Published: August 1, 2025
Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
For Amber Englebright, the barbell is therapy.
Grabbing onto the cold steel can bring a rush of adrenaline, the secret stuff she needs to get over the edge during a grueling day of training. It can bring a sudden wave of anxiety, the weightlifter’s ever-present thought that she has plateaued. But the bar also can deliver a flood of memories, things Amber has overcome — personally and professionally — on her journey to become a six-time Kentucky state weightlifting record holder.
“I’ve had a traveling husband; I’m also a mom of four,” Amber said. “And [my time in the gym] was the time of the day I could take out for me. And there are things I learned about myself I didn’t know I was capable of. I worked through injury. I worked through being home with my kids. I worked through a lot of hardships. I lived in a dark place about myself for a really long time. Sometimes I would have the bar in hands and I’d just cry.”
It can be heavy.
Not just the weights on the bar, which Amber will eventually grab, thrust and lift above her head. Not just the pressures of life, which can build up over time. But physically, Amber was not at her best either.
“I used to weigh over 400 pounds, and I still — to this day — sometimes feel like I weigh over 400 pounds,” she said. “It’s been a hard road. I learned a lot about myself.”
Her weight, and the chronic back pain it caused, was the driving force behind her introduction to fitness coach Gary Esparza. She came to his CrossFit gym in 2016, looking for a way out of that back pain and into a better, healthier way of life. Instantly, their partnership blossomed way beyond expectations, as Amber shed the weight and packed on the power.
“I saw some promise in her movement patterns, and I thought to myself that I could get her into weightlifting,” Gary said.
Amber transformed quickly. She became an employee at the gym, as a way to fund her workouts. Speaking of, she took to the exercises Gary prescribed and began increasing how much she could lift. In 2022, she took another step, and began competing in Olympic-style weightlifting through USA Weightlifting. Four years in, she’s earned two bronze medals at national competitions and set six Kentucky state records. In 2023, she set the record in three categories – the snatch, clean and jerk, and total — in the 35 to 39 age bracket. In 2024, she set records in the same three categories in the 40 to 44 age bracket.
“Making it to nationals was wild,” Amber said. “I never thought I’d be at a national competition, let alone competing at all.”
“The numbers she hits, I don’t necessarily celebrate too much,” Gary said. “What I celebrate with her is when I see her get out of her head and look at present-day Amber and not past Amber. That’s what gets me hyped up. The numbers are an expectation, like ‘Sis, you’re going to hit these numbers.’ And she does. But what gets me is seeing her truly become her best self.”
But through success, Amber was dealing with a major issue. Her wrist was in pain.
It had nagged her for years, dating back to her teenage days as a cheerleader. The pain worsened as she lifted heavier weight. Then one day, during the jerk movement of the clean and jerk lift, she “caught it wrong.” From there, she dealt with constant pain, adapting her training schedule and regimen to keep the pressure off her wrist as best she could.
“I would compete through the pain,” Amber said. “We would stop doing anything that would aggravate it, which was a lot. Then once we’d get close to competition time, it was just like ‘OK, you’ve got to do it in pain.’ And that’s what I would do. And then finally it got to a point where it hurt to touch a barbell. I couldn’t open a jar. I couldn’t touch a bar. It broke my heart.”
The pain became unbearable in 2024, after nationals.
After several doctor visits and unsuccessful injections, in summer 2024 she was introduced to Luke P. Robinson, M.D., orthopedic hand surgeon at Norton Arm & Hand Institute. Dr. Robinson diagnosed Amber with a torn scapholunate, the ligament in the wrist that connects the scaphoid and lunate bones, essential for stability and movement. It was the same injury Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow experienced in 2023.
Amber and Dr. Robinson talked about her options. They tried injections. But when those didn’t take, the pair decided Amber needed arthroscopic surgery to repair her wrist. It was a tough decision, because the 2025 national competition was just months away. Amber knew she wanted to compete and needed Dr. Robinson to fix her in time.
“Right off the bat, she was like, ‘My wrist hurts, and my problem is I want to be on the podium and right now I can’t be there,’” Dr. Robinson said. “That was her goal. She was trying to be a state champ and trying to compete nationally and internationally. Her goals are different from almost anyone else I take care of. So we had to act fast.”
Dr. Robinson performed successful surgery Sept. 3, 2024.
Amber started occupational therapy immediately and went back to her training regimen, modified to prevent any strain or movement on her wrist. Six weeks later, with Dr. Robinson’s OK, Amber was back with a barbell in her hand preparing for April’s national competition. Training gained steam quickly, and she built up enough strength to make it to nationals this past spring.
While she didn’t make the podium, Amber had a successful competition. She qualified for the 2025 World Championships, scheduled in December. She also broke her own state records from 2024. Overall, it was an encouraging performance for someone who, just a few months ago, didn’t know what her weightlifting future would look like.
“While I was injured, I didn’t know if I was ever going to be able to compete again,” Amber said. “After the surgery, everything just felt so locked up. I just didn’t know if I was going to get the range of motion I needed back. And there were tears. There were definitely tears. There were definitely times of [telling myself], ‘I’m not going to be able to do this.’ But it’s amazing how much support I had through the process.”
This summer, Amber and Gary are back in the gym, working toward December. The wrist is feeling better than it has in months, though she does check back in periodically with Dr. Robinson. But the results have shown themselves. Numbers she could only clear during competitions, she now is routinely hitting during training sessions.
Her goals are more within her grasp than ever before, thanks to hard work and a surgeon focused on getting her grip back.
“It was cool that when I saw Dr. Robinson [for the first time], he knew what I was talking about,” Amber said. “At my old orthopedist, he didn’t know what I do. But Dr. Robinson walked in and said, ‘My team says you lift and do clean and jerks and snatches. That’s really cool. So, what do we need?’ So, it was cool to have that relationship from the beginning.”
“That’s what it’s all about,” Dr. Robinson said. “It’s wonderful being able to see someone who comes to you and says, ‘Hey, I need some help,’ and you can give them the help they’re looking for and ultimately, the result they’re aiming for. And it’s great when you have a patient who’s motivated and dedicated, and I don’t think anything is going to stop her from getting where she wants to go. I’m glad to be a part of that and help get her to the level she’s looking for.”