‘I Traded Cardio For Weight Lifting In College, And I Can Deadlift 220 Pounds’
I grew up doing a lot of activities like wiffle ball, soccer, tennis, and swimming. In high school, I played field hockey for three years and fenced for four years. I never really paid attention to my health or fitness until I started fencing and fell in love with the sport. That's when I started seeing gaps in my nutrition and noticed how much I was or wasn’t moving my body during the day.
I had field hockey and fencing practices Monday through Friday. Field hockey consisted of outdoor running-based drills like suicides, sprints, and mile runs. Meanwhile, fencing included mainly bodyweight movements like wall sits, planks, burpees, and pushups. Sometimes we even had to hold our fencing helmet, which weighed about 10 to 15 pounds, in one hand as an isometric workout. These practice sessions lasted about an hour each and kept me active throughout high school.
My college years kickstarted my strength training journey and showed me what my body was capable of.
I didn't play sports freshman year of college, so my roommate convinced me to go to the on-campus gym with her. At this point, I had never been in a gym setting before, and I didn’t know how the equipment worked or what it even meant to strength train. I was afraid of looking like a beginner.
Initially, I did extended cardio workouts (think hour-long sessions on the elliptical). Then I started going to the gym by myself, and I grabbed some weights for biceps curls, shoulder presses, and leg press machines. During winter break of freshman year, I wanted to continue working out with machines, so I joined Planet Fitness.
At my core, I consider myself a lifelong learner, and the thought of starting from scratch was intriguing and appealing to me. I mostly relied on the pictures on the machines to guide me. Then, I turned to Google and YouTube to find more moves to try. I used to get anxious about "messing up" and wanted to be prepared. My partner at the time, who I met just before switching to a new gym in January 2021, taught me the basics of free weight workouts, bodyweight exercises, and strength training.
I settled into a push-pull training schedule to continue challenging myself and progressing.
On Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and occasionally Saturday I strength train for about an hour. I follow a push-pull format and generally focus on whatever feels right on any given day as long as I hit each body part at least once a week.
For my push days, I’ll do dumbbell incline bench presses for 2 sets of 10 with 30 pounds and push to failure for my last. I also like cable triceps push downs and will do three sets of 20 with 40 pounds. Other days, I’ll take on skull crushers, shoulder presses, barbell upright rows, and lateral raises that end with failure training on assisted dips or pushups. My compound movements start with high weight and low reps, and I work my way to low weight and high reps. My deadlift, squats, and bench presses are usually no more than eight reps.
During pull days, I love doing lat pull downs, seated rows, and regular biceps curls, followed by pullups. I also do deadlifts with a 45-pound barbell and 45-pound plates on each side. I do 6 reps and bump it up to 185 pounds for 3 sets of 5 before dropping back to 135 for 10 reps.
If it’s a leg day, I'll do hip thrusts, lunges, and finish with a machine. Sometimes, I do leg extensions or curls until failure. For squats, I start with 10 reps of 95 pounds, followed by 2 sets of 10 reps at 115 pounds. I also do 4 sets of 10 barbell Romanian deadlifts (RDLs) with 115 on the bar and 3 sets of 10 for 270-pound leg presses.
Pullups and deadlifts are my strong suit, and I'm most proud of these PRs.
Doing pullups was a goal of mine from the beginning of my strength training journey. I used the assisted pullup machine during back and pull days (two to three times a week) until I was finally able to hit my first pullup in February 2022. Fast forward to today, and I can hit nine.
I also saw major improvements in my deadlifts. When I first tried them, I could move 135 pounds for just a few reps. I did that twice a week and slowly started to add more weight. Once I hit 175 pounds, I knew I would be able to hit my goal of 200 pounds. I did and beat it. Now, my one-rep deadlift max is 220 pounds. And if I want to hit a few reps, I can do so comfortably at 185 pounds.
I still include cardio and rest days in my routine.
Two days a week, I do one-on-one boxing lessons for an hour. My trainer and I use agility ladder drills and footwork combinations. Then, I’ll throw punches on the speed bag for two minutes for two rounds and switch to the heavy bag for 10 seconds on and 10 seconds off for three rounds, followed by punching combinations.
If I'm not working out, I'm prioritizing rest. I don’t go out of my way to get my body moving. Instead, I’ll go shopping or spend time with friends and family. This time off definitely supports my mental health.
A back injury forced me to pause, but I bounced back stronger by focusing on proper form.
By September 2021, I was feeling super strong and proud of my progress. That month, I went for a 205-pound deadlift PR. Unfortunately my poor form led to a back injury and eight months off from barbell deadlifts and barbell squats.
While it didn’t require physical therapy, it forced me to take a step back and reassess my priorities. I realized I didn't focus on my form or moving correctly and intentionally like I should. While I healed, I took up bench presses, which is now my favorite exercise—I love how strong it makes me feel.
These 3 things were key to my strength transformation:
1. I learned how to push through a plateau by switching up my reps.
When tracking my progress, I noticed that doing the same amount of sets and reps during my workouts led to a plateau. To push past it, I learned how helpful varying my sets and reps could be. I started doing a one rep max sometimes or hitting four sets of 12 reps one month to three sets of eight another.
Other times, I don't even want to count reps and push to failure and focus on how the lift feels. Ultimately, this can look a lot of different ways depending on the workout, but playing around with my ranges helped me progress.
2. I sneak vegetables into my diet and track my protein with an app.
I’ve been a pescatarian since I was 14 years old. I aim to eat my body weight in grams of protein every day. I reach for whole foods like tuna, protein pasta and pancakes, eggs, Greek yogurt, and tofu. Sometimes, I'll eat an alternative meat as well. I love carbs like fruit, pasta, rice, and bread. And for snacks, I'll grab sesame sticks, coconut date bars, applesauce pouches, and mozzarella balls.
I usually have to sneak my vegetables into my meals with a stir fry or pasta sauce. My favorites include Brussels sprouts, eggplant, pumpkin, broccoli, butternut squash, carrots, and zucchini.
I also use the MyFitnessPal app on weekdays to make sure I’m hitting my protein goals and eating enough. I aim for 2,400 calories daily, which may sound like a lot for my weight and height, but it's necessary to maintain my weight and fuel my workouts.
3. The gym created a community for me and helped me find confidence.
I used to be nervous to take on challenges and try new things. I had low self-esteem, I didn’t set boundaries, and didn’t like stepping out of my comfort zone. Strength training proved that I'm capable of building physical and mental strength. Now, I approach my challenges with enthusiasm and feel comfortable in my body. The impact it made on me is also what led me to become a NASM-certified personal trainer.
I also found support through the gym community. Through meeting other women at the gym or connecting with other fitness lovers through social media, there has always been a sense of camaraderie. We’re on the same journey together, and that feels comforting.
I'm competitive with myself, and I always want to beat who I was the week before. I show up at the gym for myself. It all comes from a place of self-love.
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