Asha Tracey might look like your average 26-year-old, but she lives somewhat of a double life.
By day she is like any other woman, working as a bookkeeper in Welshpool.
When work finishes, however, she indulges her passion for lifting really, really heavy things.
Ridiculously heavy things.
Asha is the Australian Strongwoman Champion, holding 16 national records across the disciplines of powerlifting and strongwoman and earlier this year she placed eighth at the Arnold Classic Strongwoman World Championships in the USA.
Squats and deadlifts may be in vogue in gyms across Australia, but Asha takes her lifting to the next level.
Quite simply, her lift records are breathtaking. She can deadlift 182.5kg, squat 155kg, yoke 300kg and in the farmers' walk, she holds 100kg per hand.
Even injured - she is currently nursing a bulging disc in her lower back and a slight tear in her right shoulder muscle - she flips a 180kg tractor tyre like it's not even there.
Her journey to Strongwoman competition began in Cannington when she was taking a bootcamp fitness class at the Muscle Pit gym.
"We were doing tyre lifts and the instructor just noticed that I was really strong, I had no trouble flipping the big tyres, which nobody else could do, so we started talking (and) he suggested some training and I just really, really enjoyed it," she said.
Since then it's been onwards and upwards for Asha. She trains five days a week, generally after work, and her intense regime puts her on a protein-rich diet, consuming 2000 to 3000 calories per day to fuel her lifts.
Asha expects to be back at full fitness by November, when she travels to Finland to take part in the Strongwoman World Championships.
She expects to improve on her eighth place finish at the Arnold Classic earlier this year.
"In terms of lifting I'm probably 20kg away from first place and I think I've really got room to improve," she said.
However August will be a busy month for Asha as well, having taken on the responsibility of being the public face of the RSPCA's major fundraiser, Cupcake Day, on August 18.
With cruelty against animals cases on the rise in WA, animal-loving Asha - she has a cat called Maddy and has previously owned a dog rescued by the RSPCA - said she felt compelled to help the charity.
"Cupcake Day supports a great cause and animal cruelty is something that's particularly bad at the moment," she said.
"The RSPCA needs this money to prosecute cases of animal cruelty and rescue animals, so I'd really encourage everyone to get involved.
"Everybody likes cupcakes and people like animals, so it's the perfect combination."
To register and support the day, sign up at www.rspcacupcakeday.com.au.
