Humans of Warwick - Nina-Anne Lawrence

Professor Nina-Anne Lawrence

Director & Head of Department, Warwick Foundation Studies

“I made it my goal to be able to pull a pick-up truck!”

“While working full-time, I also completed an executive MBA. It was an intensive two years, juggling my job with intense study. Once it finished, I needed a new challenge. But this time, I wanted something physical, not intellectual.

I’d already been strength training for about a year but wanted a specific goal to aim for. I decided that would be to pull a pick-up truck. Why not! I contacted a specialist strongman gym in Leeds, where I live, and asked if they could help make it happen. They not only agreed but also offered to train me for the pull. For any rugby league fans, my coach was an ex-Leeds Rhinos player. I succeeded in my goal and having invited friends to watch, they ended up on the truck as I pulled it along!

After the truck pull, I got more involved in the strongman and strongwoman scene and eventually started entering competitions hosted by gyms around the UK. Each competition includes five events, things like deadlifts holding an axel bar, overhead lifts, carries and Atlas stones. I loved competing and am proud of what I’ve achieved, coming fifth in my latest competition. Competing as a Masters athlete, over 50 I often going up against people much younger than me.

If I’d started younger, I could have lifted a lot more, age definitely affects strength, but I’ve flipped 100kg tyres, carried 100kg wooden frames, pulled the 2-tonne truck and maxed out my deadlift at 120kg. The community is brilliant, supportive, welcoming, and full of mutual encouragement. You’re competing but also cheering each other on.

At the start of each academic year, I give an induction talk to our new students and ask them to guess what sport I do. They never manage to guess, usually starting off with golf or tennis! When I show them the video of my truck pull, you can hear a pin drop but it helps demonstrate a key point, with focus, preparation and a clear strategy, you can achieve things you might not have thought possible. It’s a story they remember, and even though I don’t teach, it is a point of conversation when I meet them. I also enjoy meeting our students in the gym. I appreciate some staff might avoid the gym because they don’t want to run into students. Not me!

I’m passionate about strength training, it’s not for everyone, but for me it’s been incredibly good for both physical and mental wellbeing. It also combats aging effects such as sarcopenia. That’s why I ran strength training classes for staff when I worked at the University of Leeds - to get people moving after Covid, to help them stay agile and develop confidence. I haven’t started staff strength training sessions at Warwick yet, but it’s definitely on my radar. Watch this space, I may be recruiting soon!”