1) Who is Alexa Colwell? (where are you from, what do you do, a bit about yourself (hobbies, etc)
I am from Rochester NY and currently still live here with my husband and four (yes, four) pups - we have two Australian Shepherds, a Siberian Husky, and an Alaskan Malamute. We live out in the suburbs and have our own barbell club in our barn right here on our property (Anthem Barbell). It's our dream house come true, really. I'm blessed to have this life and also to have my whole family surrounding me too.
I am a competitive national-level weightlifter in the 59kg class and I lift for Power & Grace performance. I'm also a nutrition coach! I work for a company called Working Against Gravity and we are a macro-based, one on one nutrition coaching company. I love my job with all my heart and wouldn't trade it for the world. More on that below :)
A littel background: I grew up and went to school here in Rochester at St John Fisher College. I actually have a degree in business management but soon realized after graduation that my passion was elsewhere. When I got into the sport of weightlifting 4 years ago I discovered WAG and signed up as a client to cut weight for my first national. I had heard of macro tracking, but had no idea what it was all about. All I knew was that if I was going to be training hard and competing I needed to make sure my nutrition complemented by hard work in the gym. After working with them for a couple of years I realized how passionate I was about helping others have better, happier, stronger, healthier lives via dialing in their nutrition and lifestyle habits. Fast forward, i've been a coach at WAG for almost 4 years now and have grown an even larger passion for helping people reach and exceed their potential and FUELING their body properly too.
2) How many years have you been training? (Including how you got started, etc)
I've technically been 'training' for something my whole athletically career (around 14 years total at this point). I started out as a competitive cheerleader and was very familiar with the competition setting. I competed nationally and internationally for 8 years in the sport. I then found my way into Crossfit through cheerleading. I actually started doing CF because my cheerleading coach at the time owned his own gym. He started having my team do conditioning with him to get in shape for competition. Turns out I really loved the heavy lifting portion of CF instead of conditioning hahaha.... And that's when I took up weightlifting. I've been solely competing in weightlifting for 4 years in the 59kg class.
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)
A couple things for sure - 1 injuries. 2 bomb outs.
1 - I've unfortunately dealt with at least 1-2 nagging injuries per year since i've started training. I seem to be prone to hip impingements so i've been working really hard with a PT and chiro to dial in my movement patterns and strengthen and activate the 'little' muscles around the hip to make sure this doesnt happen again. My first couple of years of weightlifting this happened way more often as I was very beginner and has some pretty bad habits that unfortunately caused some minor injuries, so it took some progress off my career for sure. We all know how much fun lifting heavy and doing the full lifts is (especially squatting in any form). So when you can't do that it really puts a damper on your training, progress, mindset, and of course confidence too. It's taken a lot to gain that confidence back under heavier loads after injuries but with practicing lots of grit and patience through it all, it makes the grind certainly worth it. All that being said, I'm grateful for these setbacks because they've completely changed the way I take care of myself, my body, how I warm up and how I lift. It ultimately forced me to take a step back in order to make me a better and stronger lifter.
2 - If you know weightlifting and have experienced a bomb out, you know that it is the WORST feeling ever. You feel like all your hard work was wasted, you feel like you let yourself and your coach down, and you feel like you weren't able to showcase your true strength and potential on the platform. This can be extremely upsetting and really weigh on you mentally. I bombed out at my first national meet, and then another national meet two years later. The biggest takeaways I've had from these experiences is that I think really helped shape me into the athlete I am today. It's not always rainbows and butterflies in this sport and you're not always going to PR your snatch or Cj or total every meet. The biggest thing is that there is always a lesson to be learned no matter how crummy the day or performance you had was. Those are the moments that make you stronger after all.
4) What does your typical workout/diet routine look like? (With any particular protocols you rate).
Spencer Arnold does my programming and my training is typically very high volume, so i'm always needing to make sure my nutrition is dialed in to make sure i'm fueled for my session. I track my macronutrients (for people who know this is just simply tracking how many protein/carbs/fats you eat on a daily basis) to ensure I am eating enough calories and enough of the right foods specifically AROUND my session for optimal performance. Right now i'm eating around 250-300g of carbs per day, 135g of protein and 80-85g of fats (yup, lots of food!). I work from home, so i'm able to control basically all of my meals during the day which is really helpful in terms of my training and nutritional goals. I also always make sure to drink at least a gallon of water each day and sleep 8 hours minimum per night.
