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'Donuts and deadlifts': Father, daughter bond in the gym after dog attack

Carissa Cooke, 9, said her favorite thing about powerlifting is that she likes being “stronger than the boys.”

PENDLETON, Ind. — For the Cooke family, Sundays mean two things: donuts and deadlifts 

Robert Cooke and his daughter dedicate Sundays as weekly father-daughter bonding time. 

“It makes me happy and I like it,” said 9-year-old Carissa Cooke. “I just like that we’re spending time together."   

First they grab donuts, then it’s off to gym for powerlifting.  

Carissa said deadlifts are her favorite. 

“Me too,” added her father. “And we’re both good at it.”

Carissa got into powerlifting when she was eight. 

“My first time doing it I was little and didn’t know what it was called, but I knew there was a bar you could pick up and stuff,” she said.  

Her father has been lifting weights since he was 18. 

“So, 32 years,” Robert said.  

He said that after leaving the Army he stopped running and got heavily into bodybuilding.  

“I started competing around 29 or 28 (years old),” Robert said. 

He said going to the gym, in a lot of ways, is like therapy.  

“About a year ago, she was like ‘Hey, I wanna go to the gym with you,’ and I was like ‘Alright!’” said Robert with a smile. 

“As a father and a bodybuilder and you’ve been lifting weight for 30 years, when you’re kid’s like ‘I wanna go to the gym,’ it’s pretty cool,” Robert said.

Credit: Robert Cooke
The Cooke family dedicates Sundays to father-daughter bonding time with donuts and deadlifts.

Carissa said her favorite thing about powerlifting is that she likes being “stronger than the boys.” 

When Carissa first began powerlifting last year, her workouts were more “sporadic, back here, chest here, arms here,” Robert said.  

But then in October, Robert said a dog attack became a turning point. 

“We were at my mom’s house and the dog bit the back of her head,” Robert said.

He said Carissa was bit three times and had to have her head shaved.

Friends of the Cooke’s donated a wig and that helped Carissa feel more comfortable leaving the house. After getting the wig “She said, ‘Daddy can I go back to the gym?’”  

Robert was excited to see that his daughter wanted to get back to lifting.  

“I ran into Rocky (Tilson) while at the gym,” Robert said. “I said ‘Hey, I heard you coach."  

Tilson is a well-known powerlifter who has coached children in the past.  

Tilson did a few drills with Carissa and then agreed to coach her. Tilson said while Carissa is clearly an 8-year-old and still enjoys being a child when it comes to turning it on for a competition or during workouts, she’s fierce. 

"At USPC, she actually holds all of (the records) now," Robert said. "She holds the deadlifting record, she pulled more than twice her body weight. She squats a little over her body weight. And benches about half of it."

When it comes to the weight she's lifting in pounds, her dad said it's "97.8 on deadlift, about 45 on squat and 22 on her bench."

Credit: Robert Cooke
Carissa and her father pose for a photo at a powerlifting competition.

While Carissa is clearly a fierce competitor, she still knows how to have fun.

"I've had her dolls here, literally bring her dolls (to the gym) bring them to me, and talk to me about them and then do a world record lift three seconds later," said Tilson

Tilson said Carissa is also a prodigy at the orangutan hold. 

"Her hands are so tiny at nine, she can only get three fingers on the bar...and with three fingers on the bar, she's holding herself at a world level," Tilson said. "Overall, I have the world record right now, but I can't come closer to her."

"I'm like a minute, she's double me," he said with his eyes wide.

Being a tough cookie runs in the family. 

"Her mom's tough, she did roller derby for a while and speed skating. And then there's me: ex-military, bodybuilder, Highland Games," said Robert. "She hangs out with a bunch of alphas."

He said that when at bodybuilding competition he can hear his daughter shout out for him.

"I'll usually go over to that side and then give her a little wave," said Robert. "She's my little sidekick."

"It's just a really good feeling you have in your heart when your kid has the same hobby as you do. And then, she does well at it. She set the first national record in the house, so I had to chase after her," said Robert. 

Carissa cherishes her bond with her father and described it by saying, "I just love having a dad." She then looked at him, Robert smiling back at her.

"It's just special," she said gazing at him. Robert winked at his daughter.

"I love it," said Carissa. 

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