Local athlete breaks world record
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Rachelle Meidinger, 20, stood in front of a crowd of people at a Missoula weight lifting competition and bench pressed 244.3 pounds. She shattered state, national and world records, but what makes it even more amazing is that a few years ago she couldn’t leave her house.
“I had agoraphobia,” she said, for her, a fear of leaving home. “After high school, I couldn’t do anything.”
She graduated from Arlee High School in 2012 where she broke school records with her twin sister Aspen. The twins were the first females to lift 200 pounds at the school, but after high school, she was frozen by fear.
“I had crippling anxiety,” she said.
Rachelle tried everything, including addictive substances, to try and find her way out of the darkness. She was diagnosed as bipolar with anxiety issues. Nothing she did really helped, but something finally clicked in her mind.
“I decided to suck it up and get on with my life,” she said.
She enrolled at the Salish Kootenai College to get a degree in addiction counseling. She’s considering joining the police academy when she finishes her degree. In college, she discovered a natural cure for her illness.
“I got back in the gym and started throwing weights around,” she said. “Exercise is the best anti-depressant there is — it’s how I cope.”
Standing 5 feet, 5 inches tall, her soft voice was sometimes hard to hear over the clanking of the metal weights others were lifting at the college gym where she trains. She wanted to tell her story to help others.
“I want to break the stigma of mental illness,” she said. “I want people to know that there is hope.”
She took first place in the bench press category at the 2015 World Association of Bench Pressers and Dead Lifters championship in Missoula with that amazing 244.3 pound lift, but she said she lifted more in practice.
“The day I benched 250 changed my life. I had something to be proud of. Before that, I was always afraid of failure, but I did something great, and it changed me,” she said.
She competed for the first time at the championship with her sister.
“I thought I was good at weight lifting, but I couldn’t believe what I’d done,” she said. “We were looking over the score chart and we realized I’d broken the record. I still can’t believe it. It really hasn’t sunk in.”
She broke the record by several pounds, according to WABDL Montana State Chair and event announcer James Greene.
“The old world record was 226.8 for her weight and age, so she broke it by quite a bit,” Greene said. “She set the state record and she broke the national record by 18 pounds. “This is a drug tested worldwide championship. I think she is going to be a great positive role model.”
Greene explained that Rachelle didn’t use anything to help her lift the weight.
“She did it in the raw, which means she wasn’t wearing a specialty bench shirt,” he said. “She did it with her own strength. It’s not normal for people to be able to lift their body weight. As a woman, if you’re benching your body weight you’re doing really well.”
Rachelle has the possibility of setting the record even higher.
“This is a young lady that I believe could easily lift 300 pounds with training,” he said.
Lifting that much weight requires technique. First, she tapes up her wrists to create stability. She finds the center of the bench and presses her shoulders down with her back arched.
“I set my hands and I grab the bar as hard as I can,” she said. “I pull my shoulder blades together and lift.”
She works out in the gym several times a week, but she credits her natural strength to diet and genetics.
“I’ve just always been strong. My sisters are strong, too. I was raised on bison and I eat clean. I also had some good teachers in Arlee show me technique,” she said.
Rachelle qualifies for the world championship this fall and she hopes to attend.
“I’m looking for some sponsors,” she said. “Competing can get expensive. I hope to travel around and compete. I also want to be a voice for people to help them make healthy changes in their lives.”
