Powerlifter who had eating disorder now wants to be strong

A powerlifter who used to suffer with bulimia says she can now lift twice the size of her body weight, and is currently a record breaker for deadlifting.

Amera Ross, 22, from Bristol, lifted 182.5kg at an ABPU powerlifting competition - one of the biggest federations in the UK - setting a record in her age and weight class.

The amount she lifted is roughly equivalent to an adult male lion, despite Ross weighing 69kg. She says powerlifting has enabled her to overcome her eating disorder.

Ross said her gym goals had previously been to make herself "as small as possible". But, over time, she said she "stopped wanting to be the smallest person and I started actually wanting to be strong".

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Ross has only been competing in powerlifting competitions for a year.

At her first competition, she finished first in her age and weight class, and set the record for her deadlift and combined total across squat, bench press and deadlift.

She has since moved into a higher weight category and finished second overall at her most recent ABPU competition.

Ross said she had initially planned to attempt a 180kg deadlift before her coach told her she needed to lift 182.5kg to move from third to second place in competition.

However, that extra 2.5kg made Ross's weight a record-breaking amount to lift.

"I was absolutely shaking in my boots," she said.

"I knew that if I pulled this weight, it wouldn't only get me the deadlift record, but it would have put me second place, so there was a lot of pressure."

Alongside Ross' dedication to powerlifting she is also training to become a lawyer.

She said it could be quite challenging juggling her apprenticeship with training four times a week.

But she says originally, she did not join a gym for muscle building but to make herself small.

However, over time, her approach to putting on size and gaining muscle has changed.

Umariah Malik, from Beat, a charity which supports people with eating disorders, said: "Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses, and not everyone who has one will struggle with overexercising."

But, he added, it was important to be aware of the signs of an unhealthy relationship with exercise, which includes exercising through an injury, or at the expense of other things in their life, like important family events.

Ross explained that what changed her approach to food was her nephew, who always wanted to know what she was doing in the gym.

His admiration for his aunty weightlifting helped Ross change her mind about how she looked, she explained.

Even though things worked out for Ross, Malik, a researcher at Beat, said "it was crucial" for anyone recovering from an eating disorder to get medical advice before beginning to exercise.

He added different methods would help people during recovery, and it was possible to have a healthy relationship with exercise as part of that.

Now that Ross has overcome her eating disorder, she said that to be a powerlifter she needed to eat nearly 3,000 calories every day.

"I think this sport is really interesting for women. But what I say is don't be afraid to pick up a weight," she added.

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