I’ve now been powerlifting for about 10 years.
For a little history – read the following post from 2019, near the beginning of my powerlifting journey: Gaining strength and competing in powerlifting after menopause. Personal update.
I’ve continued training, sometimes more intensively, other times taking a break from the longer sessions but still maintaining gym visits.
The second time I competed internationally was in October 2023, we travelled to Mongolia where the IPF Masters World champs were held in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar. Mongolia was a truly fascinating country, and not one we would have visited had it not been for the competition. I competed in my usual category – under 52kg, Masters 3 (60-69) and this time I won all the medals gold for squat (100kg), bench (55kg), deadlift (120kg) and total. The New Zealand masters 3 team did really well, with all three of us winning golds. Here is a small selection of photos from that trip.
In 2024, I scaled back my training to work on my PhD, however I was fortunate to be awarded a Blue award at AUT for powerlifting. The AUT Blue Awards recognise students who excel in their chosen sport or area of art, design and culture while maintaining high academic standards. 
In early 2025, I began more intensive training, with a goal of competing in South Africa in October. I had hoped my PhD would be finished, however, it wasn’t, and I managed to squeeze a few hours work amongst travelling and competing. South Africa was also a fascinating and beautiful place to visit, despite the extreme inequality and high unemployment. I won my category again, with a small improvement on the last World champs. Squat (100kg), bench (55kg), deadlift (125kg).
After this trip it was back home to push for the finish line and submit my PhD on the 1st of December. Currently, it is still under examination, however, two of the five papers have been published and the others are under peer review in journals.
An overview of the two publications are here (A review paper on elimination- reintroduction diets in RA) and here (The results from the AIP diet and RA pilot study).
What’s next for me? I’m hoping to conduct more research, carrying out a larger intervention study in rheumatoid arthritis. AS for powerlifting, I’m on a bit of a forced break, due to a tendon tear in my shoulder. It’s on the mend, in the meantime, I have rehab and still do short sessions to maintain strength.
