SHE'S GOT THE POWER
Nothing’s too heavy for strongwoman Brendali from Randburg – not even an aircraft!
IT’S 7am on a chilly Saturday morning but the Boksburg Auto Alignment centre is already a hive of activity.
Inside the workshop on Johannesburg's East Rand two men grunt and groan as they heave iron weights and heavy pipes to the backyard – and in a corner of the workshop an attractive blonde woman in a pink tracksuit is going through her stretch routine.
Then she moves towards a set of weights, bends down, wraps her hands around the steel rod and hoists it up in one swift motion.
The rod weighs 25 kg but to Brendali Theron it’s just part of her warm-up routine – a mere feather to lift before she moves on to the seriously heavy stuff outside.
Brendali (26) has been crowned the strongest woman in Africa in the lightweight strongwoman category (75kg). In May this year she set a new African record at the Arnold Classic Sports Festival in Sandton when she lifted a hefty 80 kg weight above her head.
And as if that wasn’t enough, she set another record two weeks later when she became the first woman on the continent to drag a nine-ton aircraft for a distance of 54m. Talk about flying high in her chosen field.
Breaking records takes serious discipline. Every Saturday morning Brendali – who lives in Randburg near Johannesburg – arrives at the workshop for her four-hour workout.
The owner, Justin Roesthof, shouts from outside that the equipment is ready and it’s time to begin. Justin – also an avid strongman participant – built most of the steel apparatus himself.
Brendali removes her tracksuit jacket and walks toward a 300kg truck tyre, a look of steely determination in her eyes. She tips the tyre over and
‘Your upper body is fine. Come in on your crutches so we can get started’
with four lightning-quick movements tosses it a distance of 6m while her coach, Robin du Toit, watches closely. Next she grabs a 130kg steel block by its handle and carries it for 10m. Yet even this is small fry to Brendali. “It’s time to lift cars,” Robin announces. Inside the workshop Justin has already set up a steel frame with long handles under a passenger vehicle. Brendali positions herself behind the car and grabs hold of the handles on the frame. She swishes her long hair out of her face and inhales deeply. “Up, up, up!” Robin yells in encouragement. And with one mighty tug Brendali lifts the car’s rear wheels about 20cm off the ground.
BEING the holder of two African records still feels like a dream to her, Brendali says as she wipes the sweat from her face after her training session. Making her feat all the more remarkable is the fact that this was the first time she’d taken part in an international competition. She’d entered the log-press event, which involves lifting a heavy steel cylinder above your head. She quickly took down the competition by lifting an impressive 60kg. More weights were added and it didn’t take long for her to demolish the previous record of 70kg.
Breathing heavily she nodded as the referee asked her if she wanted to continue. Eventually she lifted an astounding 80kg – and what made her achievement even more special was that Arnold Schwarzenegger was standing just a few metres away.
The actor and former Mr Universe bodybuilder filmed her Herculean efforts on his cellphone and later shared the footage on social media, where it spread like wildfire. Arnie was right there to congratulate her when Brendali broke the record.
Her road to being an African strongwoman champion started in 2012 when she was a third-year graphic design student at CTI Education Group’s Potchefstroom campus. Robin – then an honours student in sports science at North-West University – happened to watch a netball match Brendali was playing in.
“I was very impressed with her supple movements, the way she moved and her excellent hand-eye coordination,” he recalls.
He thought to himself, “Hmm, I can do something with her.”
After the match he approached her and asked if she’d consider a career in bodybuilding.
At that stage she was looking for a new challenge, Brendali says. “So I said yes, the deal is on.”
But soon after that she tore ligaments in her foot during a netball match and had to break the news to Robin that she wouldn’t be able to train with him.
She’ll never forget Robin’s response: “Your upper body is fine. Come in on your crutches so we can get started.”
Three years later in 2015 she came second in the South African weight-lifting championship and qualified for the 2017 Arnold Classic event in November last year.
Next year she’ll take part in the world championships in Ohio in the US.
Brendali is a graphic designer in Roodepoort by day and spends an hour in the gym every morning before reporting for duty at her desk.
She teaches yoga classes in the evening and works out with her students, and she’s at the Boksburg workshop every Saturday morning.
Cellphone videos of her workouts are filmed and if Robin – who lives in Mbombela – can’t be at the Boksburg workshop, the footage is sent to him. He then analyses the videos and works out Brendali’s training programme for the coming week. On Sundays she takes a well-deserved break.
TWO weeks after the Arnold event, Brendali and Robin decided they needed to give something back to the community. She wanted to organise a fundraising event and she decided to think big – very big.
Her goal: to become the first woman in Africa to drag a nine-ton aircraft for a distance of 30m. Three companies from Mbombela and White River in Mpumalanga – K1 Civils, Sizabantu Piping Systems and Talisman Hire – sponsored her to the tune of R22 500. The money would go to the Jumping Kids charity organisation which provides prosthetics to underprivileged children.
And so Brendali found herself at Lanseria airport with an Embraer 120 aircraft behind her and Robin at her side. She mentally prepared herself for the longest 30m of her life.
“But when I passed the 30m mark I felt there was still some power left in my legs. So I kept going until I really couldn’t any more. I later found out that the distance I’d covered was 54m.”
Brendali says she’s amazed every day at what her body is capable of, yet she’s learnt that true strength lies in the mind.
You’ll achieve what you believe you’ll achieve, she tells us. That’s her life’s philosophy.