20-year-old Kiana Elliot is an elite weightlifter. She’s a four-time Senior National Champion and 2016 Senior Oceania Champion. Kiana is currently training for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games qualifiers and has chosen THR1VE to fuel her journey. We chatted with Kiana about how food can be a key to success.

Why did you choose THR1VE to support your nutrition in the lead up to the qualifiers?

Nutrition is a huge aspect of training and performance and I wanted to be able to feel like I was ticking this box to the best of my ability. THR1VE’s ethos places real food as paramount. What drew me in was that everything was the best quality fresh food. On top of this, I liked the availability of macro-balanced meals, which I can match to pre-training and post-training in order to meet my recovery needs. Improving performance, especially in a strength sport, is all about breaking the body down and then ensuring recovery so you can come back better and stronger.

What’s the biggest difference between your regular diet and your new THR1VE plan?

The absolute ease and simplicity of it! Apart from getting my Sunday back from the stranglehold of meal prep, I no longer have to worry about whether I’m making the right food choices because I know that THR1VE uses the best quality ingredients that will help me perform. On top of this, there are boundless choices which have all been crafted to be delicious, unlike my sometimes repetitive and I’ll admit rather simplistic cooking!

What does a day in your life look like in the lead up to the qualifiers?

My schedule varies day to day, I’m juggling training, working and studying so I’ve always got to plan how I’m going to get the most out of my day. In saying that, on a Tuesday I get up and get a quick study session in, then head to work for a half day shift. From there, I head to classes and once I’m done with those, I head to the gym for the evening squad training session which usually goes for about 2 hours. Then I head home, shower, have dinner, get myself organised for the next day and try to relax in front of a bit of Netflix if I have the time.

In general, I train 7-9 sessions a week. I relax when I’m driving, listening to interesting podcasts and audiobooks. At any chance I get I’ll try to immerse myself outside because I love the feeling of awe that nature can bring. For the most part I try to spread my meals pretty evenly throughout the day. When I’m doing two training sessions a day, I’ll make sure my meals are spaced relatively soon after my workout – no one likes a starving stomach after training! This coincides with when my body is asking for those nutrients so it can start repairing what I’ve broken down in training.

How important is diet and nutrition in supporting your success in the sport?

Diet and nutrition is integral to performance it weightlifting. It can really make or break your performance. For one, weightlifters compete in weight classes – and once you’ve made weight, how well you feel and consequently how well you can perform depends directly on how well you have fuelled your body in the lead up to the competition. The nature of weightlifting demands 100% effort throughout a matter of moments, six lifts on the competition platform are all we get, but that’s what I love about it. The challenge of trying to make sure you are at your mental and physical best for that single all-out effort.

What’s been your greatest achievement in weightlifting to date – and what’s your ultimate goal?

My greatest achievement to date is winning Silver in the Snatch with 95kg and Bronze Overall at the 2016 Junior (20 and under) World Championships! The feeling of knowing I had earned my place on the podium was incredible and beyond anything I had ever experienced before.

My ultimate goal is a gold medal at the Olympic Games. Because I think I can, so why not see if I indeed can. My personal motto is, “Believe the unfathomable is conquerable” and this has permeated throughout my weightlifting career. Weights that once seemed enormous are now easy warm ups, even trying to snatch an empty barbell in the beginning seemed such a challenging mystery! But you can’t accomplish anything unless some little part of you believes you can do it.

You can read about Kiana's journey with THR1VE here.