Restaurant owning, power lifting, Elizabeth Aldridge

EFFINGHAM COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC) - Owning a business is not something for the weak.

Out in Effingham County we found maybe one of the strongest restaurant owners in state, if not the world.

“I own a restaurant in Rincon, which is a lot of work. I’m there every day. I cook on the line. I’m a very active owner.”

Elizabeth Aldridge has been running the show at 108 Ale House for seven years now.

“It makes you feel good to put your heart and soul into something and watch people enjoy it.”

Of course, helping run a restaurant isn’t easy.

So, like many Elizabeth makes sure to find a way to unwind.

“It helps me like, destress, and I feel like it’s a healthy hobby to have.”

Her hobby, “I’m a power lifter,” and a pretty good one at that.

“Last year I was number four in the world in the USPA in my weight class,” says Aldridge.

She started lifting about four years ago, at first, just hoping to lose a little weight, but that would quickly change.

“It kind of switched my focus to just seeing what my body could do instead of just what it looks like.”

While she has lost roughly 100 pounds and racked up countless accolades along the way, she measures her true success not on what she accomplishes for herself, but the example she hopes to set for other women

“I want to make women know it’s okay to be strong. It’s more than what your body looks like it’s how it performs,” Aldridge says.

Of course, between her two worlds Elizabeth admittedly has a favorite.

“Restaurant or power lifting? Power lifting. No one likes to work.”

But it would seem she has the same mentality whether she’s in the gym, or the kitchen.

“Never giving up. Always being on the grind and always giving everything 100 percent.”

If you’re wondering how she does it all?

“I make time. I just make it happen. It’s almost like brushing your teeth or anything else it’s just part of it.”

So yeah, you can expect Elizabeth to be pulling her own weight, and then some, for a long time to come.

Because she has a pretty great reason to keep holding on.

“It’s a family, I wouldn’t want to give that up.”

Elizabeth actually recently earned a spot to compete in the Arnold’s Strongman Competition early next year.

She also has dreams of becoming a professional strongman and adding a food truck to the restaurant.

Her other accolades include:

• 2nd in USPA (2021)
• Georgia deadlift, squat & bench press total record
• Georgia All Time Total Record (2021)
• Strongman Corp Southeastern Regional Champion

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