The inside of a gym is a familiar sight for senior Crystal Krupp. For four years, she has trained every week to succeed in the sport of powerlifting. Powerlifting at the high school level involves three separate lifts: the squat, bench and deadlift. Each participant has three chances, the highest score is taken from each lift and the total is their score.

 
“There are different weight classes just like wrestling,” Krupp said. “There’s a women’s powerlifting, too, so I don’t compete against guys like some people think.”

 
Krupp has been a state champion three times and has broken nine state records. She is retired now because of the stress powerlifting has put on her body.

 
“I started September of my freshman year,” Krupp said. “I worked out four days a week for three hours. Let’s just say I was never on time for a football game on Friday night my entire high school career.”

 
In order to be successful during the powerlifting season, Krupp had to work out year round. Other than working out, she also had to follow a strict dieting plan, consisting of high protein and zero processed foods.

 
“To be a powerlifter, you have to have determination; you have to really want it,” Krupp said. “I told myself to keep going and that I’ll never be able to do it again so I need to do it now.”

 
This self-encouragement came in play a couple months before her senior year when her body began to break down from the weight she was lifting. Her doctor told her to quit, leaving Krupp to make a decision between continuing to lift or give it up for her health.

 
“My spine is compressed and I have to go to rehabilitation now,” Krupp said. “Probably wasn’t the greatest idea, but I wanted to finish my senior year.”

 
Krupp saw a future with powerlifting when she received scout offers to colleges in northern Michigan and a scholarship to the Olympics. The decision on whether or not she would go into the Olympics has to be made now because of the short amount of time powerlifters have as a powerlifter. The strain on the body is too much to do it for too long.

 
“My trainer said he would go through it with me if I wanted to,” Krupp said. “But he explained to me everything I would miss out on. You don’t go to college, you can only take some classes but you can’t go full time.”

 
Instead of following powerlifting into the future, Krupp is attending Kettering University in the fall. She is going for Mechanical Engineering with an emphasis in Biomedical Engineering.