Powerlifter Kristin Dunsmore in Two-Piece Workout Gear is "Confident"

Kristin Dunsmore is a powerhouse in the weightlifting world, known for her impressive strength and dedication. She regularly shares her workout tips with her Instagram followers. In September, she posted a video of herself lifting a barbell, captioning it, “I’m confident this off-season will set me up for an even stronger return.” Whether she’s discussing her structured routines, goal-setting, or the importance of form, Dunsmore’s insights inspire fellow athletes to push their limits. Here’s a look at her approach to fitness, which combines focused training with long-term goal setting to build strength both mentally and physically.

1. She Lifts Weights

Naturally, weightlifting is the main way Dunsmore stays in shape. ACE Fitness states that this has a lot of health benefits. “Lifting heavy weights increases production of the hormone IGF-1. This hormone is related to the production of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which is a neurotransmitter responsible for stimulating the growth of new neural pathways in the brain along with enhancing communication between existing pathways. In short, lifting heavy could make you smarter by enhancing cognitive function.”

2. She Has A Routine

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Dunsmore shared her tips for training in the off-season in her post’s caption. One thing she does is plan out her workouts. “Having a structured routine and keeping track of progress has been influential in regaining that drive. Today’s deadlift session was a testament to that, with a solid top single at 200kg (441 lbs). The weight was slow off the ground, but it moved well, and I feel my technique is steadily improving.”

3. She Sets Goals

Dunsmore likes to set goals to help herself stay in shape. She talked about this in her post’s caption. “Transitioning into the off-season has cone with expected challenges. This phase can often feel directionless without the urgency of competition, but I’m refocused by setting specific goals for myself unrelated to powerlifting.”

4. She Widens Her Grip

Dunsmore shares a lot of her tips for improving weight lifting on Instagram. In this post, she revealed that having a wide grip is important. “I've made some adjustments to my bench form that I hope will help with my technique overall. The most significant change is widening my grip, which I expect to be beneficial for obvious reasons. I’ve also brought my feet slightly more forward in front of me, although I did clip the rack on the last rep. Fortunately, that's an easy enough fix.”

5. She Does Squats

Dunsmore likes to do squats to keep herself in shape. She shared this video on Instagram of herself doing them with a barbell. Dunsmore captioned the post, “Paused High Bar Squats are fun 🙃☠️On the plus side, I think I’m learning how to use my quads for once in the squat. New kicks from @avancusofficial 👟”

Powerlifter and strongwoman Chloe Brennan knows the value of persistence and resilience in her sport. Recently, Brennan celebrated a new milestone on Instagram, sharing a video of herself lifting a long-awaited personal best, captioned, “It’s taken me 3 years to add 5KG to my log… 85KG finally ticked off.” Her fitness journey combines intense strength training with strategic restorative weeks to recharge her muscles. Known for exercises like deadlifts and pushing herself beyond comfort zones, Brennan emphasizes the importance of focusing on gains and trusting the process, even through challenging prep sessions. Her mindset and dedication inspire fans to embrace the grind, stay positive, and celebrate each hard-earned achievement.

1. She Strength Trains

Brennan naturally does a lot of strength training to keep herself 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 Restorative Training

Brennan makes sure to give her body time to recover and doesn’t push herself too hard. One way she does so is by doing restorative training. Brennan talked about this in the caption of this Instagram video. “When your mind and body are feeling zonked from life doing its thing or from hard training or competing it can be super valuable to take a step back and do 1-2 weeks of restorative training where you take a break from hammering your body with heavy loads and just focus on movement quality and feeling good ✌🏻It’s amazing what a bit of a recharge can do, remember. In order to shoot an arrow forward, you must first pull it back.”

3. She Does Deadlifts

One strength training exercise that Brennan likes to do is deadlifts. She is seen doing them in this Instagram video. ACE Fitness states that deadlifts are very beneficial. “The Romanian deadlift (RDL) is a traditional barbell lift used to develop the strength of the posterior chain muscles, including the erector spinae, gluteus maximus, hamstrings and adductors. 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.”

4. She Pushes Herself

Brennan makes sure to push herself when she is training. This means moving outside her comfort zone. Brennan talked about this in the caption of this Instagram post. “Feeling uncomfortable is part of the process. Being scared to fail is normal. The greatest opportunities and outcomes happen when we step outside of our comfort zone. So embrace the fear, feel the discomfort and do the thing anyway.”

5. She Focuses On Her Gains

Brennan makes sure to focus on the positive things when she trains. She talked about this in the caption of this Instagram post. “The final weeks of prep don’t always feel good, I’ll often feel like all of my gains have escaped but it’s super important to trust the process- you are not your final sessions but the result of all of the work put in up to that point ✌🏻This final session I was struggling to pick up 100kg from the floor- but panic we did not- on the day 100kg popped up lovely and moved 77m in 60 seconds for the event win (I hated every second but that’s not the point 🤣)Stop stressing over one or two bad sessions and remember your result will be a reflection of the bigger picture.”

Kristin Pope is a very successful bodybuilder and fitness coach. She has a large following on Instagram. Pope recently shared some stunning photos of herself in gray workout clothes. She captioned the post, “Said: I wanna be cool, I don’t wanna be pretty. Check my stories, hosting free intro consult calls for coaching on Friday. Details on nutrition coaching & training plans in profile!”

1. She Wants To Break Records

Pope is always pushing herself to do better. One thing she wants to do is break records. Pope talked about this in the caption of this weightlifting Instagram video. “To break the masters American Record - it would take getting back to my all time best snatch. Might take a very long time lol but do you think I could do it? 😂🤔@dynamicpursuit. I have training plans for all strength sports!! You can do the Weightlifting track and train with me. 🤗 Check out the details linked in my bio!”

2. She Focuses On Herself

Pope makes sure to focus on herself. Specifically, she focuses on things that she can control. Pope talked about this in the caption of this Instagram post. “Less caption, more action. 😤 Had a big setback, but we change the plan, not the goal. Entering a ‘fxck your feelings’ era these next few weeks. Focus on what you can control. Do what you can, and do it well. #dymamicpursuit. Come train with me! New workouts release on Sunday for my bodybuilding program 🔥 details in bio.”

3. She Lifts Weights

Kristin Pope/Instagram

In the first blurb’s Instagram video, Pope is seen lifting weights. She is also seen strength training in the previous link. ACE Fitness states that strength training and using 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.”

4. She Does Pulldowns

Pope shared this video on Instagram of herself doing different workouts in the gym. One thing she is seen doing is pulldowns. Piedmont states that doing these can be very beneficial. “The lat pulldown is a fantastic exercise for strengthening the latissimus dorsi muscle, the broadest muscle in your back. This muscle promotes good posture and spinal stability. Form is crucial when performing a lat pulldown to prevent injury and reap the best results.”

5. She Uses A Rowing Machine

Kristin Pope/Instagram

In the previous blurb’s Instagram post, Pope is seen using a rowing machine. Piedmont reports that this is very beneficial. “Treadmills and elliptical machines get all the attention, but the rowing machine can give you one of the most efficient, effective workouts at the gym. Rowing not only torches major calories, it also tones the entire body.”

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 💪”