CRYSTAL LAKE – Paige Roeser takes a tug on her water bottle, cinches up her weight belt as tight as possible, and rubs chalk on her hands.

She bends at her knees to pick up a 75-pound circus dumbbell, one with a 3-inch diameter bar, with both hands and raises it to her right shoulder. With her right arm only, she presses it three times above her head until her elbow locks. Then, she does the same from the left side.

It’s something most 17-year-old girls would never think of doing. Or 17-year-old boys for that matter.