Lucky Number #13

Introducing! The All-powerful Grace Stilgoe (www.instagram.com/gracevsgravity)

Grace is a nearly-qualified Actuary by day and a Team GB Powerlifter by night.

She's been powerlifting for just over 3 years and training for around 7. Her powerlifting achievements include:

- Bronze medalist at the British Championship 2018

- 2x silver medalist at the English championship (2018 & 2019)

- Gold medalist in the under-63kg class at Western Europeans 2019, and Bronze across all weight classes

- Best Female Lifter at the Home Nations 2019

- Silver medalist at the British Championship 2020

And if it wasn't for COVID, she'd have competed at the World Championships last month in Belarus.

All this in the space of 3 years...

Here's what came up in the conversation....

How did all that happen?! And what's an Actuary??

Needing people like Grace to balance people like Umar!

Making weight for powerlifting competitions

Why powerlifting?

Unhealthy work culture and tough personal circumstances drove her to the gym

Going down the track of bikini competitions, "which were a terrible, unhealthy period of my life..."

Need for sport in life anchored in memories of childhood activity

Stopped being about that pub life

Life is NOT downhill from 30

Being bullied at school impacted her self-image

What the bikini competition endeavour really was, was an eating disorder. "I could not function."

Only being happy during the process when the weight on the scales went down.

Coming through a hellacious experience to know with certainty what is and is not worth it

Question everything - ask 'Why?' 5 times to get to the truth

The Process is the most important thing

The Battle Of The Butt!

Size Zero to Kardashian type figures - the so-called ideal woman figure is always changing with the fashion, so ignore it

The rebellious side comes out

Always enjoying having something to work towards

Equipped vs Raw powerlifting

Evolve Achieve THRIVE Skincare for Powerlifters!

How does powerlifting impact other domains of life and vice versa?

Having an athlete's routine

"Tiny little gains from consistent small efforts really add up."

"You only fail if you quit."

Attempting the British Squat Record at the British Championships 2020

Recalibrating the mind to recover quickly from failure

Putting into perspective overcoming a challenge

The key to making such quick progress

Discipline = freedom

Become unf**kable with!

Never stray from the way

Facing negativity from other people

Upgrading the circles you hang out in

Sometimes the passion won't be understood

Bulletproofing from injury because the training programme is smart and sensible

Be patient for the results

"Do it for the process, not the highlight reel." - being in love with the process

Being open to learning from different approaches

Bethnal Green Weightlifting Club is a special place

Commercial vs Specialised Gyms

Succeeding in male-dominated environments

Powerlifting is a hugely encouraging world for women to excel

Letting the lifting do the talking

Creep Of The Week!

Powerlifting helped become strong, capable, confident, empowered

Becoming easier for women to excel in Actuary

Using anxiety as a positive force

Using music to get into the right head space

Doing what future You will thank you for

What are you scared of?

"If there are any women that are scared to do something, just do it anyway. That's going to be my parting thought."