Dr. Alyssa Anderson might look the part of your average-sized, friendly small-town veterinarian.
Dr. Alyssa Anderson might look the part of your average-sized, friendly small-town veterinarian. But after work, she confounds expectations, heading to parking lots to practice lifting logs and tires, or hitting the gym to train to lift barbells as heavy as 300 lbs.
All of this training led the local to placing third in her very first national Strongman competition, which took place in Regina on Sept. 24.
“It's an adrenaline rush. You've got to be a little crazy to do it,&” she says with a grin of the competition that had her doing a series of challenges.
The challenges were held in one day, with female competitors having 60 seconds to do each of the following: lift a 120 lb. log as many times as possible; carry 150 lbs. in each hand as far as possible; flip a 500 lb. tire as far as possible; deadlift a tire with a man sitting on it as many times as possible; and lastly, lift increasingly heavy Atlas stones over a bar.
Nationals had a great inclusive atmosphere, where everyone helped each other out, she said, boiling it down to its essence: “It's just people picking up heavy stuff.&”
Anderson first started out in bodybuilding while attending vet school at the University of Saskatchewan.
“I've always been a competitive person, and I needed a sport I could do any time of the day,&” she said. Pursuing bodybuilding fit in with her odd-hours, doing internships and being on call during days or nights. She started off doing small weights, five, 10 lbs, but wanted to challenge herself to do more.
“I remember seeing the girls with the 30 and 40 lb. weights and thinking, ‘One day, I'm going to do that,'&” she said, noting everyone starts somewhere. She progressed with a goal to compete as a bodybuilder.
Bodybuilding is about aesthetics, and involves a combination of rigorous dieting and weightlifting to achieve what Anderson calls a “shredded&” look. After competing in provincials in Saskatchewan in 2014 and 2015, Anderson took a break from the rigors of intensive training and dieting to look her best.
That break coincided with her seeing a friend competing in a Strongman competition in Fort McMurray. Since only three other women had signed up, she was convinced to take part, and ended up placing third in the open weight category. She went on to compete in other Strongman contests, followed by provincials in Fort McMurray this August, in which she placed third in the open class, and first in her weight class.
As a middleweight, or under 69 kg., Anderson often ends up competing against women who are bigger than her, heavyweights or super heavyweights.
“I was the smallest girl in all the shows,&” she said, adding however that size is not a determinant of strength, as she has watched petite, pretty ladies that “are just beasts. They just go kill it . . . It's so unexpected.&”
But that ability to push the limits of her ability is why she loves weightlifting.
“I love it. It's completely different from bodybuilding. I get to test what my body can do, not what it looks like,&” she said. Even though other people sometimes find it a strange activity, particularly for a woman to do, she explains: “You feel empowered, when you do weightlifting as a woman - I feel strong.&”
So what's next for St. Paul's own version of Superwoman? She hopes to get stronger to compete at nationals, but competing at worlds remains a twinkle in her eye.
“This is only my first year. I have a long way to go - but that would be so amazing.&”
