Powerlifter Sarah Lanzillo in Two-Piece Workout Gear is "So Beautiful"

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

Sarah Lanzillo/Instagram

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.’”

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.”

Anna Pardzhiani, a professional powerlifter and fitness trainer, inspires her large Instagram following with workout videos and fitness tips. Known for her dedication to strength training, she recently shared a video posing in workout gear that garnered enthusiastic praise from her followers. Pardzhiani’s journey showcases her commitment to health, self-confidence, and encouraging others to appreciate their own unique abilities.

1. She Lifts Weights

Weightlifting is the main thing that Pardzhiani does to keep herself in shape, and it has a lot of health benefits. ACE Fitness states, “Using maximal loads for compound (multi-joint) movements like the deadlift, squat-to-shoulder press, bent-over row or chest press can improve intermuscular coordination, which is the ability of many muscles to work together to generate and control high levels of force through multiple joints.”

2. She Walks

Most of the workouts that Pardzhiani does are in the gym. However, there are some workouts she likes to do outside. Pardzhiani likes to walk to keep herself in shape. She shared this set of photos on Instagram of herself walking by the water at night. Pardzhiani captioned the post, “Vacation is not 100% vacation when you are a freelancer. But you always choose yourself where to be) and it's fine.”

3. She’s Comfortable With Herself

Pardzhiani makes sure to be comfortable with herself, and she wants others to do the same. Pardzhiani talked about this in the caption of this Instagram post. “How much energy goes into perpetual dissatisfaction with your body when your body helps you live that life. Perhaps you should shift your focus from finding flaws and the desire to please standards to your abilities? Choose a pleasant type of activity that will make you more confident and stronger, healthier, active, happier. Not going to the gym out of self-hate, not punishment by training, but enjoyment from activity? A sports body is more than a picture. Sports bodies can be different, it’s about what you’re capable of💫”

4. She Does Pull-Ups

Pardzhiani likes to do pull-ups to stay in shape. She shared this video on Instagram of herself doing them in the gym. Pardzhiani captioned it, “Started practicing pull ups again. I love this movement, even though my data, to put it mildly, is not tight).” Asphalt Green states that doing pull-ups have a lot of benefits. “Pull-ups are a fantastic way to improve upper-body strength. This exercise primarily targets your back and biceps, but involves many stabilizing muscles in your core, arms, and shoulders. Depending on the way you grip the bar, you can even work your chest.”

5. She Does Squats

One exercise that Pardzhiani likes to do with weights is squats. She shared this video on Instagram of herself doing them with a barbell. Piedmont states that squats have a lot of health benefits. “Squats are a compound, multi-joint movement, which means they exercise several muscle groups. When you perform a squat, you work your calves, quads, hamstrings, glutes, core and part of your back.”