ATHABASCA – One of the strongest women in the country officially calls Athabasca home.
Maria Frank, also known as Mimi, broke both provincial and national records for heaviest bench press in the female division at the July 10 Alberta Powerlifting Union Provincial Championships in Slave Lake.
Frank recorded a 145 kg (320 pound) squat, a 138 kg (304 pound) bench press, and a 165 kg (364 pound) deadlift, each of which were over double her weight and well over the goals she set for herself in 2020.
“Leading into the meet I actually had a shoulder injury that I had been dealing with for the last month or two,” Frank said July 14 when discussing how she felt about her newly set records.
“Going to the meet was actually kind of a question mark, a gamble to see whether it would go as well as I hoped or not go at all, but it ended up going really well.”
In fact, the meet went so well that Frank broke the record three times that day, topping her own records by the end.
Frank has been consistently lifting for 10 years with six years of experience in powerlifting specifically and is an international medalist, earning herself silver in Vilnius, Lithuania, at the IPF World Bench Press Championships.
Team Canada’s coach for the 2021 IPF World Bench Press Championships and Frank’s partner, Jacen Bellingham, is also local to Athabasca.
“That was an honour and a really special experience,” she said. “My boyfriend actually got to come and be the Team Canada coach, coaching not just me, but the whole team. So that was really special, to get to share that experience with him too.”
The competition abroad was not too unlike those Frank has attended in Canada as the event was hosted in English and the refereeing was to the same standards.
“This year I don't have anything planned, but the big goal is, first, nationals in Vancouver, B.C. next February,” Frank said of her upcoming competitions. “Then after that the big goal is Bench Worlds in Sun City, South Africa, next May.”
Frank has goals of surpassing her current records before then.
“My big, shorter-term goal is I would like to try for gold in Sun City. I won silver last year, so if training goes well, I think gold could potentially be within reach.”
The training regimen Frank follows is quite intensive, involving just one day off a week.
“I try to split my training up into two shorter sessions per day. So, it's usually two 45 minutes to hour long sessions a day, total probably two hours a day training for six days a week. One day might be a little bit shorter, just one hour, but that's sort of been my schedule leading into this meet.”
Frank has been following this intensive routine for years and while COVID-19 put a stop to many competitions Frank was still able to train in her own home gym.
“Not having a competition to train for makes it a little bit harder, without having that pressure of having to perform at a certain time,” she said. “I did train throughout, it wasn't that I wasn't motivated, but competition always does add that extra incentive to push.”
