BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. — The strongest teenage girl in the world is from South Florida and spends most of her time in the gym as she lifts her way to success.
Anne Tyler placed first at Worlds Powerlifting.
“My current maxes right now for my bench is 210 pounds, and my squat is 415 pounds, and my deadlift is 460 pounds,” Tyler said.
The freshman at Nova Southeastern University began her powerlifting journey seven years ago.
“My oldest brother, he started me when I was around 11 years old,” Tyler said. “I started to get competitive at age 12 and that’s when I won my first national record.”
Fast forward five years to this past August when Tyler found herself in Costa Rica, but she wasn’t there soaking up the sun.
She was competing for the top spot at the 2025 IPF World Junior and Sub-Juniors Powerlifting Championships, looking to hoist her way up to the top of the leaderboard.
And when she won, she couldn’t believe it.
“I was, like, surprised because I almost didn’t get my last deadlift,” she said. “So I was really happy about that.”
“I feel like I need to keep training though, because I want to be able to keep that title,” Tyler added.
Now that she’s the defending champ, there’s a lot of work Tyler says goes into retaining that title.
“I work out five days a week, and it depends on the phase that I’m in, but the longest would be like 3 hours and the shortest would be like an hour and 30 minutes,” Tyler explained. “I do squat, deadlift and bench -- that’s what powerlifting is. And then I do accessory workouts that kind of help make those lifts all stronger. So I usually have like two leg days, and upper body for like three days.”
But the grind’s not all about the weights -- it’s also about diet.
And for Tyler, getting enough protein is a challenge of its own.
“I usually have a lot of protein shakes. I’m vegetarian, so it’s kinda harder to get protein. And at home, I make my own food. I make tofu and I add whey protein to it. I just kinda like sprinkle it on top,” Tyler said.
And of course, there’s mindset.
Tyler says it’s important to stay focused as she seeks yet another top title.
“There’s times where you really don’t want to do it, and you just have to think that your mind is just telling you that because you’re just being lazy,” Tyler said. “So if your mind is telling you stop, you can always go more. Like, it’s just a mentality that you kind of always have to stay tough.”
Mental toughness is something Tyler had to learn from a young age.
“Definitely in high school, especially a lot of the guys on the football team, they tried to make jokes and make me feel self-conscious because I could lift more than them. So they were kind of mad at that,” Tyler said.
Tyler says for all girls out there looking to lift, it’s important to remember that you don’t have to fit into a box.
“Don’t care what other people think,” Tyler said. “If people tell you that just because you’re a girl, you can’t be strong or they’ll call it manly. There’s no sport that’s manly or feminine. Just do you and you’ll see true results.”
The top girl says if you’re looking to get into lifting, the most important thing is to find a trainer.
She says it’s imperative to have the right form to prevent injuries, so working out with someone who knows what to do is key.
And a fun fact about Tyler is she also boxes. Her friends say they feel safe around her because they know that with her background, she can protect them from anything.
For more information on Tyler, click here or visit www.powerlifting.sport.
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