When Jayne Marzello walks around work, the petite but athletic 32-year-old state employee and nutrition student is sizing up her co-workers, imagining how much they can bench.
“I think, ‘I know I can lift more than you,'” she says.
Claire Hoff, a 34-year-old analytical chemist from Scotia, is proud to be able to take out her own air conditioner. And not to mention, she can deadlift 253 pounds.
They’re two out of a small team of personal training clients real [FIT] life owner and trainer Jeannine Trimboli nudged into a powerlifting competition this past weekend. They were all just regular people trying to be healthier, and weights were just part of their twice-weekly sessions in Guilderland with Trimboli. She suggested they give the competition, the Northeast Iron Beast USA Powerlifting Push Pull meet, a try. And now they’re asking Trimboli what kind of weightlifting belts and shoes they should buy for the next time.
“It’s very empowering for people, because you’re suddenly doing things that you never you would be able to do,” says Trimboli, who also wrote a fitness blog for the Times Union. “It really does call you out to really take a hard look at yourself — what are my insecurities? — because you’re going to have to overcome those preconceived notions of yourself if you’re going to move forward.”
Trimboli says she has always believed people are capable of so much more than they think, and her philosophy in the gym is to help them start seeing small successes. Then they can build their confidence as they build their fitness levels.
We talk about carrying a heavy weight around when we’re dealing with hard times. Powerlifting, and the measurable progress each time they can lift more and more weight, has made Trimboli’s real [FIT] life team stronger as people.
Jessica Roberts, a 32-year-old administrator at a research lab, started training with Trimboli about five years ago, when Trimboli was teaching a continuing education course. When Roberts came to her, Trimboli says, she hated exercise.
“When she came to me, she came to it more because it was something she had to do, but not because it was something she wanted to do. She wanted to overcome this negative feeling she had toward fitness,” Trimboli says. “I always think that everyone is much more capable than they think they are, but Jessica has by far been one of the biggest surprises.”
When Roberts injured her arm outside the gym in February, her first worry was whether she still would be able to work out. She ended up doing lower body work for a while until she healed. During the competition, she deadlifted 242.5, higher than her 230 maximum during training sessions.
And the change hasn’t stopped with her body. She says she supervises people at her job, and she’s more confident in that now.
“I’m less hesitant when there’s an issue to go and address them,” Roberts says. “I feel like my whole outlook has changed. My head is a little taller, and I smile more. I just feel better.”
Their team is rounded out by PJ Uppal, a 29-year-old who was just looking for a way to stay fit while he balanced an MBA program and a full-time job. He managed to deadlift 308.6 pounds at the meet, surprising even Trimboli. He was so pumped up on the adrenaline of the crowd, he says, he didn’t want to fail.
And there’s Katie Moskal, a 32-year-old longtime fitness enthusiast who works for the Alliance for Positive Health.
“It just makes me feel strong, and it gives me a sense of control when you don’t have control of other areas of your life,” she says.
She loves to track her numbers, to watch herself improve over time.
It’s what sports can give people who don’t consider themselves athletes, Trimboli says.
“What I love about not just powerlifting, but lifting in general, is everyone can do it,” she says. “Where some people may not be able to run, some people may not be able to ice skate, lifting is something that everyone can do. It’s an all-inclusive activity. I was basically an aerobics instructor who jumped around and taught aerobics classes. Over time, as I evolved into lifting, and I realized how much it increased my self-confidence, I thought ‘This is amazing, I have to share it with other people.’ It’s very special, because these are just everyday normal people. These are not people who were gym rats and have been powerlifting for years or did it in college. These are just normal everyday people who had no idea, and I even — as I found out when we got to the meet — had no idea what they were capable of.”
Now they know. And they can’t wait until the next one in January.
Courtesy of: Times Union