Rio Rancho bodybuilder takes her talents to Tampa Bay

RIO RANCHO — Rio Rancho strongwoman Michelle Johnston has taken on all challengers and come out on top, which is why she is packing her bags to head to Tampa Bay, Florida, to compete at the USS Masters Pro Worlds with a chance to earn her Pro Card.

Earning a USS Pro Card would be a huge deal for her, says Coach Rocky Ramirez, owner of Westside Power Gym, where Johnston trains.

“A professional has to really take care of themselves,” Ramirez says. “If she succeeds, she will be an actual professional. She will need to step it up. She will need to eat cleaner, work harder and stay safer. Professionals get paid, they get sponsors. As an ex-fighter, I’ll tell you, it changes everything.”

First, Johnston must win. To do that, she says she will need to break some records, and not just her own.

“I’ll get the opportunity to attempt set a national record on the Axle Clean and Press, which is set right now at 200 [pounds], and I’m hoping to get 215,” Johnston says. “That’ll be enough hopefully to break both the Florida state record and the national record. So, that will be pretty cool.”

Her current record on the Axle Clean and Press is 205 pounds, which she says she hit in training. For reference, that means she can lift an average American man off the ground and over her head. And for a kicker, Johnston does five repetitions in under one minute with a 110-pound circus dumbbell, her former specialty.

“This is my first pro event,” Johnston says. “But I had to qualify for it. The top three who qualify get a chance to earn their Pro Card. So, I’m going to attempt it in the Axle [Clean & Press].”

The Clean & Press is a common competition lift that consists of lifting a barbell, from the ground, up to shoulder level where, after a brief pause, the lifter then extends their arms, lifting the bar over their head. The process is then reversed to set the bar back on the ground.

The “Axle” Clean and Press throws an additional element into the equation by adding an extra-thick, extra-heavy bar, weighing 55 pounds, rather than the average 20- or 30-pound bar.

Johnston says the real problem isn’t the weight, however, it’s the width.

“It’s a really thick bar. It makes it harder to wrap your hands around,” she says.

Johnston isn’t just looking forward to her big shot, though. As a Strongman fan for years, she is also anxious to try some of the events she has always seen on television and never gotten to try.

“I’m very excited,” she says. “I’m going to attempt the Dinnie Rings [large rings of differing weights carried a specified distance in each hand] and, even better, I’m going to get to pull a firetruck.”

Johnston has earned her spot in Florida, not just through hard work and determination, but also just by winning. And she wins a lot.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen her come in second place. She’s just strong,” said Ramirez.

This year alone, Johnson took first place at the Valentines Massacre event in Clovis, New Mexico, on Feb. 3; first place at the Border Beast Battle on March 16 in El Paso, Texas; first place at the USS Nationals June 8 in Denver, Colorado; and first place at the Unbroken Strength Games Aug. 3 in Phoenix, Arizona.

This impressive string of wins got Johnston invited to the Masters Pro Worlds to test her strength against the best of the best in the amateur rankings and see if she has what it takes to go pro.

“I’ve entered 19 competitions since I started. I finished first in 15 of them, and second in three, and then third place once,” says Johnston. “So, I’ve really worked hard for this, but I’ve been blessed to medal in every competition I've entered.”

Don’t take it from her, though. USS Strongman Inc., the governing body putting on the event, has noticed the hard work. The Masters Pro Worlds isn’t just any old competition. It is a professional Strongman, invitation/qualification-only event with the express purpose of giving the best of the best a shot at earning their Pro Card and moving from the grinding ranks of the amateur levels to the grueling rigor of the professional Strongman circuit.

Johnston says she is ready for it, thanks to Ramirez’s support and the encouragement of her family.

“[Ramirez] has been great. [Westside Power Gym] is great. I lift heavy,” Johnston says with a slight smile. “I lift a lot of weight. I can’t just go to a normal gym. I need special equipment, and [Ramirez] is always tuned in to what I need. I set my program and my training, but his support ... I just couldn’t have done it without [Westside Power Gym].”

The love and support are important to Johnston, who began lifting six years ago.

“It started as a weight-loss journey. I was doing some strength and conditioning, and then I saw Strongman on television, and I was like, ‘That looks fun. I can do that,'” she says.

From there, Johnston began working even harder and her family was right there with her. Johnston’s children are at the very center of her story and the source of her drive.

Johnston’s son Darren Garica, 22, and daughter Franki Johnston, 29, were her first workout partners. Together, they worked to prepare for Johnston’s first competition, but then Garcia started getting sick.

Garcia, passed away in 2021 from complications due to two extremely rare diseases: Adult Onset Stills disease, a rare autoimmune disease affecting roughly 20,000 Americans annually. According to Johnston, due to difficulty managing AOS, Garcia later developed Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocystosis (HLH), another rare disease, affecting one in 50,000 people, in which the immune system builds up abnormal blood cells in the spleen and liver.

“It was the beginning of COVID, and so just getting treatment was hard,” Johnston says.

Garcia died in February 2021, one month before Johnston’s first official competition.

“I didn’t want to [compete], but then I thought about how excited he was for it,” she says. “So, I did it anyway. I took first [place] in that competition.”

From there, Strongman became a source of strength in all aspects of Johnston’s life. Her body got stronger, but her heart and mind did as well, she says.

“Then I realized that not only did I love [Strongman], but it was also a reason to get up, a reason to keep going,” explains Johnston. “So, I signed up for another one. And then another one and just kept going. It kept me on the right path.”

To Johnston, the community she found in powerlifting and Strongman is what keeps her going.

“Everyone is cheering each other on. You can be beating someone in a competition by half a point and you are attempting your lift, and that person is standing right there, cheering you on just as hard as everyone else,” says Johnston. “There is a lot of love in this community.”

Franki Johnston doesn’t work out with her mother the way she used to — her mom is about to become a professional powerlifter, after all — but Johnston says she is still with here through the entire journey.

“Although [Franki] doesn’t work out with me like my son did, she is my biggest fan at all of my competitions,” she says. “She’ll be in Florida with me."

Darren is always with her as well.

“My son will be there, too. I always wear a heart-shaped necklace with his ashes,” Johnston says.

Ramirez says he has seen a massive change in Johnston just since she walked in the doors of Westside Power Gym a little over two years ago.

“I always joke cause, one thing is her body has changed, she has the huge [trapezius muscles], and two years ago, they weren’t there. They just didn’t exist,” Ramirez says. “But not only the visual, I’ve seen the change in her demeanor and confidence also. She is so strong.”

Ramirez says he still sees that fire inside Johnston and, since she began her journey, she has been an inspiration to the entire community.

“[Johnston] is a huge inspiration, not only in the sport, but is also an advocate for the illness her son passed away from,” he says.

With the trip to Tampa Bay coming right up, Johnston says she is training harder than ever.

“My training is pretty intense, four to five days a week, for about two to two and a half hours,” she says. “Training heavy for this next competition requires some rest days to let muscles recover and build. Also, nutrition plays a huge role making sure I’m eating enough and trying to eat the right foods to fuel my body.”

The Masters Pro Worlds can be viewed on YouTube, though more details have not yet been released. For more information on the competition and Johnston, visit unitedstatesstrongman.com or stay tuned to the Rio Rancho Observer for continuing coverage.

Johnston trains out of Westside Power Gym off Sara Road and NM 528.