Connie Tabbert
Editor
COBDEN — Cobden powerlifter Paula Turcotte earned a bronze medal at the Ottawa Open Powerlifting competition, which means she can compete in the Masters 1 division at the upcoming provincial powerlifting championship in southern Ontario.
There were three lifts at this competition – deadlift, bench press and back squat. A deadlift is when you pick up the weight from the floor and bring it to your hips. A bench press is when you lay on your back, push the weight up, bring it down to your rib cage and then back to the stand. A back squat is you back up the weighted bar, pick up the weight, squat down and then back up and put it back onto the stand.
However Paula noted, all of these are done under commands from a judge. There are three judges and they each are watching the technicalities of which lift a competitor is doing, she said. For example, when doing a back squat, you unrack the bar, step back, take position, settle, squat, come up, and then hold it until the judge says rack.
“They are looking for certain techniques,” she said.
At this event, Paula was hoping to achieve a personal best (pb). At the meet, she said a plan had been put in place as to what she would lift. However, if her coach, Sarah Leighton, believes she’s having a good weigh day, she could up Paula’s weights without her knowing.
“I lift heavier if I don’t know my numbers,” she explained. “I was lifting well.”
At this meet, Paula deadlifted 292 pounds, back-squatted 248 pounds and bench pressed 121.3 pounds. She pointed out these weights are what she accomplished after breaking her back.
“These are personal bests since I fell and broke my back,” she said. Paula fell and broke her back on July 4, 2014.
It was a 40 Celsius degree day outside, she recalled. A few friends were over and they were in the pool. She got out and slipped into a pair of crocs (sandal-like shoes). As she was going down the three steps from her pool to the deck, tragedy struck.
“I slipped and fell down three stairs,” she recalled. “I took the corner of the stairs twice on my back. When I tried to get up, it just wasn’t possible. I rolled over and with help got up.”
Not wanting to alarm her young daughter Taelyr, Paula opted against calling an ambulance and instead a friend drove her to the hospital. Husband Ron found someone to care for her and to cover his on-call shift as a Hydro One employee and then he too went to the hospital.
She had broken her lower spine in two different spots.
“I was told I would never lift again,’ she said.
This occurred just two weeks before the Ottawa Open Powerlifting event, which she was going to compete in for the first time, but wasn’t able to.
After several tests, which included MRIs, Paula was told surgery wouldn’t help because nothing was impinging on her spine.
“My best route of recovery was to maintain a strong core, stay upright and no bending,” Paula said.
Paula was medicated to help with the pain, but didn’t like how it affected her, especially since she wanted to spend time with her daughter. Working with her chiropractic sports doctors, Paula did something she never thought she would – she had acupuncture.
“The needles are not painful,” she said. “They’re just little pricks, but it got the blood flowing.”
Six weeks after the accident, she could begin back squatting using her daughter as weight.
“It made me feel like I was back at the beginning,” Paula said. “I was in the best shape ever and was back-squatting 265 pounds before I fell. I was now at ground zero.”
Paula became involved in powerlifting using a Mother’s Day gift from her husband. She recalled she had been doing crossfit for about 18 months and decided to take a break. Six months into the break, and she knew, as did Ron, that something just wasn’t right.
“He surprised me on Mother’s Day with a gift certificate to Ultimate Fitness,” she recalled.
This gym is in Renfrew and operated by husband and wife powerlifters Paul Vaillancourt and Sarah Leighton. Not knowing anyone who was a member of the gym, Paula took a deep breath and tried out the gym and still goes at least three times a week.
Following the fall Paula said her Ultimate Fitness gym family were fantastic. While she was not allowed to lift, she was allowed to go to the gym and enjoy the atmosphere and work on mobility and keeping her core strong. She was hopeful that what she had been told about lifting was not true.
“My core was already well maintained,” she said. “I probably would not have recovered as fast if it wasn’t as good as it was.”
When trainer Paul was advised by her chiropractic doctors that she could begin lifting again, he started her from the beginning, which meant using a plastic bar.
Over the next few months, there was constant progress, which included peaks and plateaus, she recalled. But that was no different than before the fall, she said. Every athlete will go through peaks and plateaus, she said.
And so this year, when it came time to register for the Ottawa Open Powerlifting event, Paula did so.
The Friday night before the event, Ultimate Fitness participants had their equipment checked and weighed in. Paula said there are various pieces of equipment a powerlifter may choose to use or must use, such as knee sleeves, back support belt, certain shoes, wrist wraps, a singlet and certified socks.
“They are very stringent when it comes to the equipment,” she said.
On Saturday, the adrenaline was high, she said. She was pumped and ready to go, as were the other competitors. She made sure she was warmed up, hydrated and had her carbs and proteins. Thirty to 60 minutes prior to competing, “you sit back and get in the zone.”
Paula wanted to have clean lifts and reach her goals. She not only reached her goals, but surpassed them.
“I didn’t care if I placed or not,” she recalled. “I took a third in my weight category.”
After the event, she found out because she is 39 years old, she is able to compete in the Masters 1 category at the Ontario Powerlifting championship. While she’s not yet sure if she’s going to compete provincially, Paula does know she is going to prepare to participate in the North Bay meet in October.
“From July to October I want to improve on what I did,” she said. “I don’t think my nerves will be as bad.”
However, she did add she believes her nerves weren’t as bad as they could have been because while she wasn’t able to compete at last year’s Ottawa Powerlifting event, she was there giving moral support and helping her teammates where she could.
“I felt very green,” she said. “It was difficult to watch knowing I should have been competing too.
“I now know it was the best experience I could have asked for. It gave me such an edge. It fueled my desire to continue lifting.”
What she didn’t know from being on the sidelines is how it felt to be on stage, Paula said.
There are about 50 to 100 people in the audience and there are these “lovely hot flood lights shining down on you,” she recalled. There are three judges and a table of commentators as well as coaches and competitors in the nearby pit.
“You see all these people and yet there’s dead silence,” she recalled.
Looking at the notes from her coaches afterwards, Paula said she’s proud of what she accomplished. The notes written on her coach’s paper included mint, looked good and kill bench.
“In one year I’ve done pretty darn good to get back there,” she said.
Prior to the fall, Paula was deadlifting 305 pounds, back squatting 265 pounds and bench pressing 135 pounds.
“I’m almost there,” she said.
She attributes how well she did to her coaches, Paul, who is not only a powerlifter but a strongman competitor and Sarah, who is a world-class powerlifter.
“Paul takes the technicalities very serious,” she said. “You will get called on technicalities. If you don’t have the technicalities down, you won’t pick up right.”
Paula works out with her powerlifting group every second to third day as well as works out on her own. Along with power lifting, she does mobility, which is various stretches and moves. She also rides her bike on off days.
“The group of people I work out with are great,” Paula said. “We are there for each other, on and off the platform and in and out of the gym.”
She noted in powerlifting, while there are competitions, for many they are competing against themselves.
“You want to better yourself,” she said, adding, “Power lifting has become my love. I feel good about myself. It relieves stress. No matter what you do for a workout, you can take on a lot more in your daily life than before.
“Working out is awesome, it makes you look and feel better about yourself.”
As for her family, Ron works out to maintain a healthy lifestyle while Taelyr remains active for a little girl.
“I would love for her to take an interest (in powerlifting),” Paula said. “There’s no class for Taelry, but she comes with me. She uses a broomstick as a bar.”
Looking back, Paula admits “I learned so much from the fall, it was an eye-opener. I had no choice but to learn how my body works.
“There’s nothing I won’t try.”
