Powerlifter Kimberly Walford in Two-Piece Workout Gear Does "Bench I've Been Proud Of"

Kimberly Walford is a legend in powerlifting, having clinched the IPF Championship title an impressive seven times. Alongside her competitive accolades, she’s a dedicated coach who inspires athletes with her strength and expertise. Walford frequently shares insights into her training routines on Instagram, offering a glimpse of the workouts that keep her at the top of her game. In September, she posted a video of herself performing bench presses, reflecting on her journey and the challenges she’s overcome in mastering this lift. She captioned the post, “With my body mechanics, I have never been at an advantage with bench press. However, I never let it stop me from earning a bench I’ve been proud of as well.” Here’s how she trains and stays motivated.

1. She Lifts Weights

Naturally, Walford lifts a lot of weights to keep herself in shape. Weightlifting is very beneficial. ACE Fitness states that not only does it get your body in shape, but it can help with your confidence. “Knowing that you can lift heavy stuff gives you the confidence that you can handle common challenges, such as a putting a bag in the overhead bin on an airplane or carrying a heavy piece of furniture while reorganizing a room or helping a friend move.”

2. She Bench Presses

Walford does a lot of workouts with weights to keep herself in shape. As you can see from her Instagram post, one of them is the bench press. Walford doesn’t just bench press with large barbells, however. She shared this video on Instagram of herself doing them with hand dumbbells. Walford captioned it, “110#_49.69kg Dumbbell Press - DB press have always been one of my favorite accessories. I know working on increasing my unilateral strength will help me on improving my bench.”

3. She Does Reverse Hypers

Walford likes to do reverse hypers to keep herself in shape. She shared this video of herself doing them on Instagram. Walford captioned the post, “Back to another favorite accessory of mine - @roguefitness Rhino Reverse Hypers. Literally had to start with only 2.5kg of bar weight. ✅ ⬆️ Posterior Chain muscles strength. ✅ ⬆️ Back resiliency. ✅ Isolate Glutes and Hammies. Thank you @protim for posting your video!!”

4. She Makes Time To Recover

While Walford works out on a regular basis, she makes sure to recover and to not push her body too hard. Walford talked about this in the caption of this Instagram video. “The beginning of a new training cycle is rough on the body. Light way feels heavy and your body sometimes feels a little like it forgot how to lift. We all go through it. Just know it takes a few weeks for your body to recover. Ride it out. Your CNS system will recover and you’ll be back to feeling normal.”

5. She Does Squats

Kimberly Walford/Instagram

Walford is seen doing squats in the previous Instagram video. Allina Health states that squats are very beneficial. “The squat is one of the all-around best exercises to do for your lower body. It strengthens and tones muscles in your thighs, butt and calves and improves posture, balance, flexibility and inner core strength. Squatting also improves bone mineral density to keep your bones strong. Include squats in your exercise routine two to three days a week to reap the benefits from this dynamite move. Rest at least one day to allow muscle recovery.”

Jessica Buettner is a very successful powerlifter. She is known for winning the IPF World Championships twice. Buettner is recovering from a back injury, and is sharing her recovery process on Instagram. In a video, she is seen doing some weightlifting exercises. Buettner captioned the post, “Training recap 🤡😂 tweaked my back about 3 weeks ago, nothing serious but I’m annoyed at myself for doing it nonetheless because once it seizes up I work long hours standing and it is hard to get back to normal. An ongoing problem for me a couple times a year for the past several years. Anyways, @miketuchscherer has put less specific movements in my program to help me recover and also in the last couple weeks reintroduced squats and deadlifts using the @reactivetrainingsystems framework for doing that and so far it’s been working very well. I also got some advice and adjusted how I stand at work and it’s helping too.”

1. She Lifts Weights

Buettner lifts weights to keep herself in shape. ACE Fitness states that weightlifting has a lot of benefits. “Using heavy weights increases intramuscular coordination, the number of type II motor units and the amount of muscle fibers engaged within a specific muscle. Have you ever felt your muscles shaking while lifting heavy weights? This is because you are recruiting and activating the larger type II muscle fibers, which are only stimulated to work when a muscle is challenged with heavy resistance or working to fatigue.”

