Cohen has what it takes to regain world record.
The electricity shook as Stefi Cohen stalked into the Animal Cage. Many competitors with staggering size and massive totals entered earlier. Still, the audience roared the loudest for the five foot, 120 lb. Cohen.
Cohen’s performance is the ultimate display of what’s obvious, but many within the powerlifting community have forgotten: Cohen is destined for the world record, all-time Wilks score.
Courtesy: YouTuibe
Cohen previously held this record, but C. C. Holcomb surpassed it. Many powerlifters feel the need to constantly adjust the weight to “build more mass” to helpfully increase a Wilks score. A lot of times, they just get fat.
Instead of playing around with her weight, Cohen has mastered the game by staying in the same weight category but still continuing to improve body composition through her “Hybrid Training,” where she implements functional bodybuilding and effective nutrition.
Everyone knows that powerlifting is the sport of longevity. Some of the biggest names are people over 40 years of age, like Marisa Inda and Jen Thompson. The goal is to get progressively stronger without getting injured–so the process never stops. Cohen implements this concept perfectly.
Lots of powerlifters have “off” seasons, where they focus more on building muscle for the purposes of longevity. However, Cohen makes functional bodybuilding part of her regular routine–not a side thought done maybe a quarter of the year. Because of her commitment to keeping her body in pristine condition, it is almost inevitable that she will hold the highest Wilks score of all time.
Cohen possesses the drive and the confidence to take it to the top.
If anything else shows her ability to do great in the future, it’s her ability to perform well in the past. For the past six months, she has pulled over 500 lbs. countless times as seen on her Instagram page–even when she had a sharp drop in performance due to a hormonal imbalance caused by her birth control (as Cohen posted about on Instagram several months ago). On Cohen’s hard days, she still pulls far more than any of her competitors in her weight class.
Cohen competed as a professional soccer player for Venezuela. She understands what it truly means to want something and take it. When asked in an interview with Omar Isuf of what hobby she would do once she can no longer compete in powerlifting she chimed, “Archery. I feel like I could one of the best in archery.” Has Cohen ever practiced archery? “No, but I am disciplined enough to where I could truly be the best,” she challenged.
Courtesy: Clipzui.com
At first glance, this might seem nuts, but Cohen conquered two sports at a world level with this level of conviction. It doesn’t seem like much of anything could stop her now.
Cohen is shaping the way people view powerlifting. Once seen as a sport only for big, bulky men is now being expanded to include all sorts of people at all sorts of sizes.
At World’s, the definition at the mainstream powerlifter will be forever altered. A 5 ft. woman will take the overall Wilks record.
