When Anika Harper came to Team Nebobarbell I knew immediately this woman was something special. She picked up on technique faster than I have ever seen anyone. She understood what I was asking of her and making very quick gainz. It was like she was a fish that had never been in water before. So I dropped her in head first and she swam like she had been doing it her whole life. Anika has a huge upside with potential dripping from her pores. She was an athlete all through school (softball) and was pretty damn good at it. She is humble, shy, sweet and a wonderful person that is rubbing off on to me as a long lost sister I didn't know I had. I am very honored to have you as a part of our Team/Family.
Barley a month into training with us she decided to do The Women's Pro/Am. She had never been to a powerlifting meet before. She had no idea about anything to do with it. All she knew is that it was a competition and she wanted in. That instantly won me over. She has some injuries and surgeries she has had to deal with as well as her weight. We are working on rehab with her, getting her on track with her eating and giving her the support she has been looking for and needing. Anika we love you girl and are so very proud of you.
Here is her explanation of injuries and surgeries to give you a better idea what she has been dealing with physically:
"On 8/26/10 I got injured at work trying to stand a resident up.. a week went by before I went to the Dr, thinking nothing was wrong.. I was just sore.. when they done the mri, they found I had a torn bicep, stretched nerves, stretched AC joint and something protruding from my scapula (shoulder blade).. more tests revealed that I had a 9mm benign encondroma cartridge tumor that was ripping thru my muscles on my scapula.. it was undetermined on if it had done that on its own.. or if the pull against my arm caused it to tear thru.. they removed the tumor, along with the ripped pieces of my muscles.. and reattached them with fibers to my shoulder blade in Oct. 2010.. in June 2011, I had my second surgery.. to repair the rest of my injury.. they called it a bicep tendonitis.. the tear was in the top part of my bicep muscle and can't heal on its own because the muscle is never at rest long enough to heal.. so they removed the tear and relocated the top portion of my bicep into my bicep-ital groove.. causing me to lose strength in my right arm and a portion of the muscle.. they also took a piece of my acromion out because it was causing friction to the muscle since my AC joint had been stretched.. the nerves are still stretched coming down from my neck and thru my shoulder tunnel.. no surgery can fix them that's safe.. and my ulnar nerve is pinched in my elbow and will probably stay that way as well.. I've learned to adapt to that pain.. from everything, I've lost ROM and strength.. they rated it 25% permanent partial disability. At my biggest weight.. I was 235.. I'm currently 192.4. Now I'm focused on doing it the healthy way and building muscle while doing it!
Here is what she did in her very first powerlifting meet:
9 for 9 on attempts
PR squat - 300 pounds
PR bench - 100 pounds
PR deadlift - 315 pounds
PR total - 715 pounds
1st Place Victory
Anika had the biggest squat, deadlift and total of any Team Nebobarbell Women before her at their first meet! Huge Congrats!
