Kristy Hawkins is feeling “jacked” – in her workout gear. In a new social media post the powerlifting shows off her award-winning body in a two-piece exercise set during a lifting session at the gym. “Some lifts this past week that made me feel jacked—seated dumbbell press @ 90lb x11, hammer strength rows @ 4 and 1/4 plates x8, and incline dumbbell press @ 110lb x5ish. #pugsandpowerlifting,” she captioned the Instagram post. How does she approach diet, fitness, and self-care? Here is everything you need to know about her lifestyle habits.
Kristy, a PhD, explained to Muscle & Fitness that she was overweight as a teen. She tried to use extreme dieting to lose weight, and developed an eating disorder. She also tried to “work off” the excess weight with cardio and dance.
“In the same way my brain seemed natural to respond to learning about science and math,” she explains to Muscle & Fitness, “my body responded to exercise and training. I found that developing these two aspects of my life – mind, and body – created a balance that I found extremely rewarding.”
Kristy is rarely found without her dog, He-Man the Pug, who accompanies her to the gym. She also takes him on lots of walks. Going for a daily walk can be a game changer in terms of exercise, especially at a brisk speed. One study published in JAMA Internal Medicine found that walking at a brisk pace for about 30 minutes a day led to a reduced risk of heart disease, cancer, dementia and death, compared with walking a similar number of steps but at a slower pace.
Kristy also swims with He-Man. “Had to repost from @he_man_the_pug because I love him so much and am slightly sorry I traumatized him. But I loved how he kept trying to climb on top of my shoulders,” she joked in a caption about one of their swimming sessions. Swimming is a good way to get regular aerobic physical activity, according to the CDC. Just two and a half hours per week of aerobic physical activity, such as swimming, bicycling, or running, can decrease the risk of chronic illnesses. In addition to the many physical benefits, there are multiple studies supporting the mental health benefits of swimming as well.
Aside from being one of the best female powerlifters of all time, Kristy has a career. “Not powerlifting-related but this is how @he_man_the_pug and I spend our days. I’m proud to be a co-founder and CSO of Antheia using synthetic biology to revolutionize the way plant-inspired medicines are manufactured. #dogsofantheia #science,” she captioned a post.