Powerlifter at Dawn, Doctor by Day: Dr. Julia Indik’s Unlikely Double Life

At 6 a.m., long before most of her patients have woken up, Julia Indik, MD, PhD, is already gripping a barbell for her morning workout.

In a quiet corner of Tucson Strength, a family-owned gym tucked into an old Chuck E. Cheese building at Wilmot and Speedway’s Monterey Village shopping center, she bends at the knees, tightens her shoulders and hoists a couple hundred pounds off the ground. At a local meet of the U.S. Powerlifting Association in July, she set a new personal record and an Arizona state record for her age group and weight class in the deadlift (292 pounds) and bench press (148 pounds).

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By 8 a.m., she’s back in her white coat at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson, where she’s a cardiologist, professor, and the Flinn Foundation and American Heart Association Endowed Chair in Electrophysiology and Heart Disease Research for the Department of Medicine’s Division of Cardiology and Sarver Heart Center.

Few of her patients realize that the physician checking their pacemaker or running an EP study to examine the electronic activity of their heart for abnormal rhythms has also earned the title of “Best Lifter” in women’s masters powerlifting.

“I’m not a runner,” Dr. Indik says with a laugh. “Weightlifting fits my lifestyle. You do something intense for 30 seconds, rest, chat, listen to music — then go again. It’s fun. And you feel strong. Who wouldn’t want that?”

A passion forged in community

Dr. Indik traces her love of lifting back to the old Pivirotto Wellness Center gym, once located on the Banner – University Medical Center Tucson’s second floor.

“That was my home away from home,” she recalls. “Patients, faculty, residents, students — everyone was there. I’d finish work, grab my gym bag, go downstairs, work out and then head home. I loved it. It was so convenient.”

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When the space was repurposed for the Diamond Children’s Center, Dr. Indik was left without her workout refuge. A nurse from her pacemaker clinic nudged her to try a different facility: Tucson Strength. “It’s a family-owned place, so you get that sense of community,” she says. “It’s really focused on powerlifting, but they have classes and other programs too.”

That was eight years ago. What began as casual lifting soon turned into structured training, and eventually competition. “I started competing because it focused me to meet goals,” she says. “I already get enough competition in my regular life — but meets gave me something to aim for.”

Healthy gains, inside and out

Powerlifting has done more than build Dr. Indik’s muscles. It’s improved her health in measurable ways. Like many women, she had been on the edge of osteopenia. 

Exercise is an important part of managing osteopenia, a condition where bone density is lower than normal but not low enough to be diagnosed as osteoporosis. It affects about 38-50% of U.S. women age 50 and over. Resistance and balance exercises like tai chi and yoga, as well as weightlifting, are among recommended activities to arrest it.

“With the weightlifting, I totally gained bone mass and have stayed normal ever since,” she says. “It’s incredibly healthy, especially for women.”

She’s not alone in noticing the benefits. During and after the pandemic, Dr. Indik saw firsthand how stress and burnout affected colleagues and students in health care. “Wellness” became more than a buzzword — it was a necessity. Powerlifting became her personal form of stress management, a counterweight to the pressures of medicine.

“I like to work out early now,” she says. “It sets the whole day — the same way some people like a run in the morning. For me, it’s lifting.”

From personal records to state records

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At her most recent meet, Dr. Indik earned “Best Lifter” honors in the women’s masters non-drug-tested division — an award calculated by multiplying an athlete’s total lifted weight by an age-adjusted factor. Her numbers speak for themselves: a 148-pound squat, a 148-pound bench press, and a 292-pound deadlift. The bench and deadlift set, again, Arizona state records in her weight, age and gender class.

And she’s not done yet. On Oct. 25, she’ll compete at the USPA Tested and Open Southwest Regionals in Tucson, hoping to cut a couple of pounds to drop into a lower weight class, where national drug-tested records might be within reach. Her ultimate goal? “It’s not some crazy trip somewhere,” she says. “My bucket-list thing is to compete at Nationals in Anaheim next May.”

Even attending the multi-day national meet would be a milestone. “I don’t think anything would just … compare,” she says. “Just being there would be amazing.”

The culture of the platform

Powerlifting meets are long affairs, stretching from early morning into evening. But the energy in the room rarely dips. “The crowd cheers with the same enthusiasm at the end of the day as they do at the beginning,” Dr. Indik says. “It’s all good competition and fun.”

There’s also a mentorship culture. Dr. Indik belongs to Tucson Strength’s Barbell Club, where group coaching sessions offer individual programming over six- or seven-week cycles. “The trainer walks around, critiques you, helps you progress,” she explains. Her current coach, Taylor, has helped her gain “that extra 10 percent” in performance. She also credits Jessica — a Tucson Strength trainer who recently set a world record in the drug-tested division dead lift — as an inspiration.

“They’re all just cool people,” she adds. “They’re so good at critiquing the little stuff. They make small adjustments that make a huge difference.”

More than a hobby

While some may see powerlifting as an unusual pastime for a physician, Dr. Indik frames it as a natural extension of the same discipline and focus she brings to medicine. “Competing isn’t the point,” she insists. “It’s about goals, health and community. And feeling strong — that’s just fun.”

She also sees it as a powerful message for her patients and colleagues, especially women. Strength training can reverse bone loss, boost mood and reduce stress. It’s a prescription she lives by.

And as she eyes the national stage, Dr. Indik is still quick to deflect praise. “I’m lucky,” she says. “Lucky to have a great gym, great coaches and a community that cheers you on.”

Balancing medicine and muscle

For Dr. Indik, balancing a demanding medical career with early-morning training isn’t always easy. But she sees lifting as essential, not optional. “My day is even longer now,” she says. “I have to get there in the morning. Real life happens later.”

In a way, powerlifting mirrors the work she does as a physician: incremental effort, guided by expertise, producing lasting results. “You have goals, you have a plan, you show up,” she says. “That’s how you get stronger — in the gym and in life.”

As she prepares for October’s regional meet and dreams of Nationals, Dr. Indik remains grounded. Whether or not she brings home another medal, she’s already earned something harder to quantify: resilience, vitality and a second identity that makes her first even stronger.

“Still, being at USPA Nationals in May,” she says with a smile, “would be amazing.”

ALSO SEE: “AHA Lauds Dr. Julia Indik’s Lifetime of Achievement” | Posted Feb. 22, 2022