Athletes Comeback

As the chalk bursts into the air like dust, Courtney McDonald, 20, prepares to pull twice her body weight off the floor. With all eyes on her, McDonald pulls over 225 pounds in a deadlift during practice Thursday night.

That split second of McDonald bracing every muscle in her body as she prepares to lift the weight everything in her mind goes blank. “Everything in my mind stops, I don’t think or worry about anything else but that one moment,” McDonald said.

McDonald, a powerlifter from Longmont, Colorado, practices three lifts every day to get stronger for upcoming competitions. These lifts consist of the bench press, the deadlift, and the squat. These are the three lifts that are tested in competition.

The main goal during these three lifts is to add up as much weight as possible. Whichever person can add up the most weight across the three lifts combined wins. Each group is separated by weight and gender.

Outside of powerlifting, McDonald is a student at Colorado State University. “I am majoring in both Human Nutrition and Fitness to pursue either being a fitness instructor or continue competing or possibly both,” McDonald said.

McDonald has gone through countless injuries with the major injury being her abdominal muscle tearing, straining her body too much by pulling too much weight. “Accidents happen, and you just have to learn to roll with punches,” McDonald said. McDonald was able to recover fairly quickly since it was minor tear in the abdominal wall of the muscle.

Growing up McDonald was a soccer player with college offers from multiple colleges including University of New Mexico, Regis, and Chico State California.

Everything was looking up for McDonald until one of her final games in High School when she lost it all. She said a young woman on the opposing team tackled McDonald on the soccer field causing severe injury that put her in the hospital.

Without any recollection, McDonald wakes up in the hospital. “I had no idea how I got there, the only thing on my mind was if I was still able to play,” McDonald said.

McDonald suffered a major concussion. “I was tackled from my left side when I was first passed the ball, she completely blindsided me and the last thing I remember is landing on my head,” McDonald said.

She lost her scholarships and chances to play at a college level due to ineligibility to meet with colleges for recruiting opportunities.. “It was almost like a movie, where the girl or boy gets hurt and loses his magic touch, that’s exactly what happened to me,” McDonald said.

Kyle McDonald, one of three of her siblings, said she was crushed. “She laid in bed for days, obviously due to the concussion, however, she had no motivation to do anything further down the recovery road, it was almost part of her knew, she lost her college opportunities,” he said.

This is where McDonald knew she needed to find another passion, something else that gave her drive. She didn’t have to look far. McDonald worked at a gym throughout her High School career. Watching powerlifters as she works, she began to try it as a form of staying in shape but this quickly grew to her crave of competitiveness.

Lauren D’Rosario, McDonald’s lifting partner, “she has the drive, and this is her second choice, I could only imagine how ambitious she was in soccer,” D’Rosario said.

“The first year I started was my strongest year of progress. With hormones raging, even as a girl, my body does not have time to get acclimated to training so hard, so the body gets stronger quicker on a basic sense, usually after the first year, progress slows dramatically,” McDonald said.

John Dykeman, McDonald’s former boss, strength coach and good friend, “ I was not worried after her soccer accident, I knew she would find something else to fit that niche, I feel horrible however, though that it happened to her because I knew how much loved it. But, I knew she would find something else. I am just happy I can be apart of it,” Dykeman said.

Dykeman has been providing advice, pre-made meals, and one-on-one training for over two years now. With McDonald attending school at Colorado State University, it has become more difficult for them to do have training sessions regularly.

On weekends, McDonald drives to Longmont to train with Dykeman. This helps keep her healthy by having an expert make sure her form is correct and not causing unnecessary stress on ligaments and joints. “It is nice to have a proper trainer who is educated in exactly what I want to accomplish,” McDonald said.

Dykeman helps with McDonald’s plan of how much weight she would like to lift for competitions and for her own personal goal. “My biggest goal I am working on now is improving my deadlift, increasing it to 250lbs from 230lbs,” McDonald said.

According to Dykeman, the average woman at McDonald’s weight of 132 pounds is able to only lift weight 75 pounds. McDonald is closing in at her goal from only being 20lbs away from 250 for her next competition. This is over three times the average woman can lift.

Dykeman also owns his own pre-packaged meal company called Nutritionally Convenient. He helps with meal prep for when McDonald is traveling for either competitions or vacation. Otherwise McDonald said it would be hard to near impossible for her to keep up on daily nutrition needed for her body.

McDonald is very thankful for how much Dykeman does for her. “I would not be able to get where I am without his help and guidance,” McDonald said.

McDonald is very thankful that she is still able to compete. “It can all change in a split second, and I experienced that first hand so, I am thankful for things I am able to do because I can tear a muscle and it all be over,” She said.

McDonald would like to attempt intermural soccer at Colorado State University. “I know I would never be able to play at the D-1 level, however I think I would enjoy playing at a social level and still have some fun with it,” McDonald said. “You only live once”

After graduation, McDonald’s plans consist of doing exactly what she is doing today: competing in powerlifting, and potentially express her love for fitness and being an athlete to others by coaching and teaching the proper guidelines to nutrition and becoming faster and stronger.

McDonald’s old boss and friend Dykeman has inspired her to follow her passion and do what she loves. She said he taught her that if you do what you love, the money will follow so do not worry about the money.

McDonald believes she has a strong support group, and the necessary tools to compete and win. “I will never quit, no person or injury will stop me from accomplishing what I want.”

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