THREE strong months' worth of intense training paid off for North Vancouver's Martha Woodruff as she went on to win the women's power lifting national championship in the 84 kilograms plus, unequipped division at the Olympic Oval in Richmond March 19.
Woodruff did three sets of lifts starting with squats where she lifted 150 kilograms, followed by bench-pressing 85 kilograms and a dead lift of 182.5 kilograms.
This was the first title of this magnitude for the athlete, who was surprised over her win.
"I'm still in shock actually," Woodruff said. "I didn't expect it going into the competition."
Placing second was British Columbia's Aimee Mergaert followed by Saskatchewan's Jessie Buydens. There were nine competitors total in the competition hosted by the Canadian Powerlifting Union.
Woodruff said she's competed against Mergaert before and knew she stood a chance of winning against her, but she didn't know what the competitors from around the country would bring.
"You don't know what to expect from the other provinces," she said.
This was the first time Woodruff ever lifted 182.5 kilograms in the dead lift, but the bench press of 85 kilograms was a disappointment to her.
"I'm not happy with that one," she said. "It wasn't my personal best. Wasn't even equaling my personal best - 90 is my best."
Woodruff, a senior student at Capilano University where she studies accounting, said three months of training is required for her to be prepared for a competition.
"Right now I've been working on a 12-week cycle, so basically starting with lower percentages of maxes in earlier weeks and I keep progressing to get to a higher percentage as the weeks go on," she said. "Then the last week is a de-load week. Very light weights and getting ready to compete."
Her hard work paid off for her this time around and she hopes to carry this win over to her next competition in Saskatoon, Sask., where she will compete in Olympic weightlifting for the Western Canadian Championship on March 23.
It being the second competition within a week, Woodruff says her body feels strained, but she has a positive attitude going in.
"I feel strained in the way that I've pushed my body, but not in an injured way," she said. "It's a good kind of hurt I guess."
