Meet Naomi Iverson
aka Repoundzel
I created Athena Strength Lab after experiencing my own ACL injury and realizing how limited most people’s understanding of recovery and adaptation really is. With a BS in Chemical and Biological Engineering and a personal focus on strength training and rehabilitation as a movement athlete, I became interested in how the body responds and adapts to challenge over time. Athena Strength Lab exists to explore those ideas and help others better understand their own capacity for change.
How Repoundzel Got Her Name
One day while I was training pull-ups, my friend Shaughn jokingly attached a weight to my braid and filmed the result. Someone started calling me "Repoundzel"—a combination of reps, pounds, and Rapunzel—and the name stuck.
At the time it was just a funny moment between friends.
Years later, the name came to represent something much bigger. Strength training taught me that the body is constantly adapting. Then an ACL injury forced me to experience that process firsthand.
What started as a joke eventually became a reminder of the ideas that fascinate me most: adaptation, resilience, curiosity, and discovering what the human body is capable of when challenged.
The video below is the moment Repoundzel was born.