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Christy Newman
Christy Newman, with boyfriend Tony Cardella
Hometown: Tioga, Louisiana
Current Home: Conroe, Texas (on the edge of Houston)
Weight Class: 165-lb.
Best Lifts: SQ - 348, BP- 355, DL - 380
Occupation: Photographer, HR Administrative Assistant for Ryan Energy Technologies
Check out Christy's photos at www.christynewman.smugmug.com
Winner of multiple Bench Press National championships, IPF gold medalist, and world record holder, Christy Newman had quite a challenge on her hands when team coach Donovan Thompson asked her to be on the 2007 U.S. Bench Press Worlds team.
"I officially let myself go after last year. I had taken off about six months. When I was asked to be on the team, it was a long and hard road back to getting in shape. I lost 20 pounds to get back into my weight class and struggled with 185 pounds," she explained.
Christy was also facing another challenge. In the time she had been off, the IPF had changed several rules on the bench press, including rules primarily affecting extreme arching. With one of the biggest arches in the United States, Christy had good reason to be nervous.
From the time she was asked to be on the team, Christy only had about four months until she would compete at the Bench Press Worlds. Christy showed her grit and determination. She trained hard, perfected her technique, and lost the weight she had gained. In February, Christy drove from Texas to Baton Rouge, Louisiana with her loyal boyfriend and fellow powerlifting champion, Tony Cardella, to check in with the experts at the 2007 USAPL Women's Nationals. Christy wasn't lifting at the meet, but she knew this would be her best chance to have the most expert of experts look at her arch and critique her technique under the new rules.
I had the chance to interview Christy right before the 2007 Bench Press Worlds in Thisted, Denmark. Despite her hard work, she was still nervous. When I asked her about her goals for the meet, she replied, "I just want to get a lift in right now. After that I would like to hit about 330 or so. I really think that this Worlds is going to be a fight from start to finish."
When the time came to perform, Christy did that and more. She won the gold medal in the 165-pound weight class and broke her own world record despite the elimination of fourth attempts for world record attempts. I sat down with Christy to find out what makes this champion tick and how she managed such an achievement given the rule changes affecting archers and the short period of time she had to train for this meet.
Q: How did you get started lifting?
Christy: I was a cheerleader in high school. At my first football game, Coach Marvin Hall looked at me and said, "You're going to be a powerlifter!" I had no idea what he was talking about, but the entire girls' powerlifting team was made up of the cheerleading squad. We were trying to get stronger for stunts and that kind of thing. My first powerlifting meet was at Alexandria Senior High School and I benched 145 pounds (close grip) and broke some meet record! After I graduated, I went to Louisiana Tech University. I tried out for the cheerleading squad three times. They told me I was too heavy to be a collegiate cheerleader. So, after a few weeks of depression at the realization of my cheerleading career being over, I ran into Marvin Hall. He told me to stop moping around and go talk to Billy Jack Talton about joining the powerlifting team. So, I did and the rest is history.
Q: What other sports have you done?
Christy: I was a gymnast for about ten years. Then, after I had a few stress fractures in my spine, I took a few months off and then started cheerleading. I ran cross-country one year and it nearly killed me!
Q: You are known as a big archer. How did you develop your arch and what suggestions would you have for others looking to develop an arch?
Christy: I was a gymnast since the age of six and am just naturally flexible. I didn't really start arching until I got to college and learned technique. To develop an arch, my best advice would be to go back to gymnastics class and learn how to do bridges and tick tocks. Stretch your hip flexors and train holding the arch without devices, such as pipes. Also, don't be in a rush to arch. Some people are stronger flat-backed and everyone is different. In my experience, my advice to other people is don't. It doesn't feel good. I have chronic neck pain all the time and I go to the chiropractor at least once a week to manage it. Also, there have been some rule changes which make it more difficult.
Q: Wow! I'm just imagining a bunch of powerlifters trying to learn how to do bridges. Speaking of the rule changes, with the new rules on the bench about keeping your feet flat did you have to make changes to your technique?
Christy: I didn't have to make too many adjustments with keeping my feet flat. I didn't go on the edge of my feet too much to begin with. I drive so hard with my legs that they stay flat anyway.
Q: How did you go about making adjustments?
