Granit challenges stereotypes through power lifting

Today is World Cerebral Palsy Day and it is a time to celebrate and acknowledge the achievements and contributions of people who have cerebral palsy.

To acknowledge today we would like to share the story of one of our support workers, Granit. Granit works at Northcott’s North Parramatta office, supporting customers in our Life Skills and Work & Study.

He loves supporting people with disability and in his free time you’ll find him competing in power lifting competitions!

Granit used to be a Northcott customer. After completing a TAFE course he was encouraged by his teachers to apply for a permanent role at Northcott and he was successful.

Getting into power lifting

Granit first started power lifting to improve his mental health. Resistance training exercises like power lifting is proven to lower depression, anxiety, and fatigue and improve self-esteem and sleep quality.

“At first I was training mental health and didn’t even think about competing,” says Granit. After a while, he started to feel confident and became interested in training for competitions. However it took a while to find a trainer that believed in him.

“People have preconceived ideas about what they think people with cerebral palsy can and can’t do. In reality I can do whatever I set my mind to just like everyone else,” says Granit.

Granit eventually met trainers who believed in him and who gave him confidence and support.  Granit says, “They didn’t see my disability, they saw what I could do.”

Now, he has good days and bad days just like everyone else but thanks to power lifting he feels much more confident and self-assured in himself.

Granit has competed in two powerlifting competitions so far and is training for his third. He hopes to beat his personal best and deadlift 175 kilos!

Looking into the future

Granit plans to study next year to become a trainer or exercise physiologist. He hopes to support people with disability to become their best selves through exercise.