Sophia Ellis is a National Level Powerlifter and Personal Trainer. She is an ED survivor who helps others to believe in themselves and bring out their best self. A major plus is Sophia is a fellow coffee addict who loves Arabica beans. Learn more about Sophia and her knowledge of powerlifting below:

1) What is your first and last name?

Sophia Ellis

2) Where were you born and raised?

Southend On Se, Essex, UK

3) Where did you go to college? Are you attending college?

University of the Arts London. I have just graduated!

4) What inspired you to become a powerlifter?

I just loved the feeling of being strong. I got into weight training after my Eating Disorder treatment for Anorexia and Bulimia and found it really helped me with recovery mentally. Suffering from a mental illness for so long left me so weak mentally and physically, weight training helped me to get out of the destructive cycle, nourish my body and feel myself again. I started posting videos of myself training on my Instagram and someone said that I should look into Powerlifting. I am very competitive and when I approached a powerlifting club I saw my opportunity to compete in a sport again! I have the support of an amazing coach and I can honestly say that Powerlifting has made me grow as a person.

5) What is the difference between powerlifting and weightlifting as we see in the Olympics?

The most obvious is the fact that Powerlifting focuses on the three main lifts; squat, bench and deadlift, whereas Weightlifting uses the snatch, the clean and jerk which are both overhead movements. The speed of execution is faster in weightlifting and due to the different movements both require different techniques. There are similarities between the two but they are very much two different sports.

6) How do you get mentally prepared before a powerlifting event?

I use visualisation techniques, seeing myself lifting the weight helps. I know a lot of people listen to music but this often distracts me, I love the buzz of a competition and get high off the adrenaline! “Fail to prepare. prepare to fail” is a quote that was said to me by my football coach and it has stuck with me ever since. I make sure I am 100% prepared and organized for the event, this, in turn, helps me mentally know that I can get in my zone and smash it.

7) What are your 5 favorite exercises to do?

Deadlifting is at the top of the list, alongside bench press. I feel like such a badass smashing the weight down after completing a heavy deadlift. Bench press is one of my strongest lifts – plus I can use my hypermobile back to get into a position that looks like something out of The Exorcist.

Pull-ups, Military press and although I moan a lot about squats I actually quite enjoy doing double pause squats – they are absolutely grim if you are doing a high volume but they give you one hell of a neck pump after straining so much haha! (and they really help if you struggle to get out of the sticking points)

8) Do you like to cook? If so, what are your three favorite things to cook?

Yes, I enjoy cooking, I used to be a vegan chef back in my teens but unfortunately, I don’t have much time to cook anymore. If I had time to cook (I currently just meal prep and live out of Tupperware) then my favourite things to make would be: nice-cream / acai bowl , now I know this isn’t cooking anything but I just love making a creamy bowl of banana ice cream or an acai bowl that I can decorate with delicious toppings. Check out my Instagram and you’ll soon see why!

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I like baking and so something like coffee and walnut cookies would be up there. I don’t have a sweet tooth but coffee & cookies are my weakness. To be honest I love anything that uses only one bowl and colourful ingredients. Probably fajitas would be the third one, can’t go wrong with Mexican food! Sushi is also fun to make if you have the patience haha (I am vegan so all of the above would be using plant-based ingredients

9) Now for the hard questions, what is your favorite color?

Pastel pink

10) What is your favorite music?

I like such a wide range that’s so difficult! I am currently into a mix of experimental future bass, alternative R&B and Rock, electronic and grime. So yeah pretty much everything I can’t choose. I suck at this.

11) Did you have a favorite childhood show?

Yes my top two were Scooby-Doo and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

 

12) I created a superhero called Double Shot who has the ability to create and manipulate coffee, If you had super powers, what would it be?

OMG that’s an amazing superhero. I’m going to stick with the coffee theme and create a superhero called ‘The Decaffinator’ – basically, any decaf coffee will be turned into caffeinated and his coffee senses can tell when someone is in need of a caffeine boost, so will rush to their need. And the slogan would be ‘DEATH BEFORE DECAF’.

13) How do you like your coffee?

My order of choice would be an Americano Misto either with soya or oat milk. But I do enjoy a medium roast black coffee brewed over a syphon or a Nitro Cold brew through tap. (I am such a coffee snob, it has to be Arabica beans).

14) If I flew to the UK, would you give me a power lifting session?

Yes of course! Prepare to get some strength gains!

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15) What advice can you give to the young people out there?

Take risks! Do what you enjoy! Just go for it! Don’t spend time wishing you were somewhere else or doing something different, make the changes, take the leap and value your time. Learn new things each day, knowledge is wealth. Challenge yourself and practice gratitude every day. In reality, life is short, make the most of it. Love yourself.

Do you want to learn more about Sophia Ellis? Let me know on Twitter and Instagram @BlueJayHJB