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Local powerlifter earns silver medal during nationals (3 photos)

Holly Lasante balances family, work - and more work - while pursuing powerlifting excellence

Holly Lasante hopes her recent silver medal win at the Canadian Powerlifting Union Nationals will earn her an opportunity to represent her country during the World Classic Powerlifting Championships in Sweden this summer.

“This year if I make it on Team Canada, I’d really like to hit the podium,” said Lasante. “That would be my big goal.”

Lasante - who began powerlifting roughly four years ago, when she was 44 years of age - put her love of powerlifting to the test against eight other competitors in the 63-kilogram Master 1 class during the national powerlifting championships in Ottawa this past week.

The event featured more than 700 powerlifters from across Canada.

Lasante’s silver medal performance means she’s now eligible to apply for a spot on Team Canada.

If selected, this would mark the third time that Lasante has lifted on the international stage, having already represented Canada during the World Classic Powerlifting Championships in 2017 and 2018.

Lasante says this year’s nationals in Ottawa was the most fun that she’s ever had at a competition.  

“I didn’t put so much pressure on myself, and I had a really good time,” said Lasante. “I was happy with my numbers and I had a good meet.”

Powerlifting is a family affair for Lasante, as two of her children, 19-year-old Noah Lasante and 23-year-old Taylor Langlais, have competed at powerlifting competitions with their mother.  

Lasante credits her daughter’s love of powerlifting for getting her into the sport.

“I’d go to the gym with Taylor, and she’d be working out with the weights and I’d be running on the treadmill, kind of doing my own thing,” she said. “Then I watched Taylor and Noah compete at a meet in Sarnia, and I caught the bug.”

“I thought, ‘I want to do that too, that looks like so much fun.’”

Lasante’s powerlifting routine leading up to a competition is primarily done in the family’s home gym, which she says is due in no small part to her “very supportive husband.”

“I’m really lucky, because when I’m lifting - because I have a gym in the house - the kids will come in and keep me company,” said Lasante. “We push each other and keep each other focused.”

Lasante says that puts in two hours per night, five nights a week in order to train for a competition.

She calls her powerlifting training a part-time job.   

“It’s definitely a really big commitment,” she said. “You can’t go in it half-assed and expect to be successful, right?”

On top of being a wife, mother, powerlifter and working a full-time job as a human resource manager for Pollard Banknote locally, Lasante also assumes the role of personal trainer - using her home gym in order to help other women to be more active and feel good about themselves.

Not only is the job gratifying, she says, but pays for her competitive powerlifting career as well.   

“For me there’s nothing more fulfilling than having a client who has set a goal and have them crush it,” Lasante said.

She says the allure of powerlifting for her really lies in the idea of setting a goal, and then seeing it through to the end.

“I do put a lot of pressure on myself to do well, and I’ll make it happen because I work hard for it,” said Lasante. “I believe in it, and I love doing it.”


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James Hopkin

About the Author: James Hopkin

James Hopkin is a reporter for SooToday in Sault Ste. Marie
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