Meet Terri Sipes of Belgrade, Montana. She owns CrossFit Belgrade and Team Montana Weight-Lifting. On June 9, 2017, she won the Pan American Masters Weight-Lifting competition in the Dominican Republic! Terri has been an outstanding client at Lone Peak Physical Therapy over the last year. She sat down with us and shared her recent journey towards one of the biggest accomplishments of her life!
Terri’s journey began in March of 2016 when she moved up to the 69-kilo weight class for weight-lifting. Terri began to train and quickly realized the Snatch Record was within her reach. She began a rigorous 12-week training program and then strained her low back. She continued to train and unfortunately herniated her low back during a training lift. Terri states “It was really scary and I thought I may never be able to lift again.”
Terri was scheduled for surgery and decided at the last minute not to follow through with it. She says “I realized I was the boss of this and I get to choose who I want to work with and how I want to go about my future. I started researching and reaching out to my physical therapist, my chiropractor, and an Australian therapist who specializes in low back injuries. I began to create a team of people around me who I trusted.”
Last February after beginning an aggressive rehabilitation process, Terri began to train again. She went to her first meet and qualified but her shoulder began to hurt. Terri reports she went back to Josh Green at Lone Peak PT and he re-evaluated her snatch and began to work on her mechanics. Josh suggested taking out her orthotics and she reported “it changed my world and I was snatching completely different.” Terri states when she would come to physical therapy, they would listen to her, focus on her goals, and where she wanted to go. She states, “It was always about how we were going to get me to my goal by optimizing my entire body not just fixing my shoulder or my back.”
On June 9, 2017, Terri’s hard work and dedication paid off as she won the Master’s Pan American Weight-lifting meet in the Dominican Republic. Terri’s next big goal is to break the world record in three weight classes in the same year! We wish Terri the best and look forward to watching her reach her goal!
“This is your athletic career and you are in charge of it. You chose the people who coach you and work with you and you decide which treatment you do.” – Anonymous
Here is a video of Terri’s winning lift!
