Powerlifting Mom Broke the World Record for Heaviest Raw Deadlift by a Woman — and Lost 140 Lbs. The Journey
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Tamara Walcott Will never forget the 415 pound weight she gained the first time she stepped on the scale. Walcott, 39, says that she didn’t recognize herself. Beyond the Scale issue. “I stopped looking at the mirror for a long time.”
As a kid, she was bigger than her peers. She also played volleyball and softball as well as throwing the shot put on St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Island. “I have always been the heaviest — my siblings are toothpicks compared to me,” she says. It wasn’t until she arrived in the States to start a new family that things changed. It didn’t take me out after having my daughter but it got really bad after I had my son. I became a food addict.”
Walcott was unhappy in his marriage at the time and would eat dinner alone after everyone had gone to bed. Walcott, a property manager from Laurel in Maryland, says that he gained a lot of weight and became obese.
Her biggest mistake was not making herself a priority. She says that she worked a 9-5 job, and weekends were spent with her children. “At that point, I couldn’t figure out how to balance.”
She decided that enough was enough and began weight training using dumbbells in 2017. She didn’t know that she would be one of the most powerful women in the world within a few years. She joined a gym where she was able to meet new people. lifting heavy weights. “They were screaming, squatting and doing deadlifts. Walcott said that she fell in love with Walcott. “I found a coach and decided this was what I wanted to do.”
From then on, she was focused on powerlifting and made it her new love — along with herself. “Nothing, no one could stop me from reaching my goal once it was clear in my mind,” she said. It was truly liberating to take control over my life and do something that I felt fulfilled.
In Sept. 2021, she broke the world record for heaviest raw deadlift in the the world by a woman— 636 lbs.— and then broke her own record earlier this year, lifting 639 lbs. She trains three to four days per week during prep season, and has a lighter training schedule in off-season when the sport permits.
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Simon Bruty/Sports Illustrated/Getty Tamara Walcott
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She has lost over 140 pounds along the way, but that’s not what she is focusing on.
“Even from the beginning when I started my journey, I never called it weight loss — I call it fat loss,” she explains. “I have photos of me at 275 two years ago which look nothing like the way I look now at 275. Because of all the muscle I have put on, my body composition is so different.”
She continues to be an example to her children, Masjahlee (16 years old) and Bryce (10 years old), as she trains for the upcoming competitions. She says, “I live my life now fearlessly.” “I believe that it’s okay for me to make mistakes in my life. It’s okay to make mistakes. This is how you learn and grow.
Her own career is only growing. She is not only one of the most powerful women in the world, but she has also become a motivational speaker.
She said, “I don’t feel like a heavy lifter anymore.” “I feel like I’m lifting spirits.”