Bulk Boys 17: Christina Arthur
Christina Arthur is my mom’s coach. She’s also a mixed martial artist, a nationally competitive master’s rower, a gym owner, and–more recently–a strongwoman. You can find her on Instagram at christina__arthur (two underscores).
I’m sorry for looking so slippery in this one, folks, but I’d just emerged from the mines of Isengard, where Sauroman was having a serious word with me.
Intro/outro music: “Countdown”, Buck Tow Truck
TIMESTAMPS:
0:10 My mom is awesome
00:30 Christina was coerced into her first show like a month ago
1:50 Cheeky strict presses on the axle
3:00 Recap of Christina’s first strongwoman competition
4:00 Losing her novice card
4:45 Farmer’s RUN
7:00 Synchronized brain fart
7:30 My strongman competition plans (thwarted)
8:30 Christina is competing in U.S. Rowing regionals, U.S. Rowing nationals, and OSG Regionals in an eight-week timespan
9:30 How the hell she is doing that
10:30 Christina started rowing as cross-training for MMA
11:00 Her journey from “a lump of a human” to a late-blooming dumb jock
13:00 Entrapment into master’s rowing
15:40 The fastest in the universe
17:00 Strongwoman weight classes
17:45 Output vs. intake
19:30 Weight classes in strongman make the sport more accessible
21:00 Managing strength loss while cutting
22:30 Drug-tested vs. untested powerlifting
23:30 Relatable strength
24:00 Towing a pirate ship loaded down with armed and screaming pirates
25:00 Front carries for landscaping
26:00 Strongman Saturdays
27:00 Lone-wolfing it
27:30 NEW COACH REVEAL
28:40 Farmer’s with turns
29:15 I blacked out on log press (sorry Mom)
30:00 Bring back the unitards
30:30 Taking an implement to the chin vs. taking a punch
31:30 Pressing a bar vs. pressing a log
32:15 Christina’s athletic I.Q.
33:00 Holding something while doing something, including physics
33:20 Christina’s goals
34:30 Stealing notes from your competitors
36:00 Strength training has helped Christina’s erg times
36:40 One weird trick to become a serious adult athlete
37:20 Becoming a U.S. Rowing strength coach
38:30 Like a half-drowned baby rat, my mom is very small and very strong
40:00 Christina’s eclectic academic background
42:00 Christina is taking over ownership of a commercial gym that is conveniently located next door to her strongman gym
44:15 “A hard maybe”
45:10 A long spiel about dead-ends and changing goalposts
46:40 Anthropology is still rad
47:30 Shouts out to Denisovans
48:00 “This is an accident”