Powerlifting journey leads to gold medal for nursing officer

Powerlifting journey leads to gold medal for nursing officer 

By Nathan Stone,
Trident Staff 

Stemming from an operational need on deployment in West Africa, one Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) member developed a passion for weightlifting that has now brought her a regional medal at her first competition.  

Major (Maj) Kathryn Brett was on deployment in Mali with her fellow members of the Canadian Medical Emergency Response Team (CMERT) in 2019 when they were told by superiors that there were concerns about their abilities. 

“A lot of the feedback we were getting was that they felt we weren’t strong enough to lift our patients.” 

As a critical care nurse on the CMERT, Maj Brett was expected to act as a first responder in dangerous or hostile conditions. Her job involved flying in a Chinook helicopter to provide lifesaving medical care at a moment’s notice.  

A CMERT member is expected to be able to lift 250lbs, a weight which represents a soldier in full combat equipment.  

Maj Brett took the concerns in stride and looked to build up her physical strength. 

“I went to school for many years and then I studied to become a critical care nurse, so this was just one more aspect of being a professional. I was going to ensure I had the proper knowledge and skills.” 

Sharing Maj Brett’s professional drive, the CMERT created their own powerlifting program and began training five days a week during the deployment. Powerlifting is a variant of weightlifting that focuses on lifting heavy weights in ways that work all the major muscle groups.  

Maj Brett says that it was motivating to see the improvement in the team’s performance and the weights that they could manage. 

“I can confidently say that zero patients were dropped,” she says with a laugh.  

In September 2024 Maj Brett took on a new role as the commander of the High Readiness Detachment (Halifax), 1 Canadian Field Hospital. She had continued lifting through the pandemic years as part of her exercise regimen, and soon linked up with the local powerlifting team, who were already prepping for the CAF Regional Powerlifting Championship in November. They worked quickly to bring her up to speed on the competitive side of the sport ahead of what would be her first powerlifting meet. 

Maj Brett and the CAF Halifax Powerlifting team traveled to 5th Canadian Division Support Base (5 CDSB) Gagetown for the regional championships on November 19. Personnel Support Programs (PSP) outfitted the team with weightlifting singlets, gear and provided a van for the commute.  

She described mixed feelings on competition day, from initial excitement shared with teammates, to some intimidation upon arrival in Gagetown. 

“Having my teammates with me helped. They told me what to expect, and I watched other lifters’ good techniques” Maj Brett said. 

Powerlifting competitions involve three lifts: the back squat, bench press, and deadlift. Participants get three attempts at each lift. 

Maj Brett started with the back squat, successfully completing all three attempts. The bench press proved trickier—she missed her second lift after skipping a command. 

After a pep talk from teammates, she nailed her third bench press. She then hit a personal record of 308lbs on her final deadlift, leading to a gold medal in her weight class. 

“It was just amazing. I was so happy to have everyone there and to have some of my other teammates pull personal records that day as well.”  

In hindsight, she says that not putting pressure on herself ended up being the right strategy to help her win. 

“Competition can be a double-edged sword, and I didn’t want to get negative…I wanted to just pull my best lifts and feel good.” 

Winning gold at the tournament has fueled Maj Brett’s motivation to keep on improving and competing at powerlifting. She’s also become an ambassador for lifting at her workplace. She’s stressed the benefits, including injury prevention, to the nurses in her unit. 

“Now that I’m in a leadership position within the nursing realm, I encourage all my team to weightlift. We all went the gym together and did a weightlifting session with PSP and it was really well received.”