Off The Clock: Heavy Lifting

Tiff’s Maria Alex Nitto proves power lifting is more about brains than brawn.

By Maya Norris, Managing Editor -- Chain Leader, 9/1/2007

Maria Alex Nitto does not look like your average power lifter. At 5 foot 10 inches and 130 pounds, the area director for five-unit casual-dining chain Tiff’s is taller and leaner than most female power lifters. Despite the physical disadvantages and limited time to train, 28-year-old Nitto can lift more than 300 pounds after only participating in the sport for the last four years.

"It’s not something girls usually do," she says. "If you looked at me, you would never think it."

Quick Study

Nitto took up power lifting in 2003 when her boyfriend, Paul Danna, who owns a gym, encouraged her to try it. He began training her in dead lifting, in which she pulls a barbell off the floor to a standing position with her arms straight down, but not over her head. After training for only a year-and-a-half, she was able to pull 315 pounds for five repetitions, her personal best.

"You just feel like you’ve accomplished something because you can just see your strength and your power," Nitto says. "And if people are watching you in the gym, that boosts your ego, too. A lot of guys are like, ‘Wow, that girl can do that kind of thing.’"

Competitive Mindset

Nitto has participated in two dead-lifting competitions. She didn’t place well because many of the competitors lifted 400 pounds or more. "Usually the girls are really short and my weight, so they have an advantage, because if you’re shorter, you’re closer to the ground," Nitto says. "So naturally if you’re smaller, it’s easier for you to lift a little bit more weight. I’m tall and have long arms, so it’s a little bit more difficult."

Many of her competitors also generally have more time to train than she does. Nitto goes to the gym at 6 a.m. for about an hour to 90 minutes three or four times a week. She dead-lifts once a week and does cardio and weight-lifting exercises three times a week. On the weekends she rides her mountain bike and runs occasionally.

Preparing for two competitions in the fall and early 2008, Nitto is working to dead-lift at least 325 pounds. She is also training in two other power-lifting events: the squat and the bench press. She can squat about 150 pounds but is aiming for 200 pounds. She can bench-press 105 pounds currently, but she hopes to bench-press 150 pounds.

Mind Over Matter

To meet her goals, Nitto says she has to stay focused, but she finds it challenging because she often thinks about her job when she trains. "You’ve got to really focus on it and really think about pulling the weight off the floor," Nitto says. "Last week I was trying to pull my weight and I missed it. I was real distracted. But then yesterday I went to do it with no problem. I pulled it up for four reps.

"People really take the mind for granted," she adds. "It’s pretty much the same with all sports. You just got to have a really strong head. You have to really be focused."