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Joanna Charafeddine-Akar

Tell us a bit about you

Hello I’m Jay! And like many of you that may be here, I started my fitness journey with physical goals in mind not knowing how much it will also help with my mental health! Slowly I built the confidence to create my own gym bro split programmes but always ended up wanting to lift heavy, I realised early on there was a science to it but had no clue where to start! Soon after, I discovered the sport of Powerlifting and have not looked back since. I was super lucky to stumble across Unified and Char in particular, as I started to build even more knowledge about powerlifting programming and the sport in general. 

WHY DO YOU POWERLIFT?

It’s the perfect combination for me, to build a physique and to get stronger. I also get to be surrounded by a community of likeminded and supportive individuals, and to top it off, it keeps me in a positive mind frame. 

WHAT HAS POWERLIFTING TAUGHT YOU?

Patience and persistence can take you a long way! Just because something doesn’t go right today, it doesn’t mean that you can’t work on it to improve it with time.

WHICH OF OUR core valueS means the most to you?

Compassion and Fun, I think the two go hand in hand, especially when training in a community environment like USM.

What one piece of advice would you give the past you when you started powerlifting?

Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there, volunteer at your local meets and don’t put off competing! Get yourself into competitions early and build up the experience!

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