Claymont alum succeeds in powerlifting

Champion powerlifter Leah Reichman surpassed her own previous world record of 880 pounds in the squat equipped category when she lifted 953 pounds in April this year. At the same competition, the 2023 APF Womens Pro/Am in Cincinnati, Reichman also set a record for lifting a total of 2,055 pounds in one meet, between her deadlift, squat and bench.

This is the biggest total of all time in the world of women’s powerlifting. Prior to this, the record was held by Becca Swanson, whose record for a total in one meet was 2,050 pounds.

Reichman grew up in Tuscarawas County, where she attended Claymont High School, and also has ties to Harrison County, where she frequently spent her holidays and summers visiting her grandparents Jim and Martha Chaney. She attended the University of Cincinnati, where she studied exercise science. Today she lives in Cincinnati and coaches high-schoolers while working in the healthcare field.

“I’ve always known that I was strong,” Reichman said, “even as a kid, helping out on farms, when we would have to stack wood and clean the barns.”

Reichman was involved in sports in high school including track and field and basketball. She also often lifted for health and fitness. But she did not get into competitive powerlifting until 2016 when she was 27.

“I’ve always been competitive,” she said. “I enjoyed competitive sports in high school. It gave me an outlet.”

Reichman did face some challenges as a woman competing in a sport that is largely viewed as being male-dominated. She usually trained with men. “Logistically, it makes sense since I was lifting more,” she said.

Most of the men accepted her, but she also was bullied on occasion. “It must have been a pride and ego thing,” she said. “I also faced some hardships with the general population, with society. People stare at you. It’s like they’ve never seen a woman like me before,” she said.

Reichman is seeing more openness in society in general, however. “Even when I graduated 10 years ago, the field was more male-dominant for strength and conditioning coaching. Now it seems like more women are saying let’s do what we want,” she said.

Reichman said she is seeing a change including more acceptance of women as strength and conditioning coaches. Her own coach, Laura Stackhouse, hosts the meet at the Butler County Fairgrounds, where Reichman achieved her record lifts In April.

“Maybe it’s the internet, seeing other women doing it, breaking through glass ceilings. Some women are top executives, playing rugby, women’s sports in general. It’s empowering to see other women pushing through and forgetting about societal standards,” Reichman said.

She said she gets a lot of compliments now.

For Reichman, strength training is about health. “To really train your body to be strong, you have to be mobile and you have to lift weights because then you are building muscle mass, building tendons and ligaments,” she said.

When asked what’s next in her lifting career, Reichman said some people are hoping she will be the first woman to squat a thousand pounds, but right now she’s enjoying some downtime while still training.

“I would love to be able to empower other women, young girls,” she said, “being able to reach the younger generation and teach them that whatever your body looks like, whatever season your body is in, it is powerful and capable of many things,” Reichman said.