At Uplight, we value work-life balance– and in pursuit of outside hobbies, many Uplighters choose to up-“lift” heavy weights. Uplight’s Marina Octon recently began a “#Uplifters” slack channel, where employees discuss all things weightlifting– goals, best practices, and accountability, all while encouraging each other and celebrating successes. 

Kanchan Nag, a Contract Data Engineer for Uplight, is one of many “Uplifters” on the team. She became a regular gym-goer in 2021, and her personal trainer quickly noticed her knack for lifting: from there, she began training for powerlifting competitions. 

Powerlifting competitions contain three exercises– the squat, bench press, and deadlift– where opponents have three opportunities in each to maximize weight. Kanchan first competed in the state competition in her home state of Jharkhand, India in November 2022 with low expectations and earned a bronze in the deadlift. At this year’s championship, she won the silver medal in overall powerlifting, with a gold medal in the deadlift and silver in bench press– congratulations, Kanchan! 

Kanchan is not the only powerlifter in the Uplight community: Rohan Datar, Contract Senior Manager of Software Engineering, has competed in over 40 state championships. He is affiliated with the Powerlifting Federation of India, where he works as an official in competitions arranged by them. 

“My advice to anyone who wants to achieve a new goal is to be disciplined and stay committed, even when times are hard and you feel like giving up. You can achieve whatever you set your mind to,” says Kanchan. 

It is impressive alone to strength train and is an immense achievement to compete and score in powerlifting competitions. We are excited to see what’s next for Kanchan and other “Uplifters”!