Lately, her main focus has been powerlifting, and she’s incredibly transparent on her Instagram and YouTube pages when it comes to the realities of training and staying both physically and mentally healthy. From before-and-after shots of her personal fitness journey to constant motivating posts and anecdotes, Gallagher’s feed is a go-to place for her more than 350,000 followers on Instagram to find inspiration.
Click through for some of Gallagher’s most motivating Instagrams.
Gallagher’s squat transformation from 2013 to 2018 just goes to show that change takes time, especially with a lift that takes perfect form and slow progress to improve.
At first glance, this post looks like the before and after shots were switched, but Gallagher explains that she was at her heaviest less than a month after achieving her “dream body.” Since then, she’s stayed fit and healthy and struck a healthy balance with her diet, training, and resting.
Many influencers shy away from sharing progress photos of themselves, but Gallagher keeps it real with her followers and shows that progress doesn’t happen overnight.
Gallagher got some unexpectedly cold comments when she decided to embrace her femininity in a recent photoshoot, but she took to Instagram to hit back. She proves that just because she’s an athlete doesn’t mean she can’t embrace her sexier side.
Sharing less-than-ideal lifts is another thing that some Instagram-famous lifters may try to steer clear of, but not Gallagher. She doesn’t mind showing followers her progress in the gym or admitting that even she has rough lifts from time to time.
Gallagher is a serious athlete, but her lighthearted attitude leads some posts to be on the funny side. Here, she (jokingly) blames her boyfriend and coach, Ryan Espiritu, for spotting her too early and stealing a rep, and it’s become a recurring joke with her followers.
Gallagher is “on a mission to get a barbell in every woman’s hands,” and we’d be surprised if watching her nail her impressive squats, deadlifts, and bench presses doesn’t inspire other female athletes to test the waters with powerlifting.
At the 2018 USAPL Nationals, Gallagher hit a meet PR with a 308-pound squat, benched 171 pounds to tie her meet PR, and hit an all-time deadlift PR of 407 pounds.
Gallagher stresses that even when you’re not going for maxes, training with lighter weight is an important part of building power and hitting your potential. She’s a coach herself, and has coached hundreds of athletes through their starts in powerlifting.
Gallagher shared her experience getting coached through the Army physical fitness test by her younger brother, saying he helped her realize that feeling sorry for herself isn’t the way to crush goals.
