Ageless Unity athlete trains for Team Canada experience in October

UNITY -- Unity athlete, Shauna Hammer, has been competing in powerlifting events for a number of years seeing success stories accumulate. She has an amazing routine that allows her to be fully engaged with her work, her home life, and her athletic aspirations.

Hammer was recently part of a Western Canadian competition in Brandon, Man. Aug 10-13.  She earned a gold medal in 63 kg (body weight) M2 (age 50-59) class.

“I equalled my previous best bench press of 65.0kg at Nationals earlier this year which I was very happy with. On Aug. 13, I competed in three-lift Classic Powerlifting (squat + bench + deadlift).  I was pleased with the result of a 105.0kg squat, 62.5kg bench, 122.5kg deadlift, for a total of 290.0kg and a second gold medal of the meet in the 63kg M2 class,” says Hammer.

Hammer says she had a ton of fun with fellow teammates and competitors and an overall great weekend was experienced with an exceptional competition.

The Unity athlete applied for Team Canada to compete at the IPF World Masters Powerlifting competition in Mongolia, upcoming in October. Hammer noted this wasn’t on her radar, but her coach suggested she consider applying for the experience. Team spots are determined by placing and points achieved at Nationals, which was held in Richmond, B.C., earlier this year, in February.

“I found out in mid-July that I had a spot, so that became the bigger priority for my training focus than Westerns. I continue to train with my same coach to prepare for Worlds and will have the opportunity to discuss game day strategy and goals for Worlds with the Team Canada coaches who will be guiding the team in Mongolia,” adds Hammer.

The powerlifting athlete has been working with both massage therapy and physiotherapy dealing with recurring back strain over the summer. While Hammer says its not a serious injury, she is unable to take a break from training that would resolve it completely, so she continues to train for it. The physio exercises, energy conservation, proper nutrition, rest, and sleep quality have been a huge focus throughout August and September in preparation for the world competition.

“I’m pretty boring right now, as that’s how I manage balance.”

Hammer says she lives an extremely routine life, plans her life, training, and work schedules in advance in her day planner as well as prepping meals so she doesn’t have to think, ‘what’s for supper,’ while additionally resting as much as possible, especially on weekends.

The Unity athlete says retaining her sense of humor and light-heartedness are other keys she utilizes in her training and competition preparation.

“This is my first international competition, and I want to enjoy it with a sense of curiosity and awe. While I want to do my best, there's no money or pressure riding on my performance. The trip is all self-funded and I'm not a gold medal contender. This is an opportunity of a lifetime - who knows if I'll ever get another chance to represent Canada at a meet like this. I just want to soak it all in and meet like-minded people from around the world.”

Hammer is the third athlete from Unity and Wilkie representing Team Canada in the last few months. Wilkie’s Isaiah Mamer was part of the junior Team Canada volleyball team in July and Unity’s Sebastian Lauinger recently returned from his Team Canada experience with archery.