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Show 2B Lakeside Review, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 1981 She's Lifting For World Titfle ROY The room has the sweet pungent smell of a locker room the smell of perspiration and wet athletic socks. But the room isnt upstairs in some old field house or in a spa ; its the basement of Major Jan Shendows house in Roy. Mixed in between the (8,000 of bench seats, quat stands and Olympic weights is a handful of lifters who belong to the Hill AFB Power Lifting Club. Most in the room are men but a couple of those who grunt and lift are women. One woman places her hands and feet on the floor while laying on her back. Then with a breath of air she lifts back up into a bridge. She is small, at least in height. Shed be lucky to look you in the neck while But if standing on her tippy-toeshe had to, she could probably lift you high enough for you to get a birds eye view of the room. And if she couldnt lift you, her legs look strong enough to kick you up to the ceiling. She is Lynda Chicado, and she is presently sixth in the nation for women powerlifters. But sixth place is too low in her mind and she has plans to eventually become number one in the world. The desire to be number one is anything, anywhere, is usually only a dream. But for Lynda, its a real possibility. disHer bright yellow plays her motto: Never underestimate the Power of a Woman, and her records prove it. In competition she has lifted 325 pounds in the deadlift, 295 in the squat and 180 in the bench press. To many men, especially the heavyweight lifters, Lyndas lifting may be trivial, but she was able to do those lifts while competing in the 123 lb. weight division. Lynda has always been involved in sports. I was supposed to be a boy in my fathers eyes, and I was to. be named Richard.1 But, by the normal process, she became a she, and since Richard didnt fit as a name for a girl her parents settled for Lynda. But somehow, Lynda grew up stronger than most of her friends, including boys, in the neighborhood. She swam competitively in high school and participated in the AAU tournaments. It: was while she was swimming that she became acquainted with weight lifting. She had to lift light s. tee-shi- rt LYNDA BECOMES intense weights in order to gain strength with her strokes. Later a friend had her try some powerlifting. I didnt think much of it for a while, until I realized I was only nine pounds from the (then) American record. That interested her enough to build up her weight lifting power. The American records have moved up, but Lynda is right behind and closing fast. In the short time Lynda has been lifting competitively, she has improved greatly. Last month she took first place at the Southern Idaho Powerlifting championships. Her total of 790 pounds, the three lifts combined, qualified her for the national powerlifting championships to be held at Austin, Texas at the end of January. She isnt sure if she will compete in the 123 lb class or the 132 lb class. I may have a better chance to win in the 132 division. This year will be the first year that the competition will have a steriod check on the lifters. Steriods are chemicals which have the ability to develop extra muscle tissue in men and women. The effects of using the substances are not completely known and their use is frowned upon by the medical and athletic professions. We know for sure that a couple of the women powerlifters have used them in the past so we dont know how they will do in the competition this year, said Lynda. One effect of using steriods by women is the development of more masculine definitions, and Lynda couldnt be accused of that. But she still feels she isnt one of the better examples of women weightlifters. People who see me may be scared off of lifting. 99 percent of the women in the world wont develop extra muscle tissue, but Im one of the Other than the strong leg mus-- cles in her thigh, she would be the type of person to introduce to your grandmother. But her looks can be deceiving. There is nothing passive about her taining. She works in the weight room with the Club every, weekday. Each day is dedicated to one certain lift and Thursday is her day for the benchpress. Normaly she would do a series of six reps of 165 pounds but today she tries to break her workout weight. After warming up and stretch- one-perce- LYNDA MENTALLY lifts the weights before she lifts them off the stand. ing, she slowly adds weight on to the bars. Finally 170 pounds are laced on. She lays down on the E ench and after a few short bursts of air she lifts the bar above her. She lets the bar rest on her chest and then lifts, arching her back. The bare comes up easy and she repeats the process five more times. The weight wasnt that much for her and so she tried for 175 pounds. After a few minutes rest she is again under the bar. This time the burst of air comes out harder and her face turns red with the strain.1 On the sixth rep she shows the tiredness of her arms. The bar moves up but stops in the middle as her arms shake with muscle spasms. Shes on the verge of quit-in- g but her fellow team mates urge her on. Finally with one last grunt the bar rases stubbornly and the lift is completed. Her arms are tired but she sits up on the bench and smiles; another one of her personal goals achieved. But she will have to meet many more personal goals, as well as the goals set by Shendow, in order to reach her ulimate world goal. Lynda has moved quickly up the ranks of powerlifting. Im the only one to be rated, man or woman, to be Elite in the state of Utah. Powerlifters are ranked in one of six classes of ability, and the top class is Elite. If Lynda can grab the first spot in the nationals then she will go to the world competition in Australia in May. But Lynda feels the biggest goal would be the Nationals. America is far ahead of the rest of the world in women powerlifting. If ' I get to Australia then I would be pretty much first in the world. as she lifts 175 pounds on the benchpress (below). Her 'spotter, grips the bar prior to the lift (above). Photos By Dan Miller Story By Dan Carlsruh NO WEIGHTS are lifted until after a good stretching workout. t 4 4 |