A mum from Bracknell who’s transformed herself into a successful powerlifter this year recently broke her own records at a competition.
Carrie Annis, 42, a mum of three from Hanworth, began powerlifting in January.
Since then, she has won gold medals for her lifts in the ‘three disciplines’ of powerlifting – squats, benchpress and deadlifts.
In October, she won gold at the Global Powerlifting Committee (GPC) World Championships in Slovakia.
Now, Ms Annis has smashed her previous record at the GPC Great British Championships in Penzance, Cornwall.
She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) how the competition went.
Ms Annis said: “For me this competition was different from the World championships.
“I felt less nervous, I guess you could say, because it was on Home soil. Being so new to the sport and the World Championships being my only second competition, I think that’s why the British Championships felt less nerve-racking.
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“One competitor said to me that the more competitions you do and the more time you get on the platform the nerves become less and I certainly felt that at the British Championships.
“Actually the British Championships I called my ‘Redemption’ competition, due to the fact I missed out on two big lifts at the World Championships a squat & deadlift that I failed.
“So this time round at the British Championships, I was focused to make those two lifts I failed at the Worlds count and redeem myself at the British.
“So I would say there was more pressure on me at the British, one to redeem those lifts I didn’t get at the Worlds and plus I wanted to break the British record in the squat at the Brits which I broke and then broke my own record straight after.”
The LDRS asked her whether she stepped up the amount of training she’s been doing.
Ms Annis replied: “Training remained pretty much the same. I had such a short window just four weeks, from finishing the Worlds to the Brits starting. We focused on just nailing the lifts I struggled with at the Worlds.
“Just repetition after repetition, which must of worked as I walked away with an even bigger total than I set out for.”
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In full, she won gold in her group and and broke two British Records in the Squat 170kg and 180kg.
She benched 97.5kg and completed a 185kg deadlift, ending the competition with a 27.5kg total gain from the World Championships.
In total, she lifted 462.5kg, putting her in third place in her age and weight category, and coming in second place in the GPC GB federation.
The GB championships took place on Saturday, November 19.
Ms Annis has credited support, advice and training at the BodyZone gym in the Bracknell Leisure Centre for her success.
Ms Annis said: “I’m still training at BodyZone. We all look out for each other and support each other. Everyone in BodyZone was watching me compete at the Brits on the TV in the gym.
“When I can back to the gym after the Brits, everyone congratulated me and we’re so pleased and excited how well I did.
“So the support I have at BodyZone you can’t get and won’t find at a commercial gym. We are a family at BodyZone.”
In December last year, BodyZone’s owner Sid Bourne expressed fears that the gym would be evicted as a new lease had not been secured.
However, BodyZone has remained in place while a new lease is negotiated.
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