Many women have worked hard to take gender out of the equation—to simply be recognized for their skills and talents. Moreover, the existence of gender bias in organizational policies and practices may suggest that they have no power to determine their own success. One of our beloved faculty members not only strives to be an educational leader, but is also one who breaks down gender bias through powerlifting. Married to an MCHS alum, Lauren Calloway and her husband Travis spend countless hours working towards their goals as champion powerlifters. 

Mrs. Calloway herself has always been the athletic type. She actually started competing in bodybuilding first, but decided it was not her thing after a few competitions. A friend of hers was able to convince her to get into powerlifting, in addition to her husband. Knowing that she already had some strength, but was nowhere that she needed to be, Mrs. Calloway explained to her husband that she wanted to try powerlifting.

Mr. Calloway was inspired to start powerlifting by his dad and a group of friends that he watched powerlifting growing up. As he grew up playing sports, he always strived to be the best athlete he could be, and powerlifting helped him achieve that goal. Powerlifting is about pushing or pulling as much weight as possible; these attributes spill over into all sports. With the level of weightlifting that he performed at the time, Mr. Calloway was inspired by his wife to start competing. This was also something the two could do together. They are able to push and motivate one another to be better in the sport. 

The couple have many accomplishments throughout their journey. To begin with, Mrs. Calloway has competed at the National Level twice where she placed 2nd in the Nation. She is currently ranked 14th in the Nation for the 2022 year. She also currently holds all 4 state records in her weight class. On the other hand, Mr. Calloway’s latest accomplishment is being named to Team USA for the world powerlifting lifting meet in October. He also holds the state record for Bench Press in the 242-pound weight class in addition to being named Best Lifter in a meet.

The powerlifting diet can be centered around healthy whole foods. The Calloways try to limit their fats to a minimum. Mrs. Calloway eats between 1600-2000 calories per day, while her husband aims for around 4500-5000 calories a day. They eat a lot of lean beef and chicken along with rice and potatoes for carbohydrates. 

For anyone who may be new to powerlifing, the Calloways would like you to know that this is a process that is going to take a lot of time and patience. This means that you have to invest in your programming and understand that it does not just happen overnight. “I have been working at this for 25 years, and I am still not where I want to be,” explains Mr. Calloway. Understanding the form of lifts is very important as it will not only make you stronger, but will also prevent injuries. A lot of powerlifting is mental and you have to believe you can lift that heavy of a weight or you will be beat before you even begin. There will be great days in the gym and then there are those days where something that should be light feels like a million pounds.

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The after effects of powerlifting goes deeper than the strengthened muscles. According to Mrs. Calloway, “It has given me confidence and knowing that even at 35 with two children and a full-time job, I can still be just as competitive as when I was younger.” She also said that it  shows her personal children and students that even girls can be strong, and they all do not have to look the same way. She is proud to be a muscular female. Mr. Calloway says, “Powerlifting has benefited me personally by making me understand what my body is capable of.” As a younger man before he started competing, the benefits of power training were very beneficial to his sports career. It helped him be a better athlete and has actually given him a purpose and ambition to keep lifting.

To be a powerlifter means being dedicated to a goal: Find out how strong you can get, and then get stronger than that. Mr. and Mrs. Calloway both have goals they are currently working on. Her goal is to total over 1k while his is 2k at their next meet. The Calloways have already accomplished so much, and they do not plan on stopping yet. This is only the beginning.