PROFESSIONAL powerlifting comes with some serious risks.
Bones and joints can be broken in pursuit of incredible personal bests.
Mouth and nosebleeds are common due to the sudden spike in blood pressure when performing lifts, which can often lead to competitors fainting.
Some, particularly women, even lose control of their bladders as they perform Herculean feats of strength.
And that’s exactly what happened to Brazilian Renata Christina Touma during her latest meet.
Renata, a nutritionist, personal trainer and long-time athlete, took part in the Copa SP de Levantamento Terra in Sao Paulo earlier this month, competing in the 69KG weight class.
During the meet, Renata attempted to sumo deadlift a whopping 192.5kg.
After pulling the slack out of the bar, she began hoisting the mammoth weight but started to lose form after pulling it to her knees.
Renta’s entire body started to shake under the intense strain, prompting her to lose control of her bladder and urinate through her shorts.
She was unsuccessful with the lift and threw her hands up in frustration after leaving the platform.
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Most people would be embarrassed if they wet themselves in public.
But not Renata, who shared multiple videos of her ill-fated lift to her Instagram page.
In one of the accompanying captions, she wrote: “You are in control of your history. No one else.
“Strength is not just in the weight you lift, but in the choices you make, the discipline you build, and how you respond to challenges.
“You don’t control everything that happens. But you can decide what to do with what’s within your reach.
“It is in this space that there is power: in your ability to act, persist, and continue building your own trajectory.
“The question is: what are you going to do with what is in your hands?
“You control your story. Nobody else.
“Strength is not just about the weight you lift.
“It is also about the choices you make, the discipline you build, and how you respond to challenges.
“You cannot control everything that happens. But you can decide what to do with what is within your reach.”
Despite going viral for what many would see as all the wrong reasons, Renata is determined to get over her deadlift hump.
She said: “Today my current record is 192.5kg. What was once a dream is now my third attempt.
“And I promise that, in the next competition, that number will go up and I’ll manage to complete it!”
