OUTLOOK - It isn't too often that you hear of women being interested in the sport of powerlifting around these parts, but if you ask local competitor Tori Anholt, it's something that instilled in her the drive to compete and test her limits.
The Outlook native, who just recently competed at a provincial powerlifting meet in Moose Jaw over October 1-3, says she happened to fall into the sport by chance.
"It was kind of by accident that I became interested in powerlifting," said Tori, speaking with The Outlook. "I knew nothing about powerlifting or that it was even a sport to compete in. Back in May of 2020, a friend of mine came to me with some fitness goals she wanted to achieve. Seeing me as someone who was active and liked to work out and paired with my Kinesiology degree, she asked me about training her. I declined the offer to train her, feeling that I lacked the time and knowledge, but said that I might know a guy who would be up for the challenge. I was looking for a change in my work-out routine as I was confined to my living room since our local gym had closed and offered to train with her for moral support. We met with Geoff Dolan, and the next week started training. He introduced us to this type of training that I have never done before and enjoyed. The longer we trained there, the more Geoff was planting seeds of me competing, and of course that was hard to ignore because I was enjoying lifting and love to compete. I competed in my first event virtually due to COVID in April 2021, which qualified me for the Provincial meet in October 2021."
With a previous passion for fitness and working out, an introduction to powerlifting seemed like the next step for Anholt, who says weightlifting has always been one of her favorite activities. Attending meets where she saw the competitiveness of her fellow athletes caused an excitement for Tori and may have been a sign of things to come in the future, and as a mom, it's been rewarding in itself to show her kids that trying new things in life can be uplifting and positive.
"I have always liked working out and pushing myself to do more, lift heavier, etc.," she said. "It has always been my favorite to lift the weights vs cardio. Mostly because it is more fun to me, but also I think I am just better suited to it, so it comes easier for me. It's hard to nail down just one thing I like best about it. It's fun to chase the weights, push yourself to be stronger and do better, and lift more. I have enjoyed the challenge of an individual sport, which has not been the sports that I have been drawn to in the past. After attending an in-person meet, it was very exciting to be surrounded by likeminded people who love the sport as much as I do. The atmosphere was amazing and although we are completing against one another, when someone completes a personal best lift, you can’t help but be happy for them. You understand all the hard work, sweat and determination that went into the training to get them to where they are today and that is an accomplishment. One of the big reasons I like competing in the sport of powerlifting is that I am able to show my kids, especially my daughter that you can do anything at whatever age, no matter your gender. If I can teach them that trying new things in life is fun, hard and rewarding, that is a win for me."
The provincial meet in Moose Jaw that Tori competed in saw her rank 4th, a feat that's perhaps all the more impressive considering it was her first in-person meet. Taking part in such an event produced its share of emotions, but Anholt says the confidence that grew in her came as a result of the work that her trainer, Geoff Dolan, put her through in order to match the physical needs that the meet called for.
"Considering that it was my first in-person meet, I feel good about my ranking," said Tori. "This meet meant I had a lot of firsts, from learning how the meet ran, performing in front of judges, to putting in a full day of emotional and physical demands on my body. I also had to compete with an audience, which had me feeling slightly nauseous. Once I had the first lift under my belt, I felt more confident and much of my first-time nerves disappeared. I learned a lot about myself in that environment and consider it a great learning experience to carry forward to the next meet. Of course, the competitor in me would like to have lifted a bit more for my squat and deadlift as I know I can in the gym, but I just need to transfer that to a meet, it's something to strive for. Overall, yes, there is no doubt that my hard work is paying off. The hard work of my trainer, Geoff, should be acknowledged, he plans my training sessions and gets up at 5:00 am to make all of this possible. I would not be able to do any of this without him doing the research, planning, keeping us on track and pushing me to get better."
Dolan, a strongman competitor who has competed in the World's Strongest Man and IFSA organizations, including finishing 10th in the finals of the World's Strongest Man event in 2003, says the sport of powerlifting is where he first started.
