My daughter, 9, puts grown men to shame at gym – she started working out aged 3 & can deadlift double her bodyweight
A NINE-year-old girl is putting her adult fellow gymgoers to shame as she deadlifts double her own body weight.
Stella Nelson has been working out since she was just three years old and is now a weightlifting pro.
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Stella is only nine-years-old and can deadlift double her weightCredit: Nick Huges
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Stella’s mom Shelley Nelson is proud of her daughter who started her fitness journey at age 3Credit: Instagram
“She does the adult class and I mean, she gives some of the adults like a run for their money,” proud mom Shelley told The U.S. Sun.
People at her gym have said “Man, maybe Stella can teach us something,” according to her mom.
Weighing only 70lbs, Stella can deadlift almost half her weight – 135lbs.
She has performed a 25lb weighted plank and can squat between 75 and 90lbs.
The tiny, but mighty, weightlifter can also do a 70lb clean and jerk and a 55lb snatch.
Shelley revealed that she gave her daughter an early start in fitness when she took her then-three-year-old daughter along to the gym with her when she worked out.
The busy mom, who began her own weight loss journey in 2016 at 350lbs, said she wasn’t able to find childcare so she would bring Stella along.
But the youngster quickly discovered her own love for working out.
“In the beginning, it was just kind of more fun,” Shelley exclusively told The U.S. Sun.
“It was just like, oh, my mom’s doing this. My mom’s friends are doing this. I wanna be like them.”
Stella, who also loves softball, began with cardio as she “got comfortable with everybody” at the gym.
“It just came natural to her ‘cuz she’s an athlete,” said Shelley.
It was a slow progression, but now Stella trains with her CrossFit and weightlifting coach Caleb Foxworth every week for an hour, and every other week she’ll have two lessons.
Shelley said: “Her coach is just really great with her.”
“I feel like the connection that she has with her CrossFit coach is a really big one,” she added.
While Stella gained muscle mass, Shelley lost over 100lbs and currently weighs about 237lbs.
As more time passes, Stella wants to keep pushing herself to do more in the gym and documents her progress on her Instagram account @thelittlebeast.Stella.
“I’ve noticed that she’s gotten older, she’ll find something that she wants to do and she doesn’t stop until she does it.
“[She] really has found a desire to want to be one of the best,” Shelley said.
Shelley is in awe of her daughter’s ambition at the gym.
“I’m just a lot of times like mind blown at like what she can push herself to do and what she desires for herself to be able to do,” she said.
“We don’t push her into anything. She does exactly what she wants to do,” said Shelley.
She added: “It’s just a cool journey to be on it with her.”
Stella’s dream is to go to the CrossFit games and compete in Miami’s Wodapalooza – a national CrossFit festival – when she turns 13.
As far as becoming a professional bodybuilder when she’s older, Shelley said: “I wouldn’t count that out for her by any means.”
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Stella puts grown men to shame at the gymCredit: Quick Visuals
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She is going something active everyday, including her weekly CrossFit and weightlifting lessonsCredit: Nick Huges
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