Busting through stereotypes of gender, race, and religion in sport and life with Kulsoom Abdullah

Welcome to Flex Your Heart Radio! This podcast is about body, fat and gender positivity, fitness, feminism, recovery, risk, and crushing it at life. 

On this episode, we talk to Kulsoom Abdullah of Lifting Covered!

Kulsoom Abdullah is a Pakistani-American competitive Olympic Weightlifter and was Crossfit Level I certified.  She attended the University of Central Florida and received her doctorate in electrical/computer engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology.     Her website, LiftingCovered.com and Facebook page documents her experiences weightlifting in an effort to compete at U.S. national competitions.  She advocated to compete in clothing that adheres to religious codes, opening the door for women from cultures around the world to compete and move beyond preconceived notions of gender, race, and religion.  Her athletic feats and determination culminated in an invitation to deliver remarks following Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the U.S. State Department’s Eid ul Fitr reception 2011.  She represented Pakistan as the first female at the international level to compete wearing hijab at the 2011 World Weightlifting Championships.  She resides in Atlanta, GA and is currently taking a break from major competitions but continues to train.  She continues the cycle of empowerment by helping others and supporting relevant causes. In 2014 she was one of four women in The Pakistan Four short documentary - redefining what it means to be a Pakistani Muslim female, one of the recipients of the Georgia Influential Muslim Award and spoke on a panel at the Religion Newswriters Association.  In 2015, she was also presented in a 2015 calendar of female South Asian American role models, “Saris to Suits Empowered”, and she is on Team Shirzanan  (Persian for "female heroes") as a spokesperson and role model.  The team recently participated at RAGBRAI 2015 (The Register’s Annual Bike Ride Across Iowa) to celebrate our Right to Ride. Currently, she works for ADP as a data scientist.  

 In this podcast we discuss:

- What it's like to go into the male dominated space of weightlifting and take up space as a woman

- Effective ways to lobby monolithic governing bodies

- Why she felt it was so important for those who want to weightlift competitively without the standard singlet uniform

- How she modifies her lifting to continue training during Ramadan

- Busting through stereotypes

 and so much more!   ---   You can find Kulsoom on her website and Facebook Page, on twitter, and on Instagram.    ---

A very special thank you to our 10$ and 25$ level Patreon Patrons: Jordan Faulds, Andi Olsen, Aja Vines, Bianca Phillips, Sky Chari and Kelly Knight! I love you all.

If you like the podcast:

Support our Patreon! Leave us an iTunes review! Join our facebook group! Email us at [email protected]!    ----   And now for me!   I wrote a graphic novel with my partner and it's on pre-order NOW. If you've ever wanted to read about my recovery from anorexia, bulimia, and compulsive overexercise, this is your chance. Buy today, get stoked, share with your friends! 

You can follow me on Instagram

You can visit my blog

You can check out my amazing body, fat, and gender positive gym, soon to be open in Portland, Oregon 

You can email me with podcast questions or inquiries about coaching (olympic lifting, power lifting, interval training, etc.) at [email protected]. I currently have space for private, semi-private and group class clients.     ----   Intro/outro song: outta me by Bikini Kill 

Welcome to Flex Your Heart Radio! This podcast is about body, fat and gender positivity, fitness, feminism, recovery, risk, and crushing it at life. 

On this episode, we talk to Kulsoom Abdullah of Lifting Covered!

Kulsoom Abdullah is a Pakistani-American competitive Olympic Weightlifter and was Crossfit Level I certified.  She attended the University of Central Florida and received her doctorate in electrical/computer engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology.     Her website, LiftingCovered.com and Facebook page documents her experiences weightlifting in an effort to compete at U.S. national competitions.  She advocated to compete in clothing that adheres to religious codes, opening the door for women from cultures around the world to compete and move beyond preconceived notions of gender, race, and religion.  Her athletic feats and determination culminated in an invitation to deliver remarks following Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the U.S. State Department’s Eid ul Fitr reception 2011.  She represented Pakistan as the first female at the international level to compete wearing hijab at the 2011 World Weightlifting Championships.  She resides in Atlanta, GA and is currently taking a break from major competitions but continues to train.  She continues the cycle of empowerment by helping others and supporting relevant causes. In 2014 she was one of four women in The Pakistan Four short documentary - redefining what it means to be a Pakistani Muslim female, one of the recipients of the Georgia Influential Muslim Award and spoke on a panel at the Religion Newswriters Association.  In 2015, she was also presented in a 2015 calendar of female South Asian American role models, “Saris to Suits Empowered”, and she is on Team Shirzanan  (Persian for "female heroes") as a spokesperson and role model.  The team recently participated at RAGBRAI 2015 (The Register’s Annual Bike Ride Across Iowa) to celebrate our Right to Ride. Currently, she works for ADP as a data scientist.  

 In this podcast we discuss:

- What it's like to go into the male dominated space of weightlifting and take up space as a woman

- Effective ways to lobby monolithic governing bodies

- Why she felt it was so important for those who want to weightlift competitively without the standard singlet uniform

- How she modifies her lifting to continue training during Ramadan

- Busting through stereotypes

 and so much more!   ---   You can find Kulsoom on her website and Facebook Page, on twitter, and on Instagram.    ---

A very special thank you to our 10$ and 25$ level Patreon Patrons: Jordan Faulds, Andi Olsen, Aja Vines, Bianca Phillips, Sky Chari and Kelly Knight! I love you all.

If you like the podcast:

Support our Patreon! Leave us an iTunes review! Join our facebook group! Email us at [email protected]!    ----   And now for me!   I wrote a graphic novel with my partner and it's on pre-order NOW. If you've ever wanted to read about my recovery from anorexia, bulimia, and compulsive overexercise, this is your chance. Buy today, get stoked, share with your friends! 

You can follow me on Instagram

You can visit my blog

You can check out my amazing body, fat, and gender positive gym, soon to be open in Portland, Oregon 

You can email me with podcast questions or inquiries about coaching (olympic lifting, power lifting, interval training, etc.) at [email protected]. I currently have space for private, semi-private and group class clients.     ----   Intro/outro song: outta me by Bikini Kill