Keeping physically fit is a lot of work, imagine the work and ability it takes to become one of the best powerlifters in the world. Meet Soldotna high school junior Robin Johnson who will leave shortly for Salo, Finland to compete in the RAW World Classic Powerlifting Competition. Robin trains at The Fitness Place in Soldotna and is excited to be representing Alaska at the World Competition. Robin has only been lifting since last April and already owns three national records for her age class while she was a sophomore at Soldotna High School, “It still feels unreal, very strange being from such a small town and all it’s interesting,” Johnson told the Dispatch. Robin has lived in Alaska for nine years and moved here with her family from Alabama. “I only became interested in powerlifting recently. I was a competition cheerleader for five years and was introduced to a gym by my former coach, one thing led to another and now I’m a powerlifter and loving it,” she said.

Johnson attributes much of her success to her coaches Brennen Jackson, owner of The Fitness Place and CrossFit Kainos and an on line coach from Wasilla who works with her personally. Regarding her mental training for the World Competition she says, “Reducing stress is a huge component and focusing on your inner self and not worry about what anyone else is doing is a huge part of it and understanding you only have control of the weight you can lift and focusing, breathing and staying calm is what my coaches recommend,” she said.

Local fans and supporters will be able to follow her on line June 7th and times will be posted at bodybuilding.com. “It’s coming up fast, but I’m ready for it,” says Robin while confessing that she hasn’t looked too much farther into her future than the World Competition, “I’ve been taking one day at a time ever since I started and going with the flow and I don’t what’s next other than returning to SoHi in August as a Junior.” She says powerlifting absolutely helps her focus on her academics, “School is always first. It can get difficult trying to balance the time commitment for both. Powerlifting is a huge component of my life, I don’t just do it for fun, it’s my lifestyle and work hard while in class so I don’t have a lot of homework and have the rest of my day to focus on lifting,” said Robin.

With CrossFit rising in popularity amongst fitness enthusiasts, it is no wonder that Jackson’s gym is growing in demand. However in addition to that, Jackson is proud to have helped produce a world class lifter. Johnson attributes her education in training for such global success to Brennan Johnson of CrossFit Kainos as her in-person coach. You can learn more about CrossFit by stopping by The Fitness Place or calling 262-4690.