Christy: The first few weeks back were just videotaping and trial and error. Then, after almost breaking my back, I decided it wasn't worth being permanently injured. So, I decided to just be myself and if they call me on it, then they call me. I trained on a bench that was lower than normal, so that helped a little.
Q: What do you mean about almost breaking your back?
Christy: Well, for the first month of training I had been trying new feet positions and video taping them to see what would make my butt touch according to the new "interpretation" of the rules. I rely on my leg drive a lot. In one of the positions that I was trying, I put my feet forward. I had taken a pretty fair amount of weight out and when I pushed with my legs to drive it up my right foot flew out from under me and dropped my right hip which squished my lower vertebrae. I thought I had permanently hurt spine. Luckily, I have the best chiropractor in the whole world, Dr. Glen Helton, and after 3 visits he had me right as rain again. I do feel that messing around with a form that my body was used to for the past 6 or 7 years could have caused a career ending injury. So, after that I just said screw it and stopped messing with my form.
Q: Tell me about your training methods. What was your training cycle for the Bench Press Worlds like?
Christy: My training methods are pretty simple. I do whatever Jon Magendie tells me to do. I don't know much about training. I do know that it helps to have great training partners, which I am very lucky to have.
Q: I know that you have been on quite a few world teams. What are your thoughts about this year's Bench Press Worlds team?
Christy: I LOVE THIS TEAM! I love our dynamics. I love the coaching staff. We are really united and supportive of each other. Every single one of us is essential and I think that everyone on the team goes out of their way to support each other. I also think we party like no other team, and I have been on a lot of world teams!
Q: Your boyfriend, Tony Cardella, is also a very accomplished powerlifter. How did the two of you meet?
Christy: The first time Tony and I met was at the 1998 Junior World Championships in Hungary. He was the team's 275 lifter and I was the team's 148 lifter. I didn't even really talk to him until the end of the meet because he was so scary looking. He just sat in the audience with his hat pulled down, watching the meet, and looking mad. He didn't lift until the last day, so he didn't get to party with the rest of us very much. We had a big party in our room after the banquet and that was the first time I got to talk to him. He was so nice and we were really good friends after that. Over the years through emails and seeing each other at powerlifting meets, we became close friends. I really relied on him at every national meet I went to. One day he was coming through town to go to New Orleans and wanted to know if I wanted to go out with him. I went and we've been together ever since - going on five years now. Something really odd happened on our first date. We ran into John Inzer of Inzer Advanced Designs. That was the first time I had ever met him. I thought how weird to run into someone so famous in the powerlifting circle on our first date. Tony is one of my biggest inspirations. He won colligate nationals twice and was on all three Junior World teams (98, 99, 00) with me. He has also been on seven open World teams. This year he was also chosen as one of the top 25 most influential powerlifters in the history of Men's Nationals with his sixth consecutive win. He is a dominating force in the 275's. Not to mention, he is also great with putting on a bench shirt! For the last two years he has been an assistant coach on the Bench Press Worlds team. He is the love of my life and I'm so lucky that he's there for me. I probably couldn't get my butt off the couch if it wasn't for him.
Q: What have been your biggest struggles in powerlifting and how have you overcome them?
Christy: Training alone was probably the hardest. I had just graduated from college and moved back home. I trained at my Dad's high school field house and videotaped everything. I didn't really have anyone around to spot sometimes and I didn't have anyone to judge depth and other technique.
Q: Who are your biggest influences in powerlifting?
Christy: Those that teach the young and have taught me and encouraged me to keep going when I was struggling and wanted to give up. Some of my biggest influences have been Jon Magendie, Billy Jack Talton, Marvin Hall, Jim Ford, and Sherman Ledford. My Dad also inspired me to pass on the knowledge of powerlifting. He is a football coach and he started a powerlifting team so that my sisters could powerlift. Tony Cardella helped me at meets when no one else would and that has always meant a lot to me.
Q: What are your future powerlifting goals?
Christy: I don't have very many. Right now I would like to try something a little different, like motherhood, getting married, paying off all my debts. Little things like that. But when I do come back, I would like to try to make a three-lift come back at some point. Break a few more world records and try to someday bench 400.