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).
In training, I think the biggest thing that i've learned is that a lot of the success in this sport simply comes with experience. It's not always going to be a linear progression in both strength and technique. Training in the gym vs training in competition is a totally different animal. Nerves, adrenaline, jitters, stress, making weight, environment, athlete weight changes etc all come into play. A lot of that you can't really plan for and just have to experience yourself and learn from it all.
It's also really important to remember to find a win in training every day no matter how good or bad of a day you had. I've learned that BIG time this past year! No training day is a waste and there is always a lesson to be learned. As I said this journey is NOT linear, so how you handle those tough days is usually what makes you a better and more experienced athlete
In nutrition, I wish I knew earlier on that you don't always have to eat less to feel and look your best BOTH in and out of the gym. I also wish that earlier on coming into this sport that I had a better knowledge of HOW to fuel my body, when to stop cutting weight, and how to fuel for performance. I honestly feel like for 2 years of my career in this sport early on I didn't really have the knowledge or expertise to know what my body needed, and when 'enough was enough' in terms of dieting. I was eating really low calories for too long and ultimately this affected my performance and cuts when it came down to competition.
Fueling your body properly for a strength specific sport is so important, far more important than abs or looking a certain way. of course, we do compete in a weight class sport so worrying about your weight can be tough, but again we don't compete in bodybuilding, we don't get extra points for looking good. The only thing that matters is what you are lifting on the platform.
6) Whats your favourite cheat/Treat meal?
This totally depends what I am in the mood for but it could range from a big juicy burger and fries to a big ice cream cone or something simple like chocolate/peanut butter cookies :)
7) Whats one supplement that you could not live without?
Does water count? LOL. I am basically a fish and never leave the house without my hydro flask. But on a real note, probably coffee. I am a huge coffee lover and never start my day without a cup of it.
8) If you had to start your Journey from scratch with both your health & physique what would you do differently and why?
This kind of relates back to #5 with respect to fueling my body properly via nutrition rather than depriving it to look a certain way. But I think the biggest thing that would have been a huge game-changer for me and my journey would have been focusing on my movement patterns and technique, learning how to activate my muscles properly and truly learning how to prep my body for lifting I'd also have made sure I was working with a PT/chiro sooner in the sport too. As a beginner, you really do get the beginner's mindset in the sense that you want to push hard, lift heavy, and not worry about the little things like rolling out/movement prepping and injury prevention. You just want to get strong (totally understandable of course). As I mentioned injuries were a big part of why my progress was so slow at the beginning of my career so with some better knowledge around this stuff I think this could have made a huge difference my strength and progression. All that being said, I think all those setbacks were for a reason and they taught me something about the sport, myself, and my values that has helped mold me into a better and stronger athlete :)
9) Who do you look up to in the fitness industry and why?
I don't really look up to anyone in the fitness industry or weightlifting industry. I admire a lot of women and athletes who are throwing around some badass weight and who have become very successful, but I don't necessarily 'look up' to them per se. I try to focus on me and learn what I can from others close to me/family who inspire me too.
10) If you had to give one bit of advice to people starting out what would that be?
Master the basics as best as you can FIRST! You can be the strongest athlete out there but if you don't know how to lift properly you're not going to optimize your potential. Focus on your movement patterns and gain confidence there first. Second, enjoy and LOVE every minute of the process in this sport. Embrace the crummy training days because you will have them and will need to learn to 'let them go' and LEARN from them. I've said this a lot already but the journey is not going to be linear and it's important to cherish your ups and downs throughout each season of this process. They are ultimately going to help you be a better athlete. Also, don't take things too seriously and don't forget to have fun with it :) you're in the gym to get better of course, but if you're not having fun with it you're missing out of the joy of the sport.
11) What new goals do you have on the horizon?
Right now I am planning to compete at the Arnold in March, but the big meet I have my eyes on is nationals. Of course, I want to hit some PRs on the big stage, that's my main goal. We're doing LOTS of work to get my legs stronger (my weakness) and also master some technical issues in my lifts so I can go in with even more confidence than ever. I have a bigger goal of coming in top 5 in my weight class, I was 8th at the AO this year which was super encouraging! But I'm a bit less focused on placement and moreso focused on exceeding my own goals and PRs and putting my best effort out there because if I focus on me, I can't lose :)
12) Where can people find you? (website, social media accounts)
Instagram: @alexa.colwell Facebook: Alexa Colwell
