A teacher in Denver, NC is shattering stereotypes and inspiring her students, all while setting unbelievable records for weightlifting.
"What you're warming up with, what you're lifting with — there's a lot of math going on there," world record holder Jennifer Thompson tells USA Today. "They're constantly asking me to picks things up — and arm wrestle them, all the time." But who can blame them? Having a strongwoman at the front the the classroom has got to be something of a novelty for young people.
According to Raw Fitness Combine, she holds the highest Bench Press Wilks Coefficient record ever for both men and women at 154.5, and she can bench press 308 pounds — more than twice her weight of a mere 132.
"I started off just training weights in the gym with my husband and his band of buddies," she tells Raw Fitness. "I was the only girl and really didn’t have anyone to compare myself to. My only comparison, as far as strength, was a bunch of men much larger than me." She goes on to explain that while on vacation, she stumbled upon a weightlifting challenge and learned she held an American record. It was then she started competing nationally, going on to win a room's worth of trophies.
But that's not even her greatest strength. Thompson uses her successes in weightlifting as a catalyst for inspiring her students. "I want them to understand that to achieve you have to work hard," she says.
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