For Shelby Miles, IU junior, lifting is more than just a way to stay in shape – it’s practically a job. Spending upwards of 20 hours a week at the Iron Pit gym in Bloomington, Miles dedicates five out of of seven days to spending some one-on-one time with the weights. A competitive powerlifter, Miles is also an active member of the IU Powerlifting Club, which was created in the Fall of 2017.

Her dedication has not come without reward. Miles, a Franklin, IN native, won the USA Powerlifting Collegiate Nationals in April of 2018. She was the first woman in IU history to do so. Over the years, she has racked up a collection of hardware. Having competed in 21 powerlifting meets since starting to lift her freshman year of high school, she’s placed in every one of them, including two national championships.

“I have more than ten national records,” Miles said. “I just set a national record at the Arnold actually for bench press.”

The Arnold, a fitness convention in Columbus, Ohio, is home to a number of sporting events, including powerlifting, fencing, and bodybuilding. Competitors from all over the world fly in to battle it out.

The national championship win Miles took home qualified her to make the World Team, so she can compete in Sweden over the Summer. That competition is what she is currently working toward in training.  It hasn’t always been an easy journey, however. Miles battles a back injury that flares up every now and then, and she is also fiercely competitive. In her first National Championship competition, she placed third, losing to a girl with whom she had a long rivalry. The following year, they faced again, and Miles pulled off the Gold.

“It was incredible and I had one of the best meets that I’ve ever had,” she said. “It just was so rewarding, and one of the highlights of my lifting career that I can think of.”

Miles’ numbers are proof of just that. Her current personal records are 270 pounds for bench press, 402 pounds for squat, and 457 for deadlift. While this may be intimidating to some people, for others, like Miles’ teammate Jessie Digiovanni, it’s Miles’ strength – mentally as well as physically – that inspired her to join the team.

“If I’m a little bit under she’ll push me to go a little bit harder,” Digiovanni, IU Senior, said. “But then if I push a little bit too hard she knows what my limit is and tries to hold me, to make sure I’ll achieve everything I set my mind to.”

And Miles has proven the fact that lifting has her going places – she’s competed in Denmark, Canada, and Finland already, not to mention numerous states across the country, as well. Even more ironic – Miles does not go to school for anything fitness or health related; instead, she is pursuing a major in tourism hospitality and event management.  That being said, her passion of lifting is one she doesn’t think she’ll be able to ever give up.

Miles said, “I think that no matter what my formal career is, that lifting will always be a part of it.”