1) Who is Rachel Kiefer? (where are you from, what do you do, a bit about yourself (hobbies, etc)
Outside of the gym I'm a lawyer in Maryland. I live in Baltimore but work all over the state. I have 2 older dogs at home that require a decent amount of attention so my husband and I tend to be kind of homebodies, but do try to take advantage of living in a great walking area in the city. With busy schedules it can be hard to get out of town but I love exploring new places and definitely travel as much as possible! I'm a former competitive equestrian show jumper and it's been years since I've been on a horse, but it's definitely something I'm'm hoping to get back into at some point.
2) How many years have you been training?
I've been an on and off gym bunny since high school (18 years ago 😬), but got serious about powerlifting specific training about a year and a half ago.
3) Whats been the most challenging/hardest part of your journey so far? and how have you overcome them (set backs, rejections, injuries, basically anything difficult that you have had to overcome)
I've been lucky so far and only encountered a mild case of elbow tendinitis that held back my bench progress for a few months. Upgrading my recovery efforts to include more self care things like deep tissue work and Epsom salt baths has helped move past the issue. Recovery is so important in this sport!
4) What does your typical workout/diet routine look like?
I'm programmed 5 days a week right now, M-W are hypertrophy days with squat and bench work and 7 other exercises. Thursday's a strict upper hypertrophy day and Friday is heavy Squat/Bench/Deadlift day, which is basically like a marathon. On Saturdays I've been trying to learn the Olympic lifts which has definitely been a process! Someday I'd like to do a weightlifting meet and nail down a respectable supertotal.
As for diet, I follow Renaissance Perioditization templates for my general nutrition guidelines. I cut about 20 lbs last summer on their cut template and maintained that for about 6 months, now I'm in a bulk cycle so there's a bit more freedom. General principles are the same though, whey and fast digesting carbs (rice krispie treats and gummi bears) during my workout, evenly spaced meals of protein throughout the day with carbs cycling down away from the workout and fats cycling up. I always end the day with casein before bed, which is almost unnecessary in this bulk but was really helpful in decreasing nighttime hunger during the cut.
5) What new knowledge have you learned over this past year regarding training, lifestyle and nutrition?
The biggest change for me has definitely been my diet and it has made a huge difference in my performance as well as my physical appearance. For me, the "look" is nice, but just a bonus to getting as strong as possible!
6) Whats your favourite cheat/Treat meal?
I'm going to go with cheesecake here! I love tacos and burgers and pizza but I can make those fit into my meals in some fashion without too much stretching.
7) Whats one supplement that you could not live without?
Definitely whey! Having protein that I can grab on the go and do so many things with is so helpful.
8) If you had to start your Journey from scratch with your health & physique what would you do differently and why?
I wish I'd started lifting heavy sooner! I see all the juniors out there absolutely killing it and always wish I'd started out that young. The strength I could have developed by now ... man.
9) Who do you look upto in the fitness industry and why?
So many people! One of my biggest influences is definitely Jen Thompson. She has been such a pioneer in powerlifting for women and I feel like she did it for herself without needing to push an agenda. And now she is so supportive of women in the gym and in lifting that it's impossible to not respect and like her.
10) If you had to give one bit of advice to people starting out what would that be?
Don't ever be ashamed of the weight that you're lifting! Everyone has started somewhere and you wont ever get anywhere until you grab the barbell and start!
11) What new goals do you have on the horizon?
Right now I'm trying to build up my total as much as possible for raw nationals! That's in October, how that goes will determine what I do from there, but a weightlifting comp is def in my future as well, even if it's for nothing more than fun (and to wear a cute singlet).
12) Where can people find you? (website, social media accounts)
As far as fitness goes I'm an Instagram only person right now, @braids_and_barbells, but who knows? Maybe I'll expand on that in the future!
