1) Who is Jes Franklin? (where are you from, what do you do, a bit about yourself (hobbies, etc)
So I’m Jes! I’m from Philadelphia (born and raised) and I’m an Olympic Weightlifter in the 71kg class. When I’m not at the gym I’m probably working (one of my two jobs), at the park with my perfect golden retriever, Finn, or binging some show on Netflix (my favorites include The Office, Black Mirror, and Grey’s Anatomy). Or at Barnes and Noble. I graduated with a degree in Psychology, but school is expensive and I’m trying to save up so I can go back. Until then I’ll just be working hard and lifting heavy and loving life.
2) How many years have you been training? (Including how you got started, etc)
I would say I’ve been training seriously for a just about two years. I actually started with CrossFit, but only enjoyed the strength portion of the WOD, so I switched to weightlifting.
3) What’s 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)
There have been plenty of bumps in my journey, but I’d say my first injury was the biggest challenge. Right when things really started to click with weightlifting, I hurt my lower back. I’m not even sure what happened, but I couldn’t back squat or clean without an extreme amount of discomfort. At one point it got so bad I couldn’t even bend over. That happened at the end of 2016, and unfortunately I took most of 2017 off from weightlifting as a result. I let the injury beat me. Instead of focusing on what I could do, I pretty much gave up. I stopped paying attention to my diet, lost a lot of the strength, and was just really, really sad. After seeing so many different doctors and all that, I got the help I needed from Dr. Jon Herting. I got my head right and concentrated my energy on getting better – which meant setting my ego aside and building back up from what felt like the absolute bottom. Worth it though.
4) What does your typical workout/diet routine look like? (With any particular protocols you rate).
I lift 5x a week. If my programming isn’t too demanding that day, if I focus really hard, limit distractions, and take the minimum amount of rest between sets, I can get done in 1.5 hours. But there have been days where I’m at the gym for over three hours. On at least one of my rest days I try to get in some active recovery (usually yoga, swimming, or hiking) if I can, but sometimes I work doubles on my rest days so it doesn’t always happen. I follow RP Strength Diet templates to stay healthy and fuel my body correctly. I’ve been on the templates for a little over three months and I love how I feel and look.
5) What new knowledge have you learned over this past year regarding training, lifestyle and nutrition? (And How has it changed your focus for the future).
I’ve learned a lot about dedication, time-management, sacrifice, and self-love. Before weightlifting, I was not an athletic person (and when I try to throw or catch a ball I’m reminded of my lack of athleticism). Now I can’t imagine living a life where I don’t spend hours at the gym basically every day. I can’t imagine looking at food and not seeing it as x-amount of protein, fat, and carbs. I can’t imagine not getting excited every time I see new muscle definition or bigger biceps or a new vein when I look in the mirror. Weightlifting has taught me a lot – most importantly it’s taught me to love and respect my body and all the great things it can do (even if that doesn’t include being able to throw a ball).
6) Whats your favourite cheat/Treat meal?
Ooooo, probably Ben and Jerry’s – my favorite flavors are Phish Food, Chubby Hubby, Chocolate Therapy, Boom Chocolatta Cookie Core, and Bourbon Pecan Pie….to name a few.
7) Whats one supplement that you could not live without?
Advil. Lol but Progenex More Muscle Cookies n Cream gives me life.
8) If you had to start your Journey from scratch with both your health & physique what would you do differently and why?
I don’t know if I’d change anything other than starting sooner.
9) Who do you look up 0to in the fitness industry and why?
I look up to people like Stacy D, Jenny Patton, Allison Schuster, Paige Hathaway, Cassidy Musgrove, Hunter Elam, Riley Stefan... oh, and The Rock. I don’t know if he counts, but I’m going to count him. All for different reasons, but mainly because they’re real. All of these amazingly strong, beautiful people are always so candid and I just really like each person’s vibe. They motivate me every day and even thinking about them now makes me happy!
10) If you had to give one bit of advice to people starting out what would that be?
You have to embrace the shitty days. Everyone loves the days where 90% feels like cake and your body doesn’t ache at all and you’re happy and focused and crushing every attempt. It takes a lot to love the days where your body feels wrong and you’re fighting to make 75% and your mind is tired and getting up off the bench to lift weight that should be easy but feels like actual death is the last thing you want to do. This sport is so up and down and one day you’re great and the next day you’re like, “what’s a snatch?” You have to love the shitty days just as much as you love the great days… otherwise you’re going to be sad and disappointed a whole lot.
11) What new goals do you have on the horizon?
I’m always trying to find balance. I have a few goals weightlifting-wise, but I like to keep those to myself. They’re written down and I try and look at them as often as possible. Outside of weightlifting my goals are pretty simple: keep building my personal library, work to pay off student debt and go back to school, and give my dog the best life.
12) Where can people find you? (website, social media accounts)
My instagram is @jfraank . I don’t think I’ll ever be the type to have a youtube channel. I’ve always wanted to get into twitter, but I haven’t crossed that bridge yet.
