TV3s’ Lisa rises to the challenge

FROM PRESENTER TO POWERLIFTER?Lisa Cannon features in TV3’s documentary tonight (Tuesday).

TV3’s Lisa rises to the challenge


Ciara Galvin

GLAMOROUS Xpose presenter Lisa Cannon has swapped the red carpet for the gym in a brand new TV3 documentary ‘Lisa Cannon: Presenter to Powerlifter’ which airs tonight (Tuesday) at 8pm.
No stranger to Mayo, Lisa sees Castlebar as home from home as her father Michael is from the county town and used to run the family bar, Cannon’s on Market Square. The bar was formerly ran by her grandparents Eddie and Hannah Cannon.
“I’ve been up and down to Mayo for years. I took my first steps in Mayo,” Ms Cannon explained, adding that running the public house was a 25 year ‘labour of love’ for her father.
Though not getting down to Mayo as much as she would like, Lisa says she plans on taking a trip west soon to celebrate her engagement to Welsh rugby player Richard Keatley, with family and friends. Asked what her family and friends thought of her taking on the task, Lisa said, ‘they thought it was mad’.
The documentary sees Lisa undertake the mammoth challenge of becoming a pro-powerlifter in just eight weeks and compete in the Powerlifting Championships alongside women who have been training for many months and even years.
Speaking to The Mayo News about the gruelling eight week challenge Lisa admitted she got ‘quite narky’ as she trained three times a week and denied herself her favourites of wine and chocolate.
The idea to take on the challenge came after Lisa got chatting to a woman at her local gym who was weightlifting and set out the goal after being inspired by her grandmother who turns 101 this month.
“I didn’t embarrass myself and I wanted to see could I have the discipline and do it.”
Through a mix of incredibly tough training, weightlifting twice her body weight and following a strict diet Lisa lost eleven pounds of body fat and gained muscle and says she’s ‘delighted’ she completed the challenge.

Tune in to TV3 at 8pm tonight to see how Lisa gets on.