You can find IU senior, Shelby Miles at the Iron Pit Gym, lifting 400 pound weights, while many of the men working out next to her are lifting 200 pound weights. Miles won the junior division at the USA Powerlifting Raw Nationals this past October. She is now training to compete at The World Classic Powerlifting Championships in Sweden this upcoming June.

Miles is one of the founders of IU’s Powerlifting Club. Since its start in the fall of 2017, not only has club membership grown but the team has also qualified for the Collegiate Nationals in April. They started with around 8 members and now have 30. The club meets every Sunday at the Iron Pit Gym where Miles writes workout programs for the women on her team.

Miles has always been an athlete and she began lifting as a way to stay in shape in between her high school volleyball seasons. Now she trains 20 hours per week and attends three to five meets a year.

A powerlifting meet usually consists of three parts: squat, benchpress, and deadlift. After three tries, the top scores from each section is put together for the final results. Miles’ personal meet records include squatting over 400 pounds, benching over 250 pounds and deadlifting over 450 pounds which add up to 1,119 pounds in total.

Jessie DiGiovanni, IU Senior and Powerlifting Club member, says Shelby has been extremely helpful when they train and that she always pushes everyone to be their best. DiGiovanni is also a personal trainer and is discovering that more women are lifting despite the stigma that women “can’t have” big muscles.

“I like that women are starting to become more active and they are finding that lifting gives them more of an ideal body. I feel that body image is just changing, it’s a cool thing.”

Miles says that the biggest reason that keeps women from competing or even lifting weights is the intimidation factor of so many men in the gym.

“I just like to tell women not to be afraid and to jump in and do it. I want to empower women.”