The professional powerlifter from New Zealand and gold (and silver) medalist, Karlina Tongotea, knows what it takes to stay strong and healthy, as she’s a family doctor, as well. Karlina Tongotea posted a video on Instagram of her performing a pause deadlift single 524lb and back down sets 427lb x 4 captioned “chipping away. Pause deadlift single 238kg. Deadlifts 194kg x 4 @nzpowerliftingacademy @sbdsheffield @virusintl_oc.” Here's what else she does to stay in such great shape.
1. She focuses on progress
She celebrates when she succeeds and reaches goals. In this video on Instagram of her lifting, she captioned it “I'm excited about this build. Top squat triple 208kg x 3, Backdowns 17tkg x 4, Backdown tempo 161kg x 2, Bench 115kg x 3 @nzpowerliftingacademy @powerlifting_physio @sbdsheffield @virusintl_oc.”
2. She has support
She’s grateful for the support from her loving family. “Thank you to my family for supporting and coming with me across the world. Your love and presence gave me strength when I felt I had none, it kept me in a space where I can feel ok about where I was at and has kept me confident about where I know I will be next time,” she said on Instagram.
3. She powers through
She pushes through the off days, as seen in a series of videos of her working out and lifting at the gym. “Heavy days. I think about them 48hrs prior, I organise my life around putting myself in the most optimal condition I can for them. Today, I woke up feeling drained. I couldn't pinpoint why. I tried to control what I could and tried to trick my mind into feeling energised. On the one day I had both heavy squat and bench, It did not work 😅Never the less, we show up and give what we have,” she said on Instagram.
4. She’s strong
She focuses on building strength. “As predicted, I got my squat line back on track. I'm feeling stronger and more dialed in every week. This 226kg felt very heavy as soon as I unracked it. That's not surprising as it's the first exposure of Worlds prep. I'm looking forward to reaquainting my body to this weight range and the progress that follows,” she said on Instagram. According to the Mayo Clinic, “you don't need to spend hours a day lifting weights to benefit from strength training. You can see significant improvement in your strength with just two or three 20- or 30-minute strength training sessions a week.”
5. She’s consistent
Even through tough times, she stays driven, focused, and most importantly, consistent. She said on Instagram on a video of her working up her strength, “7 years of relentless consistency, growing from failures, refusing to make the same mistakes twice, and learning to set goals whilst dismantling the idea of limits.”
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