Tia Braithwaite is aiming to break world records later this month while competing for her third time ever in powerlifting.
Braithwaite qualified to challenge world records after beating Canadian records at a national competition in Prince George this May. She also ranked highest among females at the competition which was organized by the Canadian division of the World Powerlifting Congress (WPC). The nationals were her first time competing in all three types of lifting: bench press, deadlift, and squat, and only her second powerlifting competition ever.
It’s thanks to 12 years of weightlifting, Braithwaite said, that she’s performed so well.
“I climbed up pretty fast,” she said. “I went from just winning first place in the bench only (category) to breaking national records.”
Her very first time competing in powerlifting was just last year, when she ranked first in bench press for her category by lifting 203.93 pounds. She said she’s always been strongest in bench press.
Braithwaite has been weightlifting for about 12 years now. She began by going to the gym with her husband Cody, but soon went out on her own. Cody says two sessions were enough for him, but his support for his wife powers on. Recently, Cody helped by refinishing the basement to accommodate Tia’s home gym.
This wasn’t the first time that changes were made in the home. When they lived in Lethbridge, Alberta, the Braithwaites had to restyle their living room to make space for Tia’s cable machine. “It was loud,” Cody recalls laughing, feeling somewhat bad for their neighbours at the time.
Years later, Tia Braithwaite is now preparing for the 2024 WPC World Cup which welcomes competitors from 46 countries to Idaho. Braithwaite, 39, expects to beat bench press records in her class, which is determined by age and weight. She’ll also be challenging records in the ‘Police, Fire, Military and First Responder’ category, which she qualifies for as a probation officer. In this category, she expects to surpass records lifting from both squatting and standing positions, along with doing bench press.
Braithwaite says she feels overwhelmed now that she has qualified to challenge world records. She’ll need to lift more than 231.4 pounds to beat the current bench press record in her class which was set in 2019 by Sonia Williams from Australia. Braithwaite believes she can lift between 235-240 pounds.
“I love the feeling of ... not necessarily beating other people, but competing with yourself and beating your own limits,” she said.
Along with the world cup, Braithwaite will be competing at the WPC World Championships near Chicago, where she intends to challenge any records she may set beforehand at the world cup in Idaho.
Braithwaite says her goals have changed over the years as powerlifting became a part of her life. While she used to lift weights to build visible muscle, now she does it to build strength. She trains solo in her home gym with the occasional company of her cat, Buddy.
Along with weightlifting, Braithwaite spends almost every summer weekend peak hiking with her husband. He supports her by driving her to competitions, spotting her when necessary, and cheering her on. Most importantly, Cody says he encourages Tia to invest in herself.
Braithwaite is also a certified personal trainer and hopes to welcome more clients to her home gym. Anyone interested can reach out at tiaelizabeth@live.ca.
