Karenjeet Kaur Bains (25) started powerlifting at age 17. Karanjeet was the fastest girl at school. She was equally studious. She heavily derives inspiration from her family which has a rich history of fitness and bodybuilding, especially her parents.
Her Indian roots
In an exclusive interview with Asian Voice, Karenjeet said, “Both my Mum (Manjit Kaur Bains) and Dad (Kuldip Singh Bains) were born in Punjab, India – my Mum was born in a village called Bahadurpur near Noormahal, and my Dad from a village called Shadipur. My Dad came to England aged 7 and my Mum aged 19 to get married. My Dad is a former bodybuilder and powerlifter himself who is my coach. My Mum (maiden name Randhawa before she was married) came from a family of champion wrestlers with her older brother Surjit Singh Randhawa being a renowned champion wrestler.”
Reaching milestones
Karenjeet is the first female Sikh powerlifter to represent Great Britain. Speaking about her experience of the championship, she said, “I walked in with both my brothers by my side. I remember and the referee was actually from South Asia himself. He came up to us, looking at my muscular-looking brothers and felt that one of them was going to compete. And my brother corrected him saying, ‘No, it's my sister’. And I was always there in the middle, just completely overlooked. South Asian women can be strong and gone are the days when women in our community needed to be kind of dainty, quiet, and overly feminine to fit into the box of the very traditional woman who stays in the kitchen. So, I love strength training. I think it's really important because it's so empowering,” she told us.
Further speaking about her training, Karenjeet added, “I compete in both the under 63kg and under 69kg women’s weight class. My best lifts to date are 150kg Squat, 95kg Bench Press and 170kg Deadlift. My achievements to date include being the Commonwealth Powerlifting Champion winning 3 Gold Medals and 2 Silver Medals as well as being the First British Sikh Female to represent Great Britain placing in the Top 10.
“Most recently, I competed at the World Classic Bench Press Championships in Vilnius, Lithuania my debut as a Senior Lifter and placed 6th in the world with the aim of medalling in the near future. I have ambitions to one day become the First British Sikh Female World Champion!”
Bains loves pasta and parathe!
The nutrition of a sportswoman has to have some serious amount of discipline. Bains follows that. She said, “I eat a lot of pasta, but my diet is quite flexible - I weigh myself every day to track my weight throughout my cycle in the month and learn the fluctuations in my body however I do allow myself cheat days on the weekend which is my favourite time to have Aloo wale parathe!”
Parental support
Karenjeet’s parents have been tremendously supportive of her inclination towards powerlifting. Her father even corrected her fad diets and eating habits when she started to misconstrue the difference between gaining muscle and gaining weight. Talking about the role that Asian parents can play in supporting their daughter’s career, Bains told the newsweekly, “I think supporting your children in pursuing their passions is extremely important in life, and I hope to be an example or role model to many young people out there that you can balance academic success with your passion which for me is lifting heavy weights!
“Throughout my sporting career, I have studied and got a First Class Honours Degree from Durham University (one of the Top 5 Universities in the country), obtained a scholarship with a Big 4 Accounting Firm and qualified as an ACA Chartered Accountant. It is all about determination, discipline and a clear focus on what you want to achieve in life! I don’t believe in the fact that the sole focus of a child should just be their education, encourage your children to be well-rounded individuals and support them in their ambitions and dreams.
“I always believe the greatest gift that you can give your children is your time as a parent – be it watching your child at their first sports day or being at every training session to watch them in their extracurricular activities and sport. At the end of the day, all a child ever hopes to do is to make you proud and if they can see their parents are there for them and fully supporting them watch how far they fly!
“Also, let us break the stereotypes particularly in the South Asian community that anything a boy can do a girl can also do equally, if not better on some occasions. If we raise our daughters to fly high and put them on the same pedestal as our sons then we truly might see the next generation of South Asian Female World and Olympic Champions! Now that is the future I would love to create, and I hope my example can steer the direction of change.”
Working out while menstruating
Karenjeet also feels that if you are a functioning menstruating female, it’s important to talk about it and it’s a normal cycle. According to her, some amount of workouts really helps release tension from the abdominal muscles and helps in reducing cramps. “I've always tried to just do my best on those days because sometimes my lower back tends to ache and I get quite bloated, when you wear that belt, it feels a bit too tight. Especially when you're trying to cut weight, during menses you sometimes tend to gain about a kilo of water weight. I think it's important to be open with your coach, it's okay to say I'm not feeling too good today. On your heavy flow days, if you're feeling really tired, it's okay to back off a little bit because you don't want to risk injury and even top athletes would say the same thing. Goo listen to your body,” Karenjeet explained.
When Karenjeet goes out to perform, the feeling that she gets gives her an adrenaline rush. “I just love the feeling when I go out there and on the platform and like you're getting the adrenaline and the crowd is roaring because I remember at the World Championships, the crowd was roaring and I was like, just, it's just an amazing experience. And then when you lift to something that you've never lifted before, and like, you just feel such a feeling of accomplishment,” she said. In one of her media interactions, Bains said that while she’s delighted that she’s the first female to do so, she doesn’t want to be the last. Here’s hoping that we see more Karenjeet Kaur Bains in the future.
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Karenjeet Kaur Bains’ nutrition chart
- Breakfast – Porridge with banana and sometimes with a spoon of peanut butter, and a cup of tea – good to start the date with some carbohydrates
- Mid-morning – 11 am, protein shake
- Lunchtime – Some sort of meat either fish or chicken, with potatoes for carbohydrates and some vegetables
- Mid-afternoon snack – Banana, a glass of milk and a handmade pinni (protein ball made by her mother)
- Post-workout – Protein shake with creatine
- Dinner – Chicken with pasta or rice or fish with rice (a good mix of protein and carbs)
- Post dinner – Protein yoghurt
