Vegan Powerlifter Brittany Billings Sets a National Record and Hits a 1,000lb Total

Vegan powerlifter Brittany Billings has set her first national record and finally broken the 1,000-pound barrier, totaling 457.5kg (1,008.6lb) in the raw 82.5kg (182lb) class at the USPA 2026 Hoosier State Championships in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

The meet took place on Saturday, November 7, at Renegade Strength & Performance, the gym where Brittany trains. She made all nine of her attempts, finishing with a 152.5kg (336.2lb) squat, a 92.5kg (203.9lb) bench press and a 212.5kg (468.5lb) deadlift. All three top lifts are Submaster (ages 35 to 39) state records, and the deadlift is also the Open state record and a Submaster national record. To top it off, she was named Best Raw Lifter.

That deadlift beats the 210kg (463lb) mark that USPA's drug-tested national records list has shown for 82.5kg Submaster women since 2019. It's a big jump for Brittany too: her best total before this meet was 435kg (959lb), set at USPA Ultra Nationals in May, according to OpenPowerlifting. That's 22.5kg (almost 50lb) added in under six months.

In her Instagram post about the meet, she wrote:

Despite having a less-than-ideal end to training (lots of travel and minor injuries/irritants) I showed up on meet day far better than I expected. I got my first National record, was Best Raw Lifter, and finally hit a 1,000 lb. total. ... As always, I'm honored to represent team @veganstrongteam @plantbuilt and prove that plants have all of the protein you need and that you can be compassionate towards animals and still meet your strength goals. Over a decade being vegan and I'm still getting stronger.

She also thanked her wife, who handled for her on the day, and her coach Dani Taylor of Vegan Proteins, writing that "Dani always guides me through it perfectly."

Brittany went vegan in 2016. She was already vegetarian and, as an endurance athlete at the time, was researching the best way to fuel her body when she realized what the dairy industry involves. She told Great Vegan Athletes that the defining moment was watching about 15 minutes of the documentary Earthlings: "I stopped consuming all animal products that day and never looked back." Her everyday diet leans on vegan Greek-style yogurt, fruit, tofu, seitan and grains.

Her results line up with the research. In a 12-week trial published in Sports Medicine, researchers at the University of Sao Paulo put 19 habitual vegans and 19 omnivores on the same resistance training program, with protein matched at 1.6g per kilo of bodyweight a day. The vegans gained muscle and strength just as well as the omnivores, with no difference between the groups. It was a small study in young men new to lifting, but on the platform, Brittany keeps making the same point.

She's in great company. Team PlantBuilt won 48 golds at Mr. America in 2024, Ryan Stills won his sixth powerlifting world title last month, and Angeline Berva beat a two-time World's Strongest Woman in October. Back in 2020, a study even found that vegan women outlast meat eaters in endurance and match them for strength.

This article is for general interest and isn't medical or nutritional advice.

Plants really do have all the protein you need. Congratulations Brittany!