"Although I got most recognition from the strongman competitions, it was powerlifting that got me started," said Geoff. "I truly believe it is one of the best sports in the world as it is contested across the entire globe by men and women of all shapes and sizes from age 8 to 80+. While simple in concept, it can become one the hardest challenges an individual will face once they are hooked on chasing that next personal, provincial, national, or even world record."
Powerlifters compete in the squat, bench press, and the deadlift events, and Geoff says it was while training for these that he met Anholt at Riverside Fitness, the gym that used to be in Outlook.
"Well, I didn't actually meet her then, with her hat pulled down tight, headphones in, and complete laser focus on the exercise at hand, the gym might as well have been completely empty to her!" noted Nolan. "But I was impressed, definitely my kind of lifter...the kind you don't bother out of respect. I did finally get to meet her at the rink one time and shared a few conversations after that over our mutual interest in starting home gyms since the town had recently suffered the loss of Riverside Fitness. Well, fast forward to the pandemic, and my wife and I had pulled the trigger on setting up a small powerlifting gym in our garage out of a necessity to stay strong and healthy through all of this. Shortly after we got a message out of the blue from a young lady seeking help with strength and conditioning for an occupational opportunity, referred to us by Tori! After setting some training up with Justine, she also asked if Tori could come as a training partner to help push her along. After already witnessing Tori's intensity and dedication, I couldn't have come up with a better training environment for Justine to meet her goals if I tried!"
From there, Geoff remembers ever so slightly putting the idea of competing in Tori's head.
"Over the next few months of training and helping Justine, Tori's genetic ability really began to shine through," remembers Nolan. "So much so, that I just had to start pestering her to try powerlifting. She was only slightly warm to the idea, but began a specific training plan anyways to systematically increase her squat, bench, and deadlift. Her strength went through the roof! It was easy to convince her to try a competition after that."
After Anholt exceeded Nolan's expectations by performing under strict judging standards similar to those of the Saskatchewan Powerlifting Association, with personal records in all lifts, Tori was set for the provincials in Moose Jaw. Geoff says the results that she produced speak volumes about the levels that she has reached in the sport.
"A daunting first meet to say the least but by this point, Tori had become one of the hardest working lifters I have ever met," he said. "She took her 'no quit' attitude into a very grueling 12-week prep and powered through like a professional. The results at Provincials speak for themselves. Her dedication to training allowed for near unshakable confidence at her first-ever meet, nevermind one of this level. Tori competed in the unlimited weight class, as we chose not to concern her with making weight the first go around, just focus on being her strongest that day. But being at a size disadvantage all day didn't stop her from holding her own and walking away with the third biggest bench press of the meet to go along with her fourth place overall finish. Tori will be nothing short of dominant in her natural weight class. The future is definitely bright for this new powerlifter!"
Anholt says she hopes to remain involved in the sport as long as her body holds up to the challenge. The support shown by friends and family along the way has helped her immensely in tackling each new challenge.
"I hope to be able to do this for some time," she said. "It is hard to not want to continue in the journey, wherever that may be. As long as I am physically able and my family is willing to support and be along for the ride, I’m going to do it. Without my family’s support, there is no way that I would be able to be committed to this adventure. They are very much involved and I’m glad they are as excited as I am. The amount of support I have received from my friends and extended family was mindblowing to me. I had many people attend this Provincial meet or watch the live stream to cheer me on, which only makes me want to push harder. It is amazing to have a cheering section who are excited for me!"
As someone who grew up playing team sports, adapting to an individual sport like powerlifting was a different beast altogether for Tori. It's because of this trait that makes trying to compare the sport to others, especially team-based sports, somewhat difficult. For Anholt, powerlifting has become something that's unlike anything else she has experienced, which may be why she continues lifting and driving herself to compete.
"Comparing sports is tricky as each sport team or otherwise can be quite different," she said. "I can only speak to the sports that I have taken part in, and powerlifting is different for me because it is an individual sport and the success or failures are on me, no team to fall back on. You train your butt off in the hopes that on game day, you show up ready to prove that you have done enough to make it to the top, which is not unlike any other sport I have competed in. The fact that I have competed before in different sports likely helped me to prepare better because as a competitive person I want to perform well, and in order to do that, I need to be in the right mental space as well as knowing what is required of me to get to the next level."
