Mass-Lift.com Featured Lifter- Allison Almeida

For her best lifter performance at the Seventh Annual Northeast Regional High School and Collegiate Powerlifting Championships, Allison Almeida is the March Mass-Lift.com Featured Lifter. Ally has been a member of the Northeastern Women’s Powerlifting Team and she was also an important scorer for Team Con-Cret last August in the USAPL Raw Nationals.

 

Can you tell us a little about yourself?

I am 22 years old and grew up about an hour south of Boston in Somerset, MA.   I just graduated from Northeastern and will be attending Bridgewater State University in the fall to get my masters degree.

How did you get into the sport of powerlifting?

A couple of years ago Mike Zawilinski got my friend Shaina Petit into Powerlifting and I would often go to her meets to watch.  Last spring I went to watch her at Collegiate Nationals and was immediately sort of fell in love with the whole large meet atmosphere.  Soon after that I started training and after some serious persuading I finally did my first meet in August.

What weight class or weight classes to you compete in?

I have competed in all my meets in the 165lb weight class.

What are your best lifts?

My best lifts in a meet were 286lb squat, 181lb bench, 303lb deadlift.

What USAPL National meets have you lifted in and how did you place?

I competed at the 2011 USAPL Raw Nationals in August where I placed 3rd and the 2012 Collegiate Nationals where I placed 4th.

Have you lifted in any NAPF or IPF meets if so how did you place?

I have not lifted in any NAPF or IPF meets.

Where do you train?

While I was competing for Northeastern this past year I got to train at Northeastern’s Cabot center which is a great facility that was just renovated.  Now I train at Baystate Athletic Club in Scituate MA.

Do you lift with a group/team or by yourself, if so who?

I always train with a team in fact without such a great support group I doubt I would have never entered a meet.  While at Northeastern I trained with the team there and while at Baystate Athletic Club I train with the men and women of Iron Revolution.

What current goals are you trying to accomplish?

My goal is to just keep improving my numbers.  Right now I am hoping to squat over 300lbs and bench over 200lbs in my next meet.

What is your greatest moment in powerlifting?

I have to say my greatest moment thus far was winning my weight class and best lifter at the Northeast Regional Meet. Collegiate Nationals was also great although I did perform the way I was hoping it was an amazing experience to compete at that large of a meet.

Can you tell us a little about your training routine?

I still consider myself new to the sport so I tend to just follow the recommendations of my teammates as far as training goes.  That basically consists lifting four days a week: deadlift, squat, heavy bench, and speed bench.

Who are your mentors?

Eric Kupperstein has been a great source of powerlifting knowledge and help to me both in training and at meets.  Mike Zawilinski is a great coach and sacrifices an incredible amount of time to the sport and his fellow lifters.  Shaina Petit and Joe Cappellino have both competed at the world level and are always getting me pointers.  This list could go on forever because I have had the opportunity to lift with a large number of world class powerlifters and national champs all of which inspire me to be better.

Do you have any tips that could help other lifters?

I am usually the one taking advice from others since I am new to the sport however, besides obviously training hard the biggest thing for me would be believing in yourself.  As simplistic as it sounds I noticed a substantial change when I started believing I could make every lift.

What inspires you to keep training?

Honestly everything about powerlifting inspires me to keep training because it is truly a very gratifying sport.  Day in and day out you strive to improve your own numbers and when you finally do it’s a great feeling and you want to improve more.  I think that’s the greatest part about powerlifting for me at least, it doesn’t matter if I finish first or last just as long as I see myself improving.

What is your favorite music to listen too when your training?

I’m not very picky when it comes to music, I’ll listen to anything.  At meets I don’t really listen to anything I sort of just zone out and mentally prepare without music.

Do you compete in any other sports?

I have played soccer my whole and continue you to play in a coed rec league on the weekends.  I currently don’t compete in any other sports but, I love to play just about any sport for fun.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

I’d like to thank Mark Sieminski for giving me the opportunity to train at Baystate Athletic Club.  I’d also like to thank my Baystate training partners Mike Zawilinski, Ben Schlafman, Brian Philips, and Joe Cappellino as well as the whole Northeastern team for being so supportive.  Finally, thank you to Shaina Petit for getting me into powerlifting and always pushing me to be better.

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