2. She Deadlifts

Buettner likes to do deadlifts to keep herself in shape. She is seen doing them in this training video on her Instagram. ACE Fitness states that deadlifts have a lot of benefits. “When done correctly, the RDL is an effective exercise that helps strengthen both the core and the lower body with one move. Unlike the traditional barbell deadlift and other quad-dominant exercises such as leg presses, which place significant loads on the anterior portion of the knees, the RDL focuses most of the physical work on the muscles responsible for extending the hip and the knee from the posterior.”

3. She Does Squats

Buettner also likes to do squats to stay in shape. She shared this video on Instagram of herself doing them. Buettner captioned the post, “I think this is a rep PR on squats but I’m not sure - either way I’m super happy with the way it moved! Queues I still focus on almost every time I squat: -keeping even foot pressure - keeping the bar secure on my upper back. Bracing comes pretty naturally as I warm up, and I do think about things like improving the speed of my descent, and depth. Anyways, happy lifting everyone!”

4. She Hikes

Buettner doesn’t just workout in the gym. She also likes to spend time outside. One thing she likes to do is to go for hikes. Buettner shared this set of photos on Instagram of herself hiking in Malta. She captioned the post, “An amazing day in Malta 📍trained, saw some ancient ruins, a cathedral and some amazing sights. They introduced a one day break in the competition schedule at IPF worlds this year and I’m a big fan.”

5. She Doesn’t Focus On Being Perfect

Buettner doesn’t focus on being perfect, especially on social media. She talked about this in the caption of this Instagram post. “A quick tip to make you feel better if you’re filming yourself in a brightly lit gym. Most people probably know this trick for giving your videos dark Batman vibes, but at any rate remember social media is mostly an illusion and even people like me who don’t edit/photoshop photos still do things like this. Little things that really overemphasize a physique. Anyways have a good day everyone 💪”

Amanda Lawrence, a powerhouse in the powerlifting world, keeps her followers motivated with intense training updates on Instagram. Recently, she posted videos of herself bench pressing and deadlifting, captioned, “Happy Saturday! We still out here training hard 💪🏼 12 weeks until @sbdsheffield 👀.” With her unwavering commitment, Lawrence demonstrates the grit and preparation required for competitive lifting.

1. She Lifts Weights

Weightlifting is the main way Lawrence stays in shape. ACE Fitness states that lifting weights 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.”

2. She Does Squats

Lawrence is seen doing squats in this Instagram video. Squats are a great exercise to do. Allina Health reports, “The squat is one of the all-around best exercises to do for your lower body. It strengthens and tones muscles in your thighs, butt and calves and improves posture, balance, flexibility and inner core strength. Squatting also improves bone mineral density to keep your bones strong.”

3. She Works With A Coach

Lawrence shared her training secrets with Muscle & Fitness. She says that she works with a coach to help her train correctly. “I was training with straps all the time and with non-calibrated plates, on incorrect bench heights. It made things hard when you actually had to train on standard equipment on game day. I had a lot of changes I wanted to make from the Grand Prix in March of this year to Worlds. I hired a new coach, Joey Flexx, and he changed everything for me. I purchased calibrated plates, got a rack and everything, and started training on the correct equipment. Now, I have a different perspective on what I can improve upon.”

4. She Eats A Lot Of Protein

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Lawrence shared her typical diet with Muscle & Fitness. She says that she eats a lot of protein. “I eat the same things a lot, over and over. That’s just what works for me. I like a high protein diet—at least one gram per pound of body weight—because you need that just to perform and fuel. I go a little bit lower carbs, but make sure I get enough to fuel my performance. I follow a Renaissance Periodization diet, and they have an app you can use to track macronutrients in a plan that’s customized to your goals. It has set food choices that you can pick from. For example, if you need to get 30 grams of protein in and you want to eat specific foods, the app will tell you exactly how much to eat of specific foods to hit the nutritional value of 30 grams, or whatever fits your needs.”

5. She Protects Her Muscles

Lawrence makes sure to protect her muscles from injury. She shared how she does so with Muscle & Fitness. “I know my body’s limits, and I’ll purposefully not go through with a rep if something feels funny. Of course, I always have spotters, but knowing my limits has allowed me to continually push weight faster than others without getting injured. Before a lift, I’ll stretch a lot, use rollers, and do hip circles to loosen up my hips for both squats and deadlifts. I don’t do a ton of post-lift stretching, but I use recovery creams and make sure to eat a healthy diet. When it comes down to it, if you’re going to get injured, you’re going to get injured. There’s no way to prevent it, but just don’t be stupid and know when to stop.”