Powerlifter Lya Bavoil in Two-Piece Workout Gear Shares "Gym Motivation"

Lya Bavoil is offering up a little “gym motivation” in her two-piece workout gear. In a new social media post the power lifter shows off her amazing body in a two-piece exercise set while lifting super heavy weights. “TOOOO THE MOOON 🌪️🌪️🌪️🌪️,” commented one of her followers about her impressive Instagram video, while several others left fire emojis. How does she approach diet, fitness, and self-care? Here is everything you need to know about her lifestyle habits.

1. Self-Improvement

Lya is driven by self improvement. “(My motivation is) to always be better. Not better than someone else, but better than I was yesterday, or the months before. Just keep pushing hard, and keep trying to reach perfection. There is no perfection, but there is always something you can work on, with technique and form and things like that. So I just want to be better every day,” she told Fitness Volt.

2. Healthy Diet

Lya works with a nutritionist to achieve her dietary goal. “It depends on the day, but sometimes I eat three or five times a day. It depends on my day, if I work or not, or if I wake up late or not. I have my macros everyday, that I have to hit, like my macros when I train and when I don’t train, but I adjust it with my meals. I’m around 2000 calories per day.”

3. Asperger’s

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Lya has Asperger’s. “It helps me in a way, because I always do the same squat, bench, deadlift, and I feel secure with powerlifting,” she said. “There are no surprises in training, I know what I have to do every day. I have my plan, and it’s always the same competition lifts,” she continued. “The challenges were learning how to handle it in public, and in competition. But now that people know, they care about it. They pay attention to me more than other people because they know things like noises can be bad for me. It secures me, and makes me feel great. I’m not afraid anymore to compete in international competitions. Now I have friends in powerlifting and they know it, and they help me.”

4. Her Favorite Exercise

“My favorite exercise, and it always surprises people when I say it, but it’s bench press. I like bench press because you don’t have to wear the sleeves, you don’t have to wear the belt. I feel free, and I don’t feel very tired after bench sessions.”

5. 5 Training Sessions a Week

Lya hits the gym almost daily. “I train five days a week. I do four squat, five bench, and two deadlift, and I essentially just do competition lift,” Bavoil said. “(I train) heavy like two days a week,” she says.

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.

1. She Lifts Weights

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.”

2. She Works Hard

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 😬😬😬💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼 💪🏼”

3. She Does Deadlifts

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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.”

4. She Took Time Off

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 🥰🥰🥰”

5. She Does Squats

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.’”

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.”