 Christy and Japan's Midote
Subsequent to this interview, Christy won the gold medal in the 165-pound class at the 2007 IPF Bench Press Worlds and broke her own world record. Here is Christy's description of winning the gold medal:
The night before it's hard to go to sleep thinking of everything. I asked Tony if he thought I should lower my opener. He told me not to worry and that we would see how things went in the morning. I woke up fairly early to check my weight. It was around 74.something kilos. I got my gear and got on the bus for the ride over to the venue. I was feeling great. So, we were waiting in line to check in gear, getting rack heights, and jamming to some beats. Jen Thompson, looking sexy as ever with those rock-hard abs even after having a baby, weighed in first. Then, Michelle Sora and I were last. I think I was 74.03 kilos. That's a long way from topping out at 184 pounds at Christmas! We all went up the stairs and grabbed our bench. We circled up the gym bags and started our warm-up rituals. They combined one of the flights, leaving us with two flights and a five- minute break in between. At one point, we all started jamming out to our music and dancing in a little circle. I loved it because it took my mind off the seriousness of the situation.
I was scared to death of going up to the platform and not getting the start command. With all the new rule "interpretations" and changes, I started doubting whether or not I really wanted to lift anymore. It seemed like such a witch hunt that I really didn't want to play anymore. But I played around with my feet at the beginning of my training cycle and nearly ruptured a disc one night when my foot flew out from under me because I push so hard with my legs. After that I just said screw it. I'll just set up like I always do and turn my heels out so that they stay flat. Scared to death.
Warm-ups went fine. The last one wasn't perfect, but I was ok with that. Mike Hara came over and rubbed some of his gold medal luck on my arms. Then, Tony told me there was a five-minute break that we didn't know about. He asked if I wanted to do another warm-up. Yes! So, we waited a minute and got in another warm-up. I'm so glad we did because I ended it on a great note. Nice and smooth like it should be. I pumped up the tunes and goofed around with everybody trying to keep it light.
Then, it was time to get ready for my first attempt. Tony was talking to me the whole time and getting me focused on the lift. Scared to death. I explained to the hand-off guy how I needed my hand-off. To my surprise, he did it perfectly. I couldn't even feel the weight I had so much adrenaline going. I got the start command right away. The press call was perfect- no crazy holds. I exploded up and the lock-out was easy. When I stood up, I just stood there waiting for the lights, thinking what could I have done wrong. Three white lights!!! YES!!! I'm in the game no matter what. Tony asked me what I thought and I said let's stick with the game plan.
Got ready for my second attempt. I had no idea where I was in the standing and I really didn't need to know. I had complete faith in Donovan and Tony. Second attempt felt solid, just like the first. But I think it went up even faster. When I stood up, I saw three white lights.
When I sat down, I put on my sweatshirt to keep warm. I asked Tony where I was at, but told him that I didn't really want to know. He told me to shut up and sit down. I usually wrap my wrists first and then have my shirt pulled down. For some reason, Tony wanted to change it. So, we cranked on the shirt and he wrapped my wrists. Then, I could hear over the loudspeaker that there was a change and that I would be attempting a new world record. Tony pulled my shirt up from the back and then really pulled it down in front. Now I get it. I stared at the bench while they were changing the weight. I was standing there waiting and it was taking a little while, so I rested my hand on the judge that was standing in front of me. He was holding me back from stepping on the platform, like a lion tamer getting ready to unleash the lion.
I gave a quick update to the hand-off guy. But then I realized he knows what he is doing. So, I set up and took the weight out. I could see the clock out of my peripheral vision and it said 20 seconds. I thought to myself, "Crap. I hope I get the start command right away."
The very next moment I heard the start command. I flexed my lats and tightened every little muscle I have. "Press!" I watched the bar move and felt it stall. Then I dug deep to keep it moving. If I can just keep it moving, it will be ok. When I stood up, I looked for the lights. It seemed like forever before they finally came on. Two whites and one red. I took a step towards Tony and then turned around to thank the hand-off guy for an amazing hand-off. Then I turned around and ran into Tony's arms and squeezed him as tight as I could. I can't believe it; we did it! It's official. I'm not just a one-hit wonder. It was really awesome. I went from not wanting to lift anymore to busting my tail and breaking my own world record. The absolute best part of any world victory is hearing that sweet, sweet music - the American anthem. It is the best. It gives you goose bumps and chills. Makes you feel proud, smile, and cry all at the same time. I never feel more thankful for all the people in my life then I do when I am standing there on top of the world.
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