative—like a story—I love it.”
When talking about the most significant changes she underwent in her decision to pursue powerlifting, Griffiths said that it’s a transformation of how she understands life inside and outside the gym.
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“When people start going to the gym, they think working out will help their bodies with their daily lives. And that’s true, but once you start to [treat] it like more of a job, and you want to be able to push your body to the max, you need to start to think ‘what ways can I help my body do well in here?’ instead of thinking that the stuff you do in here’s going to help you out there. I did yoga, swimming, chiro, massage, [and] physio once a week, all those things for the last 10 weeks to help me train as hard as I could.”
The daily dedication of a powerlifter is more than the weight training, especially in the time leading up to a competition. Griffiths dropped 11 pounds in order to qualify for the 123-pound weight class over several weeks, opting to avoid the more drastic weight loss often exhibited by boxers.
“When you’re in prep, when you’re three months out, [I train] a good four or five hours [per day],” said Griffiths. “Coming off of that, I’ll step back a bit, which is hard too, because I love being here. But you can’t push your body like that all the time.”
In the middle of a deadlift, Griffiths’s strategy is to clear her mind of all thoughts and distractions.
“Absolutely nothing,” she joked. “Three or five minutes before I go on, I do visualisations of a lift I’ve done—a [personal record] of a lift where it’s gone awesome. I just remember setting up my feet, to take a big breath and pull, and feel that it’s easy. So when you go out there, that’s in your mind, and you don’t think.”
Griffiths’s advice for people wanting to try weightlifting, especially young women, is to surround themselves with support and encouragement, and to find a workout partner.
“Try to find other girls in the gym to lift with, because that’s going to make it more fun.”
Griffiths facilitates a two-hour open gym for women on Sunday mornings, which is used by women of all ages, including her mom.
“We’ve been going to the gym together from the start. She was the one who brought me into the gym when I was 15. I started this group because there were a lot of girls who lifted at other gyms who had never lifted with other girls. People come in with their own workouts and lift together.”
For Griffiths, her powerlifting career is just beginning. Although a back injury has troubled her in the past, it has become a learning experience about her long-term goals as a powerlifter.
“That [injury] hurts mentally, because I was scared I wouldn’t be able to do what I want at competition—that it would affect everything. But you just have to trust your body. There will be other competitions. I’m only 24, and there’s tons of people we compete with that are in their 30s, 40s, [and] 50s. This is definitely a long journey. Slow down.”
Although Griffiths doesn’t plan to compete again until next spring or summer, she will be supporting her mom, who will be competing in her first powerlifting meet this coming January.