Sarah Lanzillo, a professional powerlifter and strong woman, has built a reputation not only for her impressive feats in strength but also for her advocacy. In August, she showed support for Presidential candidate Kamala Harris, sharing a post on Instagram where she posed in a “Childless Cat Lady” shirt—a playful nod that many had adopted to voice their endorsements of Harris. Here’s how she stays so fit.
One of the main ways that Lanzillo stays in shape is weightlifting. ACE Fitness states that doing this has a lot of benefits. “Lifting heavy weights elevates levels of anabolic hormones—specifically testosterone, growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1)—which are used to repair muscle fibers damaged during exercise. This helps the muscle fibers to become thicker and capable of generating higher levels of force.”
Lanzillo makes sure to work hard when she trains. She talked about this in the caption of this Instagram video of herself training. “Deadlifts ✅The Competition weights for the ladder are: 405, 455, 495, 525, and 560. My goal is to get though the 1st 3 🙏🏼🙏🏼 it’s absolutely insane to see some of the women flying through this event 😬😬😬💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼 💪🏼”
In the previous Instagram video, Lanzillo is seen doing deadlifts with a barbell. According to NASM, this exercise is very beneficial. “A Romanian deadlift is a hip-hinge pattern that works the hamstrings and glutes. It is a form of deadlift with noticeably less bend in the knee, leading to greater hamstring engagement than traditional deadlifts. The move was introduced to the masses in the 90s by Romanian weightlifter Nicu Vlad (an Olympic and World Weightlifting champion) and his coach Dragomir Cioroslan. The two invented the move to help Nicu strengthen his back for the clean and jerk. Today, RDLs are commonly used to strengthen the posterior chain, using the core muscles to stabilize and the hamstrings and glutes to drive the movement.”
Lanzillo took time off from competing, and opened up about this in the caption of this Instagram video. “I’ve taken this whole year off competing to focus on my health. My body was so confused with the constant ups and downs of competing. Gain weight… lose weight… back and forth…I honestly haven’t lifted anything heavier than 225 in MONTHS and my body is thanking me for it. It doesn’t hurt when I get out of bed. My elbows don’t chronically hurt. My hips aren’t in pain every second of the day. My spine isn’t compressed after every workout. I feel good! I’m not saying I won’t EVER get back into competing BUTTTT this time off has done my body good 🥰🥰🥰”
Lanzillo is seen doing squats with a barbell in this Instagram video. The Cleveland Clinic states that squats are very beneficial. “‘Squats are integral to athletic training programs, enhancing speed, agility, strength and power across various sports disciplines,’ says sports and exercise medicine physician Matthew Kampert, DO…’Squats primarily target the muscles in the thighs, hips and buttocks, leading to enhanced stability, balance and overall lower body strength.'”